Ella to Kandy Train Tickets (Reserved Seats)
Sri Lanka
- 6 hours (approx.)
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Overview
Sri Lanka’s Ella-to-Kandy train journey is one of the world’s most scenic, taking you past lush tea estates, mountains, viaducts, and waterfalls. Skip the worry of buying tickets yourself with this prebooking service, and relax knowing your seats are reserved for your chosen day. Tickets will be for a 2nd or 3rd class compartment depending on availability, with 2nd class allocation the first priority, and they’ll be delivered to your Ella hotel the evening before or early on the day.
- Ella-to-Kandy train tickets booked and delivered to your Ella hotel
- Easy way to secure your seats: look forward to your ride without worry
- Enjoy the views as you trundle by green tea fields, viaducts, and waterfalls
- 2nd or 3rd class seats subject to availability, with 2nd class prioritized
What's Included
- All Fees and Taxes
- We do not offer transport from the hotel to station. We deliver the tickets to the hotel.
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Ella, Sri Lanka
We will deliver the tickets to your hotel located in Ella. Please make sure to mention the name of the hotel when you are making the reservation or send us a message with the name of the hotel if it's booked later.
End point
- Kandy, Sri Lanka
Kandy Railway station is the place where you have to get down from the train
What To Expect
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
This experience is non-refundable and cannot be changed for any reason. If you cancel or ask for an amendment, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Michelle_G
Wonderful experience with this company. Communicated every step of the process, and answered my many questions immediately, via WhatsApp. They even messaged me after the train ride to make sure all was ok. I highly recommend them!
Reviews
4.5
based on 140 reviews
Hamish_M, Aug 2025
Good train ride, someone sat in our seats but got others.
Paid a first class price and got second class reserves seat. Ticket price was £14 and charged £50 so a very big mark up. Would go direct to a local agency next time now I know someone.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Dear Sir / Madam,
We have mentioned in the product that the selling price is higher than the face value of the ticket. This is due to the online platform margin, delivery fee and our margin need to be added on the cost.
You could have requested your original seats by showing the seat numbers on your ticket.
Anyway happy to know that you have enjoyed the journey.
Isaac_S, Aug 2025
Booked tickets through Viator from Ella to Kandy on 7/18 for a train on 8/4. Cost was $44 USD and got a “confirmation” that seats were reserved. Early in the morning at 4:30am on the day of travel we got a notification that the tickets could not be fulfilled due to heavy travel day (late July Perahera festival). The reason I gave two stars instead of one was because the agent from Mahaweli tours that was servicing my trip via the Viator purchase was helpful. They gave me some alternative options. Was able to take a tuk tuk about an hour backwards on the train line to Badulla. Bought two tickets there all the way to Kandy for 1300 LKR ($4.00 USD). Buyer beware
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Dear Sir /Madam,
Apologies for the inconvenince you had to go through. We have processed your refund.
Thank you
Patrick_B, Jul 2025
Great service with constant communication through Whattsapp. We received the tickets at around midnight before our travels and everything went smoothly. No need to do anything at the station other than finding the right carriage and avoid the masses that did not preorder 😅 while the tickets are more expensive than if ordered ordinarily it is very handy to have local help and assistance with the process.
Meggy_W, Jul 2025
Reliable! Once you book, they will contact you via WhatsApp to let you know that you will receive the train tickets by email, directly from the railway company, in the night before you leave, just trust them. Only then you will know what class and which seats you will have, they can’t tell you earlier, but trust them that you will be on the train. You will receive the train tickets as a ‘confirmation email’, with a Sri Lankan / English ticket (top is blue) with your seat numbers on it. This is an eticket and you don’t have to get printed tickets, so skip the line on the railway station. You can app them any time and they will be happy to answer your questions.
WILLIAM_C, Jul 2025
Easy to organise, friendly service and beautiful views. I would reccomend anyone who wants to come to Sri Lanka to take this train, and this is the best service to arrange it with!
Lucie_B, Feb 2025
We did not book the train tickets in advance and were afraid to buy it from the 3rd party. We got the tickets over night, no problem in a train with QR code tickets. I recommend!
Gizem_O, Feb 2025
You can simply order it online yourself as no printed tickets are needed anymore. Save yourselves 15 bucks!
