Sri Lanka Holiday Planning
Discussion
Hi we are planning our next holiday and fancy Sri Lanka
Has anyone been recently?
Any information at this point would be useful.
The main reason for going is to look at wildlife (elephants) and culture, however we will want to relax for a few days as well!
I will be looking at other travel websites but 1st hand experience is always great!
Has anyone been recently?
Any information at this point would be useful.
The main reason for going is to look at wildlife (elephants) and culture, however we will want to relax for a few days as well!
I will be looking at other travel websites but 1st hand experience is always great!
We had a lovely holiday in Sri Lanka,so much so we are definitely going again.Its one of those countries that you must travel around,see the countryside,wildlife and culture,just fascinating.
Mind you traveling by road is not for the faint hearted,manic,hilarious,and very time consuming,so bare that in mind when planning an inland tour. There are plenty of escorted tours on offer but most will be by coach,lots of people being herded around,very tiring.
My advice is hire a private driver.
We booked a normal package holiday with Mercury,flying with Emirates via Dubai and staying at
http://www.royal-palms-beach-hotel-kalutara-sri-la... we found it just perfect,highly recomended.
We then booked an inland tour with http://www.aitkenspencetravels.com/ We had our own private car and driver,a lovely man who new the roads like the back of his hand.A two day tour towards Kandy,elephant orphanage,Royal Botanic gardens,Temple of Tooth,culture show,etc etc and staying at a 5*hotel by the river at Kandy.That was a very memorable two days.
On our next visit we plan to tour south and do a safari in the Uda Walawe National Park.There is so much to see and do so do plenty of research.
Its a wonderful place.
Mind you traveling by road is not for the faint hearted,manic,hilarious,and very time consuming,so bare that in mind when planning an inland tour. There are plenty of escorted tours on offer but most will be by coach,lots of people being herded around,very tiring.
My advice is hire a private driver.
We booked a normal package holiday with Mercury,flying with Emirates via Dubai and staying at
http://www.royal-palms-beach-hotel-kalutara-sri-la... we found it just perfect,highly recomended.
We then booked an inland tour with http://www.aitkenspencetravels.com/ We had our own private car and driver,a lovely man who new the roads like the back of his hand.A two day tour towards Kandy,elephant orphanage,Royal Botanic gardens,Temple of Tooth,culture show,etc etc and staying at a 5*hotel by the river at Kandy.That was a very memorable two days.
On our next visit we plan to tour south and do a safari in the Uda Walawe National Park.There is so much to see and do so do plenty of research.
Its a wonderful place.
Edited by Old Merc on Saturday 28th May 13:35
Edited by Old Merc on Saturday 28th May 13:39
i went in the mid 90's - tour and stay and a long weekend in the maldives in the middle. kuoni i think. fascinating place in so many ways and easily one of my best ever trips. at the time, touring was limited especially to the north which i believe is now accessible ?
it was challenging with many early starts and late finishes but so worth it.
the maldives side trip was for the diving but i actually found diving sri-lanka more to my taste.
i won't mention the bombing in colombo and subsequent disruptions on our planned departure date!
paul
it was challenging with many early starts and late finishes but so worth it.
the maldives side trip was for the diving but i actually found diving sri-lanka more to my taste.
i won't mention the bombing in colombo and subsequent disruptions on our planned departure date!
paul
We also went in the late 90's and its the best holiday we've ever had. A fascinating country with loads to see and do. We stayed on the SW coast (Beruwela) and did a 3-4 day trip up to the middle (Governer's Residence, Pinnawala elephant orphanage, Nuwara Eliya and the tea plantations and Kandy). The mountains are like parts of the Lake District and very colonial, beaches on the coast are lovely. One thing you must do is a turtle sanctuary - we headed back at dusk to release hatchlings. The elephant washing in the river is spectacular. Despite the civil war of the time, the mix of religions all living in harmony away from the north was surprising. Top tip: don't go when there's a cricket series on, they'll all be watching the TV rather than serving...!!! Also watch the weather, there are a couple of rainy seasons, we went at Easter and it was generally good although we did have a couple of showers. Seafood is good, currys can get a bit repetitive if you're on meals inclusive. Funnily enough we've never had any desire to go to India but we'd go back to Sri Lanka in a heartbeat.
Edited by Speed 3 on Sunday 29th May 14:17
Thanks to everyone for the great replys, great to know which areas to look for and also the companies that offer the packages!
By the looks of it we have picked the right destination as the pictures look fantastic!
If you have any more tips please share them.
Thanks to everyone again this has proved really useful!
By the looks of it we have picked the right destination as the pictures look fantastic!
If you have any more tips please share them.
Thanks to everyone again this has proved really useful!
Its an 11+hr flight from UK with Sri Lankan Airways,I`ve never used them so can't comment.All the others it's a stop over.Recently though Thomson has started direct flights with their new 787 Dreamliner,now that sounds interesting.
When your booking the inland tour make sure its with a recognised professional company.There will be plenty of guys offering to take you round to see the sites.Beware though,they will be uninsured,the vehicle may be suspect,that sort of thing,just guys out for cash in hand.
Talking of cash,the only place to buy Sri Lankan Rupees is on the island.The best place is at the airport.At arrivals there is a row of banks all with different rates,(about 200 = £1),probably all you would need cash for is tipping? the people are lovely,courteous,and polite,but always expect a tip.
Cards are accepted where ever you go.
