Aaron Arndt
Travelled to 7 countries / regions
Written 12 briefs
Travelled to Sri Lanka in February 2018
Asia
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Sri Lanka
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Colombo
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Useful Info
Submitted on Aug 17, 2018
Useful Info
Best way to get from the Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) to Colombo city
- Uber (reasonably priced):
- I used Uber from the airport and I highly recommend it (if you don't know what Uber is). Not only do you not have to worry about having cash on hand to pay the driver, you also put in the address directly into the app with an upfront fare estimate so you get the peace of mind
- I used the the free wifi at the airport to get my Uber
- The cost from the airport to the city center was around 1800 LKR ($11USD). It's much cheaper than regular taxis
- Obviously you need to have the app set up on your phone before you get to Sri Lanka
- If you don't like Uber for whatever reason, here are some alternatives from my research
- Regular taxi (expensive): 2000-3000 LKR ($13-$19) depending on how well you negotiate. You can either 1) find the official taxi stand when you exit the luggage claim, or 2) take the offer of one of the random drivers who'll approach you after you exit the luggage claim
- Bus (extremely cheap but stressful):
- Bus E3-187 is the big air conditioned bus that runs between the airport and Colombo Fort Station, which is the main train and bus station in Colombo
- Cost is 130 LKR (<$1) one way to the city. You pay by cash on the bus itself. Just board the bus and buy your ticket
- There's no fixed schedule. The bus runs once every 30 minutes or so. The trip to Colombo takes about 30min-1 hour depending on traffic
- The last bus leaves at around 8pm from the airport. After 8pm, there will still be other buses, but they may not be from the same boarding area. Check with airport staff. The cost might be the same or might be 50-100 LKR more expensive
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To get to the bus:
- The bus is located at coordinates 7.173937, 79.887974
- The pedestrian crossing lines look like this:
- The bus itself is blue and it looks like this:
- Privately operated airport transfer services (very expensive but stress-free):
- This is the ultimate stress-free way to get to the city. Your driver waiting for you at the arrival area with your name on a card, and takes care of everything for you until your hotel
- Cost ranges but minimum $30USD is what I came across
- Tripadvisor has a whole page of these transfer services that you can pick from
- Obviously with this you book ahead of time