Sri Lanka Road Distance Calculator

Every figure below is produced by the calculator itself, the same shortest-path walk over the Road Development Authority (RDA) segment table, so nothing here is typed in by hand. The chart covers the town pairs this first version of the network reproduces exactly; the calculator above handles any pair of the 56 towns in the list.

A1 Colombo–Kandy corridor, every pair, in km

These eight towns sit in order on the A1, so each cell is the sum of the consecutive RDA segments between them and the end-to-end total is the officially tabulated 115 km. Read the row, then the column.

Road distance from Colombo

Shortest toll-free road distance out of Colombo, nearest town first, with the estimated drive time and the roads the route uses.

Common routes, written out

The pairs people ask for most. Distance is symmetric, so each line reads the same in either direction, tap one to open it in the calculator.

• Colombo to Kadawatha is 13 km by road, about 17 min by car via the A1. The same 13 km applies in reverse, from Kadawatha to Colombo.
• Kadawatha to Kandy is 102 km by road, about 2 h 16 min by car via the A1. The same 102 km applies in reverse, from Kandy to Kadawatha.
• Kadawatha to Nittambuwa is 19 km by road, about 25 min by car via the A1. The same 19 km applies in reverse, from Nittambuwa to Kadawatha.
• Warakapola to Kadawatha is 48 km by road, about 1 h 04 min by car via the A1. The same 48 km applies in reverse, from Kadawatha to Warakapola.
• Kegalle to Kadawatha is 65 km by road, about 1 h 27 min by car via the A1. The same 65 km applies in reverse, from Kadawatha to Kegalle.
• Nittambuwa to Kandy is 83 km by road, about 1 h 51 min by car via the A1. The same 83 km applies in reverse, from Kandy to Nittambuwa.
• Kegalle to Kandy is 37 km by road, about 49 min by car via the A1. The same 37 km applies in reverse, from Kandy to Kegalle.
• Colombo to Kandy is 115 km by road, about 2 h 33 min by car via the A1. The same 115 km applies in reverse, from Kandy to Colombo.
• Colombo to Galle is 119 km by road, about 2 h 39 min by car via the A2. The same 119 km applies in reverse, from Galle to Colombo. Allowing expressways, the E01/A2 route is 119 km in about 1 h 23 min , faster, but a toll applies.
• Colombo to Matara is 164 km by road, about 3 h 39 min by car via the A2. The same 164 km applies in reverse, from Matara to Colombo. Allowing expressways, the E01/A2 route is 164 km in about 2 h 23 min , faster, but a toll applies.
• Colombo to Negombo is 38 km by road, about 51 min by car via the A3. The same 38 km applies in reverse, from Negombo to Colombo. Allowing expressways, the E03/A3 route is 37 km in about 32 min , faster, but a toll applies.
• Colombo to Kurunegala is 94 km by road, about 2 h 05 min by car via the A1/A6. The same 94 km applies in reverse, from Kurunegala to Colombo.
• Colombo to Ratnapura is 101 km by road, about 2 h 15 min by car via the A4. The same 101 km applies in reverse, from Ratnapura to Colombo.
• Colombo to Nuwara Eliya is 188 km by road, about 4 h 11 min by car via the A1/A5. The same 188 km applies in reverse, from Nuwara Eliya to Colombo.
• Colombo to Dambulla is 162 km by road, about 3 h 36 min by car via the A1/A6. The same 162 km applies in reverse, from Dambulla to Colombo.
• Colombo to Anuradhapura is 205 km by road, about 4 h 33 min by car via the A1/A6/A10. The same 205 km applies in reverse, from Anuradhapura to Colombo. Allowing expressways, the E03/A3/A12 route is 206 km in about 4 h 17 min , faster, but a toll applies.
• Colombo to Badulla is 228 km by road, about 5 h 15 min by car via the A4/A16/B-class. The same 228 km applies in reverse, from Badulla to Colombo.
• Colombo to Trincomalee is 254 km by road, about 5 h 39 min by car via the A1/A6. The same 254 km applies in reverse, from Trincomalee to Colombo.
• Colombo to Hambantota is 246 km by road, about 5 h 28 min by car via the A2. The same 246 km applies in reverse, from Hambantota to Colombo. Allowing expressways, the E01/A2 route is 246 km in about 4 h 13 min , faster, but a toll applies.
• Colombo to Jaffna is 393 km by road, about 8 h 44 min by car via the A1/A6/A10/A9. The same 393 km applies in reverse, from Jaffna to Colombo. Allowing expressways, the E03/A3/A12/A9 route is 394 km in about 8 h 28 min , faster, but a toll applies.
• Kandy to Nuwara Eliya is 73 km by road, about 1 h 37 min by car via the A1/A5. The same 73 km applies in reverse, from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy.
• Kandy to Matale is 26 km by road, about 35 min by car via the A9. The same 26 km applies in reverse, from Matale to Kandy.
• Kandy to Dambulla is 72 km by road, about 1 h 36 min by car via the A9. The same 72 km applies in reverse, from Dambulla to Kandy.
• Kandy to Anuradhapura is 136 km by road, about 3 h 01 min by car via the A9. The same 136 km applies in reverse, from Anuradhapura to Kandy.
• Kandy to Badulla is 129 km by road, about 2 h 52 min by car via the A1/A5. The same 129 km applies in reverse, from Badulla to Kandy.
• Kandy to Jaffna is 324 km by road, about 7 h 12 min by car via the A9. The same 324 km applies in reverse, from Jaffna to Kandy.
• Galle to Matara is 45 km by road, about 1 h 00 min by car via the A2. The same 45 km applies in reverse, from Matara to Galle.
• Matara to Hambantota is 82 km by road, about 1 h 49 min by car via the A2. The same 82 km applies in reverse, from Hambantota to Matara.
• Nuwara Eliya to Badulla is 56 km by road, about 1 h 15 min by car via the A5. The same 56 km applies in reverse, from Badulla to Nuwara Eliya.
• Anuradhapura to Jaffna is 188 km by road, about 4 h 11 min by car via the A9. The same 188 km applies in reverse, from Jaffna to Anuradhapura.

