4 ways to get from Bandaranaike Airport to Colombo FORT Station

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How to get from Colombo airport to FORT Bus Station

If you are traveling from Colombo to Galle or Kandy, then you must be considering Fort bus and train station for your trip. Listed below are the best ways to get from Bandaranaike airport to Colombo fort station:

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Getting to Fort Bus station by Public Bus

Sri Lanka has an excellent bus network, which includes both public (called SLTB) as well as private buses. And it makes taking a bus from airport to the Fort bus station very simple and straightforward.

Colombo airport is a very small one, and when you exit the arrival, just continue to walk and cross the road. And right there, on your left, you will see a bus waiting or a bunch of passengers waiting for the bus at the stop.

There are both public (route 187) as well as private buses available to Fort Bus Station, and you can take either of them both are air-conditioned and comfortable. Both of them also cost the same, i.e. 120 LKR. The distance traveled is about 30 km but the travel time is around 40-50 minutes as these buses take the expressway.

Before buying the ticket, I will suggest you to confirm with the driver/ conductor that the particular bus indeed takes the expressway. If it doesn’t skip it, as the buses are very frequent.

Note, that when you reach the exit of the arrival you’ll be swarmed by taxi vendors or mini bus operators taking you directly to Kandy. I wouldn’t recommend any of these, unless you are short on time.

Also read:
1. Complete Guide to Climbing Sigiriya Lion Rock
2. Ultimate Travel Guide to Polonnurawa

Colombo Airport to Colombo bus station by Taxi

The cab from the airport to the fort bus station will cost you somewhere around 2000 – 2500/- LKR. Again the cabs too take the expressway, which is the fastest route to the Colombo Fort.

Colombo Airport to Fort Railway station by express train

There is an Airport Express train which runs directly from the Bandaranaike international airport to Colombo. It runs once a day and costs LKR 500.

Colombo Airport to Fort Railway station by regular train

Alternatively, the cheapest way to directly reach Fort railway station from Bandaranaike airport is to take a tuk-tuk/taxi to Katunayake railway station about 2 k.m from the airport. You can find train schedule and timetable here. For more details on train schedules as per your arrival to the airport, refer to the timings on the official site of Sri Lanka Railways.

Fort bus station to Fort railway Station

Once you reach the Fort bus station, it’s an easy less than ten minutes walk to the FORT railway station. To buy a ticket go to the reservation room and find the counter which has your destination and get an advance ticket. Note, that in the peak time it could be challenging to get a reservation in the immediate next train, but still you should get a ticket in the next train in the first class.

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