By Private Vehicle
*From Colombo: 260 km | 5.5–7 hrs
*Route: Colombo → Kurunegala → Dambulla → Habarana → Trincomalee
*From Kandy: Kandy → Dambulla → Habarana → Trincomalee (4–5 hrs)
*From Anuradhapura: Direct A12 road (2.5–3 hrs)
*Best option for comfort and time saving
*There are tour operators, Uber/ Pickme services, or you can rent a vehicle and drive or can hire a driver with vehicle. Be mindful about the prices. Don not go through brokers. Most of the time drivers tends to quote higher prices. Always cross check the prices.
By Bus
*Mainly the Buses are operated by Government and private sector. It takes 6 to 8 hours for a journey by bus.
>Government run buses : Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) operated normal bus service whole day. The tickets can be booked via https:/sltb.eseat.lk/ .One Tickets costs LKR 980.00. The buses are operated from Colombo SLTB bus stand in Pettah. These buses get packed with the crowd.
>Bus operated by the private sector : There are normal , semi luxury and super luxury buses. These starts from Private bus stand at Bastian Mawatha, Colombo and some of the Super luxury buses starts from Wellawatta, Colombo.
>>Private normal and Semi Luxury buses : One tickets costs around LKR 1137.00 and seats can be reserved from bus stands. Sometimes these buses are also get packed by crowd.
>>Super Luxury Buses : If You need a peaceful travel from Colombo to Trincomalee, then this is the service you need. Seats can be reserved via individual service provider’s web sites or from bus stands. Most of them are run during night times. Super Line Travels , Soyuru Sampath Super Line , Nishadini Super Line , Lion Travels are some of the operators. One ticket cost from LKR 1500.00 to LKR 2500.00 depends on the service.
*Direct buses are operated to Trincomalee from, and the journey time as follows,
>Colombo (Pettah / Bastian Mawatha/Wellawatta) – 6 to 8 Hours.
>Kandy – 4 to 6 hours.
>Anuradhapura – Around 3 hours.
>Kurunegala – Around 4 hours.
>Matara ( there is one super luxury bus which operated in this route) – 10 to 12 hours.
>Thangalle – 11 to 12 hours.
>Hambanthota – 13 to 15 hours.
>Diyathalawa – 11 to 13 hours.
>Jaffna – 6 to 8 hours.
>Mannar – 5 to 6 hours.
>Kalmunai –
>Vavuniya – 3 to 5 hours.
*If no direct bus → go via Dambulla or Habarana or as feasible.
By Train
*Cheap and comfortable, but slow
*Not frequently
*Starts from Colombo( Fort railway station ) directly to Trincomalee railway station.
*Tickets can be reserved through https://seatreservation.railway.gov.lk/mtktwebslr/ or visiting the railway stations.
By Air
*China Bay airport exists,
>No regular public flights.
>Not a practical option.
*Sigiriya Airport,
>Daily Flights are operated from Colombo to Sigiriya by Cinnamon Air
>The flight takes a scenic 30 Minutes to reach the destination.
>Visit the Cinnamon Air website more information and flight booking.