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Yes. It's possible only if the reserved seats are available to book online. Otherwsie it will be the ordinary unreserved ticket where you have to be prepared to travel standing for 07 hours long journey.
William_m, Jan 2025
Booked the 7 hour trip with my husband and we’re really looking forward to it. We boarded the train to find we had been seated separately. l was next to a random man for the whole journey. l couldn’t even see my husband. What would have been an amazing trip was ruined. l felt awkward the entire journey. No where in the small print does it say you may not be seated together.
Michelle_G, Oct 2024
Wonderful experience with this company. Communicated every step of the process, and answered my many questions immediately, via WhatsApp. They even messaged me after the train ride to make sure all was ok. I highly recommend them!
Response from Host, Oct 2024
Dear Sir/ Madam, Greetings from Sri Lanka. Thank you so much for spending your valuable time to share your amazing review with us.It's very valuable to us :) Hope you enjoyed your train journey..It was a pleasure to serve you and looking forward to meet you again.We always want to keep our customers happy. Stay blessed :) Thank you..
Felizia_H, Aug 2024
The provider Geesara had a good communication and the tickets got delivered to our hotel without any problems!
A trustworthy company.
Make sure to bring earplugs if you’re not in 1st class since because of the open windows the 7h train ride gets reeeeally exhausting also for your ears.
Response from Host, Aug 2024
Dear Sir/ Madam, Greetings from Sri Lanka. Thank you so much for spending your valuable time to share your amazing review with us.It's very valuable to us :) Hope you enjoyed your train journey .Nice to hear that Geesara has done a great job..We will pass this message to him.It was a pleasure to serve you and looking forward to meet you again.We always want to keep our customers happy. Stay blessed :) Thank you..
tania_n, Jun 2024
Excellent service and excellent train ride. The train ran on time and seats were comfortable. Views were great
Response from Host, Jun 2024
Dear Sir/ Madam, Greetings from Sri Lanka. Thank you so much for spending your valuable time to share your amazing review with us.It's very valuable to us :) Hope you enjoyed your train journey...It was a pleasure to serve you and looking forward to meet you again.We always want to keep our customers happy. Stay blessed :) Thank you..
Marcos_M, Mar 2024
Great ticket delivery. The operator Mahwela Tour was very helpful and responsive. However, the schedule they provided was incorrect. It was a 940am train that arrived from Ella at 1620 in Kandy.
Response from Host, Mar 2024
Dear Sir,
Thank you very much for making the reservation with us. The content of your review is not clear. There is a train scheduled to leave Ella at 9.20 Hours and it's arrival time to Kandy is 15.55 Hours.
You must have booked the ticket from this train.
We can not take the responsibility for the delay taken place during the journey please. Trains are operated by Sri Lanka Railways and we do only the ticket reservation and delivery to the customers. Operation of the trains is beyond our control as there could be possible delays due to various reasons.
Thank you.
Upkar_P, Dec 2023
Great platform but the local agent did a dirty. I paid £49 for2 First class tickets. The agent booked us in Second class which cost £9 at the station. Unethical practices. Ruined what should have been the highlight of our visit to Sri Lanka.
Anj_B, Apr 2023
We booked this a few months in advance to try and secure a second class reserved ticket. 4 days before the train was due to depart, we were offered the opportunity to change from the 6am to the 9am train. We accepted as we recognised it was early. However that made us realise they hadn't booked the 6am tickets yet.. and there was 4 days remaining.
We ended up with 1st class reserved tickets but we weren't seated together. A kind stranger allowed us to sit together and swapped seats.
You can still lean off the train in 1st class and you can walk into a 2nd class carriage and politely ask someone if you can quickly snap a pic of someone leaning off.
Its clear that 2nd class is just a better experience though! We really wished we could open our windows which was a shame.
Tickets were received 2 days earlier, which is great. It would be good to be told its on the way though. We were told it would come the morning of the train departure so we were surprised to meet a cyclist a few days prior handing us tickets!
We accept that the ticket was only booked 3-4 days prior which is why we got 1st class. However, we originally booked over a month in advance and were given the opportunity to swap 4 days prior implying they don't book till quite late.