The calculator models Sri Lanka's inter-city road network as a graph: about 55 major towns are the nodes, and Road Development Authority (RDA) road segments are the weighted edges, measured in kilometres. The road distance between any two towns is the shortest total along that graph, found with Dijkstra's algorithm.

1. Distance. Officially tabulated RDA point-to-point distances (for example Colombo–Kandy 115 km) are reproduced exactly by their segment chains, so those pairs return the official figure. Other pairs are summed across the RDA segments on the shortest path.
2. Route preference. “Shortest” minimises kilometres over toll-free A and B roads only. “Fastest” additionally allows the E-class expressways (Southern Expressway E01, Colombo–Katunayake E03) and minimises time, which can add a few kilometres but cut the drive time. The option you do not pick is shown as a comparison.
3. Drive time. Time is the sum of each segment's distance divided by its road-class average speed: time = Σ(segment_km ÷ class_speed). The class speeds are an editorial estimate for free-flowing conditions, 90 km/h on expressways, 45 km/h on A-class roads, 35 km/h on B-class roads, not an RDA figure. A speed you type in overrides every class.
4. Verification. The graph is cross-checked against the RDA point-to-point schedule. Colombo–Kandy (115 km), Colombo–Galle (119 km), Colombo–Kurunegala (94 km), Colombo–Anuradhapura (205 km), Colombo–Ratnapura (101 km) and Kandy–Nuwara Eliya (73 km) all reconcile to the kilometre.
5. The chart. The distance chart on this page is generated from the same graph, not transcribed: every cell is a call into the calculator. The RDA publishes the national road network and the lengths of its A-class and E-class roads, so the chart is computed from those segment lengths rather than copied from a single point-to-point table. It therefore covers the pairs this graph reproduces exactly, the eight A1 corridor towns, which lie in sequence on one road, and distances out of Colombo, which is what the segment chains are calibrated on. Pairs whose real-world route is a link this first version does not carry yet (Kurunegala–Kandy on the A10, Trincomalee–Batticaloa on the A15, Ratnapura–Galle on the A17) are left out of the chart rather than printed as authoritative: the calculator will still route them, but the long way round, and those links are next on the list to add.

Distances are authoritative; drive times are clearly labelled as estimates because real journeys depend on traffic, weather, road works and hill-climb grades that no static table can capture. The RDA segment table was last cross-checked on 2026-06-10.

• Road Development Authority (RDA): National road network & inter-city distance schedule
• RDA Expressway Operations: Southern (E01) & Colombo–Katunayake (E03) interchange distances
• Survey Department of Sri Lanka: 1:50,000 topographic road network

Road distances were last cross-checked against the RDA inter-city schedule on 2026-06-10. Drive-time speeds are an editorial estimate, not an RDA figure. Found a distance that looks off? Email me with the town pair and I'll check it against the schedule.