Taxi from Kalutara to Colombo Airport (CMB)

The run from Kalutara to the airport is 82.6 kilometres and about 91 minutes on this site's price list. It is the last road of the holiday, and the one most worth getting right. The drive itself is straightforward. The skill is in choosing the leaving time.

Working out when to leave

Start from the departure time and subtract, in this order: the time you want to be inside the terminal before check-in closes, the drive, and a margin for the road. International check-in asks for more time than most travellers assume, and an airline's own advice on when to arrive is the figure to use, not a rule of thumb. After that, the 91 minutes. After that, the margin, which is the part people shave and later regret.

A good rule is that the margin should be bigger the fewer alternatives you have. A late afternoon flight leaves slack in the day. A morning flight leaves none, and means the car arrives at the hotel while it is still dark. Tell the hotel the night before so that breakfast, the bill and the keys are not the cause of a late start.

The road back

The car goes north on the Southern Expressway, then follows the outer ring past the city to the airport approach, bypassing central Colombo. This is the reason the trip is long in distance but dependable in time: there is no stretch of city street to be caught in. The places where delays happen are the approach to the airport itself, particularly at the busy morning and night waves, and any incident on the expressway, which is rare but not impossible.

One last stop, if it fits

If your flight is late in the evening you may have most of a day. The Kalutara Bodhiya, with its hollow dome that visitors can walk inside, is close to the main road and makes a calm last visit before the long wait at the terminal. If the flight is early, the answer is to skip it; the stop is a pleasure on a free day and a source of stress on a tight one.

Last checks at the door

Book the car for the leaving time you worked out, not the check-in time. Give the exact hotel and say if there is more than one gate. Every fare on this journey is in the table above; this page quotes no price of its own.

Keep passports, tickets and anything you will need at check-in in your hand luggage, not the boot. Most missed flights on this kind of transfer have little to do with the road; they start with a document at the bottom of a bag that is already closed.

If your next destination is the city rather than the terminal, this is the wrong page; Colombo has its own, because the roads and the timing differ.

The night before

Most of the work in getting to a flight happens the evening before. Pack so that everything you need on the day is in one place. Settle the hotel bill early, since mini-bar and restaurant charges are quicker to clear the night before than at breakfast. Check the booking confirmation for the leaving time and confirm it with the hotel so the desk is staffed. If the flight is very early, ask whether breakfast can be packed.

Two kinds of departure

A daytime flight gives you time to spare, and the journey to the airport can be relaxed. A flight in the small hours of the night or the early morning is a different thing. The roads are quiet, but the margin for a problem is thin because there is no slack left in the schedule. For an early flight, favour the cautious leaving time even if it feels excessive; the cost is a short wait at the terminal, and the cost of a missed flight is much larger.

On the road

The route is north on the expressway and then round the ring road, with no stretch of city street to get stuck in. If there is a hold-up, it is usually at the airport approach, where several roads join. The driver knows the usual trouble spots and will choose the lane that moves best at the time. Resist the urge to ask for a shortcut; the road chosen is already the one that avoids the centre.

At the terminal

The drop-off is outside the departures hall, and the driver can help with the bags. Keep your passport and boarding documents in your hand, since they are the first things you will be asked for. Check-in desks for long-haul flights often open several hours before departure, and the queue is shorter early on, which is another reason to arrive with time to spare.

Which car for the flight

The vehicle choice follows the luggage. A couple with two large cases and two carry-ons fit in a saloon. A family or a group, or anyone with a surfboard or golf bag, should book a van. The fare table above shows each class.

As a marketplace, TaxiList matches you with an independent driver; the confirmation tells you who it is.