Happy tour To Sri Lanka
Complete Guide To Travel Around Sri Lanka
How to travel Kandy by train
Travel guide to visit Kandy by train
This travel story offers travel guide information on how to visit Kandy by train.It is one of the most beautiful train journeys in Sri Lanka.
The easiest and cheapest way to travel from Colombo to Kandy is by train.
Travel Story by Sewwandi Dassanayaka. Regular writer to Happy Tour To Sri Lanka.
Kandy City is one of the most beautiful cities with lot of tourist attractions including many historical places,botanical gardens ,waterfalls and plenty of luxury and budget hotels.
Any visitor to Kandy would definitely fall in love with this place due to it’s richness in cultural value and natural beauty in the city.The soft weather condition in the area adds more to it’s value.
We made our journey to Kandy on 18th of May in 2019.It was a one day trip. Even though there are so many places to walk in the city,we decided to make our main attraction the the Temple of Tooth Relic of the Supreme Buddha which is of ancient value, ecologically beautiful and revered by a large number of local and foreign people.
It’s really a story worth telling ..
However, the train journey is an unforgettable memory for us. The train left Maradana at around 8.00 am. As you move away from the urban environment of Colombo, you can see the rural villages on either side.
So, our journey started from Colombo Maradana Railway Station.We were able to sit without any difficulty because we had booked our seats earlier.
We noticed that even those who had not booked seats did not seem to have that much difficulty.we bought second class tickets A card.
Our cabin actually had the most comfortable seats so we could stretch it out a bit as we wanted. Also it was a great relief to have a small table between seats to keep what we needed.
There was a small fan between two seats and one radio per train cabin.and so on. Remember to travel in second class as the third class gets overcrowd.
It was a great convenience for the passengers to have a very small restaurant reserved for the second class cabin. There was a chance to buy water bottles, coffee or Nescafe, various snacks etc.
At Ragama,many local and foreign tourists boarded the train but less than at Colombo.After Ragama the train started running continuously
As it was a holiday, there were a lot of people in the train.They sang in grops .took pictures…many people tried to go to the door to reserve a place to sit on the door step so that they could take photos .It’s a different feeling especially for foreigners.
The city is so hilly, a little closer to the mountains the environment is amazingly different and very beautiful. In this highlands of Sri Lanka, even an express train does not travel as fast as it came. It is really an advantage for tourists to take photographs.
There are plenty of opportunities to experience the beauty of the surroundings as well as take pictures. The journey will surely remind them again and again of what a beautiful country Sri Lanka is.
Even if we forgot to count, we traveled through a number of tunnels .. all made of rocks. There was a tunnels in which the train traveled for a considerable time in darkness.We are in pitch darkness.
While inside the tunnels young people made various sounds loudly for fun.That has become a custom in train travel.It is was a different experience to join with them shouting together.
In this way we arrived in the city with amazing beauty..the train only stopped at two or three other places after the arrival.Somehow after a nice train ride we got out of the train at around 11.00 am.
Although it was possible to take a taxi to reach the place , we walked the distance as we did not feel tired on the way, It was a well-balanced day in climate.
It was very refreshing to walk under the shade of big trees on both sides of the road.
There were food stalls under the shade of the trees. Many Sri Lankans as well as foreign visitors were dining there. Restaurant catered for both inside and outside, but we were able to enjoy a clean local meal.
After a short rest there we left to go to the Temple of the Tooth which is the main attraction in Kandy City.
At the entrance of the Palace we were told that we were expected wearing dresses covering our body well. Anyone who is wearing dresses exposing body not allowed to enter the place. The security guards there told us to come in wearing a white cloth covering our body well.
So there are places outside the gate where you can buy white cloth or saree if you want.
The special reason for this request is that the Temple of the Tooth Relic is a unique, revered shrine of Buddhist value. Anyone is naturally tempted to behave politely and respectfully in such a place.
It is the duty of all of us to appreciate the customs of a nation. No one who goes to the Temple of the Tooth will oppose that small request..even foreigners seem to respect it greatly.
So, after that we entered the temple..that was the first time I went to the Temple of the Tooth..it is difficult to describe the devotion I felt as a Buddhist at that moment.
it was a great pleasure to be able to touch the noon Buddha Pooja.The Palace has lot of amazing paintings and sculptures.
We walked around the Kandy Lake in front of the palace.It was a fun experience near the cloud wall to throw popcorn for the fish in the Lake.
It was a pleasure walking around the Lake.Cement benches have been set up under the trees by the side of the road to sit and enjoy the splendor.
After spending about half an hour there, we left to come back to the railway station and caught the train back to Colombo at 3.00 pm.
I really had no intention of coming back to Colombo on the same day except due to lack of holidays.There are many more places to walk in Kandy but we missed them.
We said goodbye to the Kandy City hoping to come back one day to experience it all. Exactly at 3.00 pm our train was there.
We had bought our seats before we left the station in the morning.
Even though the seats were not reserved like in the morning we were able to get two seats side by side.
Important Links
Explore Sri Lanka
- Beautiful beaches in Sri Lanka
- Adventurous water sports
- Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage
- Colombo travel guide
- Trekking and hiking
- Places for whale watching in Sri Lanka
- Fascinating train journeys
- Guide to water falls
- Wild life Sri Lanka
- Traditional arts and crafts
- Guide to see aboriginal people in Sri Lanka
- Guide to buy Gems in Sri Lanka
- Old coins of Sri Lanka
Destinations Guide List
About us
Happy Tour To Sri Lanka is a travel guide website which
provides most up to date travel information to tourists.We offer everything such as
travel guide to top destinations,hotel and travel tips you need to
help plan and book your Sri Lanka vacation.If you have any question,please do not hesitate to
contact us directly.
Contact us
Address: No-1010#, Dompe, Western Province, Sri Lanka
E-mail: support@happytourtosrilanka.com
