Buses in Sri Lanka [Best Bus Routes + What to Expect]

While Sri Lankan trains are what you’ll see photos of the most, buses in Sri Lanka are the main staple of transport around the country, certainly for Sri Lankans.  In a lot of cases, they are the only transport on some routes.  With Sri Lanka’s new Expressways, they’re also a lot quicker on some routes than the trains and while you won’t get the comfort levels that you get on a private transfer, there are some decent bus routes out there. Here’s our guide to buses in Sri Lanka, what you can expect, particular bus routes of note, and some guidance on using Sri Lankan Buses.

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There are two types of buses in Sri Lanka.  There are Sri Lankan Government buses, also known as SLTB (Sri Lankan Transport Board) Buses, they’re also known as the Central Transport Board (CTB), and secondly private buses.  SLTB/CTB buses are cheaper, often by a long way than private buses.  SLTB/CTB buses tend to be painted red (or they were at one point, they may be faded and peeling now) and they’re often old TATA brand buses.  They’re old and slow and rattly.  Privately owned buses might not look much different but are usually a different color.

What to Expect on Buses in Sri Lanka

The buses feel fast. Although that’s just a sense you get. Because none of the gauges seem to actually work. Mind you, anything feels fast when you’re hurtling towards stationary traffic, or you’re on the wrong side of the road overtaking another bus and there’s a mirror-image situation coming towards you at similar gauge-less speeds.

Buses in Sri Lanka are Noisy

There are always horn blasts. Always. And this isn’t like your regular two-lane highway. Sri Lankan roads aren’t really hopping unless your bus is being overtaken by another bus while you’re overtaking a tuk-tuk. All three of you blasting on the horn. 

On the buses in Sri Lanka, the driver gets to pick the music. And there is always music. There is also always a representation of Buddha on board. Often several. Usually brightly lit.  On our bus from Anuradhapura to Kandy, we screeched to a stop not long after we’d set off so that the conductor could take a little money from the driver and make an offering at a roadside shrine before the journey could commence.

Buses in Sri Lanka are both frustratingly slow.  And frantically fast.

And despite this seemingly frantic speed, buses are frustratingly slow. They stop everywhere and in between. Our 75 LKR bus from Dalhousie (where we climbed Adam’s Peak) back to Hatton Train station might have been cheap, but we sat on it for an hour before it left, despite us being ahead of schedule for the 11:00 bus. Then it took two and a half hours to travel the route that had taken an hour less on the way UP the hill!

Boarding and disembarking from buses is a skill in itself.  Many buses don’t really actually stop for intermittent stops.  They crawl along, or jerk along as the gears crunch, and you’re expected to get on and off while the bus is still moving. With your bags.  Traveling on buses in Sri Lanka with any decent-sized luggage is always an experience.

Buses in Sri Lanka aren’t usually comfortable

Buses are bumpy. Very very bumpy. And they’re a tight squeeze. There are usually two seats on one side of the aisle and three on the other. Even the Sri Lankans struggle to fit into these spaces.  The cheapest buses especially the private ones, where they’ll cram as many people as they can on, are very crowded.

Buses in Sri Lanka are usually crowded

Most public transport in Sri Lanka is crowded. Very crowded. The first time we took the bus from Kandy to the Pallakelle Cricket Stadium to watch one of the One Day Internationals, I stood on the steps as I couldn’t get any further into the bus. Another time, the conductor made Nigel sit on top of the engine as he was too big and getting in the way.  Mind you, the train we took from Colombo to Galle the day before Christmas Eve was jam-packed.  And no, we hadn’t pre-booked tickets.  It was an experience, and while we laugh about it now, I don’t think I had space to laugh then!

Buses in Sri Lanka can be quite old and short on maintenance

We’ve been on buses in Sri Lanka that have broken down.  On one, we were sat at the front and you could hear there was something wrong with the gears. We coasted to a stop and the engine covering was pulled off. The tool kit – a wrench and a rag – were pulled out. And something was replaced with a piece of twine. Yes, there are some things that you really don’t want to know the answer to.