I don't think I'll book again with this company as its clear they only book less than a week prior.
Laura_S, Apr 2022
Perfect, tickets that were otherwise unavailable were obtained and delivered to my hotel in plenty of time. Second class reserved, comfortable and iconic experience!
Response from Host, May 2022
Dear Madam,
Greetings from Sri Lanka.
Thank you so much for spending your valuable time to share your review with us. Nice to hear that you have enjoyed the train ride from Ella to Kandy. It was a pleasure to support you in reserving train tickets. Looking forward to meet you again.
Stay blessed :)
Robbin, Feb 2022
We received prompt communication from the company that arranged the purchase of our tickets, and updates up to the day of travel. They were able to secure train tickets for us on a Sunday morning on a holiday weekend. The only negative was that the courier who brought our tickets gave us some confusing information -- but ultimately, we ended up with exactly what we hoped for. This is more expensive than securing tickets ourselves, but the convenience was outstanding.
Response from Host, Mar 2022
Dear Sir,
Thank you very much for spending your valuable time to write a review here. We always care about the convenience of our clients. Anyway we are sorry to hear that the currier service has given some confusing information.
Hope you enjoyed the train ride by watching stunning scenery throughout this amazing ride.
Stay blessed. Take care.
Takuma_W, Jan 2026
After the train journey from Ella to Kandi could not be carried out due to the cyclone, the amount already paid was refunded to me without complications.
Thank you for that.
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Javier_T, Sep 2025
The train takes what it takes in our case 7h, but the views are wonderful and you can eat inside (1000lkr) a chicken rice and curry.
There is a bar inside to catch drinks, but at some stop you can get off and catch in the little shops in the station if they seem expensive
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JoseManuel_A, Aug 2025
Very unpleasant experience.
Despite the advance in the purchase of tickets they gave us separate seats in a second class wagon.
The train arrived an hour late at Ella and all the seats were busy. In our case, by several children from a large family.
Morally, it was impossible for us to ask children to leave our seats and make the journey on foot.
The entrance to the train was chaotic and quickly the corridor between the seats got busy with most tourists.
The trip lasted about 7 hours, always without being able to sit down.
Although the scenery is stunning, we regretted not getting off the train and taking a taxi to Kandy.
Probably, the trip will be better in first class carriage.
The massive tourism and disorganization inside the wagons make it a trip to avoid.
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Response from Host, Aug 2025
Yes. We had to issue the full refund and cancel some bookings followed by the passport number verification requirement when boarding the train. Situation was beyond out control and we did the cancellation in advance with the notification to those who had booked.
MARIA_L, Apr 2025
Ha sido una experiencia estupenda, con una situación en el tren privilegiada, con poca gente y unas vistas espectaculares
Michel_M, Sep 2024
J avais une appréhension pour la livraison des tickets pour la première utilisation de se site mais tout était parfait et très sérieux .
Response from Host, Oct 2024
Cher Monsieur/Madame, Salutations du Sri Lanka. Merci beaucoup d'avoir consacré votre temps précieux à partager votre incroyable avis avec nous.C'est très précieux pour nous :) J'espère que vous avez apprécié votre voyage en train..Ce fut un plaisir de vous servir et j'ai hâte de vous revoir.Nous voulons toujours pour garder nos clients heureux. Restez béni :) Merci ..
Katja_G, Aug 2023
Sehr entspannte Zugfahrt durch interessante Landschaft. Die bestellten Tickets lagen pünktlich am Morgen der Abfahrt im Hotel bereit, alles hat sehr gut geklappt!
Response from Host, Aug 2023
Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, Grüße aus Sri Lanka. Vielen Dank, dass Sie sich die Zeit genommen haben, Ihre tolle Bewertung mit uns zu teilen. Sie ist sehr wertvoll für uns :) Ich hoffe, Sie haben Ihre Zugfahrt von Ella nach Kandy genossen. Es war mir eine Freude, Sie zu bedienen und wir freuen uns darauf, Sie wiederzusehen. Wir Wir möchten unsere Kunden stets zufrieden stellen. Bleib gesegnet :) Danke..
From $22.00
per person-You will not receive a refund if you cancel.
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Ella to Kandy Train Tickets (Reserved Seats)
140
6 hours
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