Udawalawe safari + the Transit Home

Plan your safari day

First, pick a drive. Then add a visit to the baby elephants. A morning safari fits best: the 10:30 feed comes soon after it.

Two safari jeeps crossing the open plain in Udawalawe National Park, with hills behind
Photo: Pierre André Leclercq, CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Morning safariThen the 10:30 feed
  • About 15 minutes apartPark gate to the Transit Home

Four ways to do it

A morning safari day

  1. Early morning

    Meet your jeep

    Be at the park gate just before 6. The gates open at 6.

  2. 6 until about 9:30

    Safari time

    Look for elephants, buffalo, crocodiles and birds.

  3. 10:30

    Milk time

    Drive about 15 minutes to the Transit Home and watch the feed.

Ask to leave the park a little early, at about 9:30. Then you get to the Transit Home in good time to find a good spot.

What makes up the cost?

A safari day has three parts:

  1. Park tickets: grown-ups from abroad pay US$25 each, and children aged 6 to 12 pay US$15. Under-6s go free. Each jeep also pays a small fee, and tax goes on top of it all.
  2. A jeep with a driver. One jeep takes up to 6 people. The price depends on the drive you pick.
  3. The Transit Home ticket. About 2,000 rupees for each grown-up from abroad, paid at its own counter.

Park prices as of November 2026. Transit Home price checked in October 2026.

You can hire a jeep in Udawalawe town, through your hotel or online. Wild Ceylon's planner shows one price for your group, park tickets included. The Transit Home's ticket is extra.

If you plan your safari on that planner, you pay on the day, not before. You can change or cancel it for free up to 2 days before. Checked in November 2026.

Work out the cost for your group (another website)

Coming from Ella or the beach?

  • From Ella: you reach the park gate first. Try a morning safari, then the 10:30 feed. Then drive on to the beach.
  • From the beach: you pass the Transit Home on the way to the park gate. It is only a short stop off the road.
  • Going back to Ella: the Transit Home is a little off your road. Going there adds about half an hour.

Where next?