We’ve driven past landslides, we’ve had a tire blowout, and we’ve had the gearbox fixed with twine on Sri Lankan buses. Mind you, when we were in Myanmar, we actually lost the back half of the train (it fell apart).

On the second Sri Lankan bus that broke down we’d been sat in the middle of the bus, we’d been sat opposite the door but moved after we almost launched ourselves out of the open rear door into the gorge by Ella Gap.  And while seeing Ella Gap from the top of Little Adam’s Peak is one of the amazing things to do in Ella, I didn’t fancy seeing it from the actual road.   As we drove along you could hear something was wrong. It sounded serious. It sounded like something was about to break off. Worse, it sounded underneath us. In the end the tyre burst.

We just pulled into a garage and they changed the blown tire for the bald spare as we all sat watching. And 10 minutes later we were on our way again.

Buses in Sri Lanka are cheap

Our cheapest bus was from Ella in Hill Country to Matara. We’d originally planned to get off a Tissamaharama and head to Yala National Park, but when it continued to rain we decided to stay on to Matara on the south coast and run for the beach resort of Mirissa.

That bus cost 160 LKR each. The conductor never asked for more money, when we asked to stay on. We traveled 170 kilometers.  An entire day’s entertainment and lower leg edema for just over one US dollar.  We finally made it to Yala – when we returned to Sri Lanka 8 years later. You can read about our Yala National Park Safari here.

There are Food, Drinks, and Other Vendors on Sri Lankan Buses

There are vendors on trains and buses. For food – especially short eats (the term that Sri Lankans use for snacks, usually deep fried), for games, for toys, for lottery tickets. There are often beggars. There are men who will sing you a song and then ask for money.

9 Tips for Riding Sri Lankan Buses

Here are our 9 best tips for how to enjoy your Sri Lankan bus ride.  They’re just one of the Sri Lankan modes of transport that you should build into your trip to Sri Lanka.  Read about the others here.

1. Try and get on early, and dump your big backpack on top of the engine cover. Wedge it in, or tie it on.
2. Don’t sit in a “reserved for Clergy” seat. Because if a monk gets on, you’ll be standing in the aisle.
3. Don’t sit on the front row, especially on the left-hand side. There might look like a lot of legroom, but this is standing space for about 8 people. You’ll get squeezed past here constantly.
4. Don’t sit in the back seat. There are six seats across the back. There’s probably room for four normal-sized human beings.
5. Don’t sit opposite the rear door. There are no armrests. Buses corner quickly, and seats are slippery. This is actually the “launch yourself down a mountain gorge seat”
6. At least once stand on the steps and enjoy the ride.
7. Get used to the idea that it’s going to be full and squeezing past is just what happens. Keep your elbows sharpened for inappropriate squeezing.
8. Try sitting somewhere in the middle for the least bumpy ride, especially if you’re going all the way to the final stop.
9. No matter how far ahead you plan, you will never have enough time to get from the middle of the bus, pick up your bag, and get off (if you’re not at the final stop), so TRY and plan ahead.

Travel Tips for Exploring Sri Lanka

• Get Travel Insurance: Civitatis includes medical expenses, repatriation, theft, luggage delays. No deductibles or upfront payments. Get a quote here.
• Get online immediately with an eSIM for Sri Lanka
• Download and install a VPN BEFORE you travel to Sri Lanka > discount coupon here
• Book your airport transfer with Welcome Pickups
• Read about transport in Sri Lanka in our guide here
• Our guide to booking trains in Sri Lanka
• You will 99% likely need a power adapter for Sri Lanka – there’s more here.
• Book the best Sri Lanka tours and guides on Get Your Guide
• Save money in Sri Lanka with a Wise debit card
• Book Trains in Sri Lanka with 12goAsia
• Book accommodation in Sri Lanka with Booking

Final Words on Buses in Sri Lanka

I love Sri Lanka and I love traveling around the country, whether that’s on a Sri Lankan bus or a Sri Lankan train.  Buses in Sri Lanka are cheap, they’re both fast and slow at the same time and they’re really a huge part of the experience that you’ll have traveling around Sri Lanka – we love them.  You might try one once and hate it.  Or love it.  But unless you try you’ll never know!

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