When your booking the inland tour make sure its with a recognised professional company.There will be plenty of guys offering to take you round to see the sites.Beware though,they will be uninsured,the vehicle may be suspect,that sort of thing,just guys out for cash in hand.
Talking of cash,the only place to buy Sri Lankan Rupees is on the island.The best place is at the airport.At arrivals there is a row of banks all with different rates,(about 200 = £1),probably all you would need cash for is tipping? the people are lovely,courteous,and polite,but always expect a tip.
Cards are accepted where ever you go.
We went last year with Exodus on their Discover Sri Lanka trip (http://www.exodus.co.uk/psearch?keywords=Sri%20Lanka&date_start[date]=&date_end[date]=). It was a good mix of travelling around the island, activities, wildlife and relaxing. I think they've dropped the visit to the elephant orphanage over concerns about the treatment of elephants but I suppose this could change again if Exodus think things have improved.
Weather was great as we went at the end of March to avoid the rain. I think there were 18 of us on an air conditioned coach for the two weeks. Our guide was very good and everyone on the coach got on well, with enough time to get away and do your own thing if you want to. People are really friendly and the cost of eating out and drinking was cheap enough.
Weather was great as we went at the end of March to avoid the rain. I think there were 18 of us on an air conditioned coach for the two weeks. Our guide was very good and everyone on the coach got on well, with enough time to get away and do your own thing if you want to. People are really friendly and the cost of eating out and drinking was cheap enough.
We stayed at Vil Uyana for our honeymoon back in 2014. It was amazing. Booked through Kuoni with 10 days in the Maldives afterwards.
It's in the Sigiriya Triangle so lots of see and do. Kuoni arranged a car+driver for the time we were there which was invaluable (he collected us from the airport and then each day for our days trips and also dropped us back). Lots of long, hot days but well worth it.
It's in the Sigiriya Triangle so lots of see and do. Kuoni arranged a car+driver for the time we were there which was invaluable (he collected us from the airport and then each day for our days trips and also dropped us back). Lots of long, hot days but well worth it.
Edited by morrisk1 on Tuesday 31st May 10:57
Great thanks!
The elephants are in important part of this trip, so that's not good to hear.
Is the orphanage the only place to interact with the elephants, has anyone done any other elephant excursions?
I think we will be doing a private tour as there will be a 3 year old with us.
The Sri Lanka + Maldives must have been an amazing experience! We went to Corfu on our Honeymoon haha!!
The elephants are in important part of this trip, so that's not good to hear.
Is the orphanage the only place to interact with the elephants, has anyone done any other elephant excursions?
I think we will be doing a private tour as there will be a 3 year old with us.
The Sri Lanka + Maldives must have been an amazing experience! We went to Corfu on our Honeymoon haha!!
joshcowin said:
Great thanks!
The elephants are in important part of this trip, so that's not good to hear.
Is the orphanage the only place to interact with the elephants, has anyone done any other elephant excursions?
I think we will be doing a private tour as there will be a 3 year old with us.
The Sri Lanka + Maldives must have been an amazing experience! We went to Corfu on our Honeymoon haha!!
We went to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage which was ok and a day or two earlier we went on an elephant tour which our driver arranged. I've not got any details on that one though, I'm afraid. The elephants are in important part of this trip, so that's not good to hear.
Is the orphanage the only place to interact with the elephants, has anyone done any other elephant excursions?
I think we will be doing a private tour as there will be a 3 year old with us.
The Sri Lanka + Maldives must have been an amazing experience! We went to Corfu on our Honeymoon haha!!
We were very lucky!
joshcowin said:
Great thanks!
The elephants are in important part of this trip, so that's not good to hear.
Is the orphanage the only place to interact with the elephants, has anyone done any other elephant excursions?
I think we will be doing a private tour as there will be a 3 year old with us.
The Sri Lanka + Maldives must have been an amazing experience! We went to Corfu on our Honeymoon haha!!
The elephant orphanage at Pinnawala is the one we didn't go to for the reason mentioned. I presume it's still there and other tour operators still visit it but most operators will do a safari into the Yala or one of the other National Parks and these are very elephant focussed. Much better to see them in their natural environment so missing the orphanage and the chance to ride on an elephant wasn't a great loss. There was no interaction other than watching the elephants but the drivers get as close as they are allowed to which is fine. Unless you're between where the elephants are and where they want to be, in which case you get very close. The elephants are in important part of this trip, so that's not good to hear.
Is the orphanage the only place to interact with the elephants, has anyone done any other elephant excursions?
I think we will be doing a private tour as there will be a 3 year old with us.
The Sri Lanka + Maldives must have been an amazing experience! We went to Corfu on our Honeymoon haha!!
One of the best bits of the holiday, was a bike ride through villages, with a local family providing a meal for everyone at their house. I'm sure lots of operators do the same but you really felt like you were being adventurous and getting off the beaten track. The meal was great too.
By coincidence there was an article on SL in Saturday's Times Weekend supplement. It was about this trip, if you want something a bit different
http://www.seat61.com/colombo-to-tea-country-by-tr...
http://www.seat61.com/colombo-to-tea-country-by-tr...
We went to Sri Lanka a couple of years ago. Didn't actually book anything except for flights and 1 night in Colombo for when we arrived!
We took a Lonely Planet guide, chose destinations based on what we felt like doing and traveled around under our own steam. We hired a driver for a few days - he was great, took us to places we wanted to go to, stayed in towns we visited and drove us to places we wanted to see. Didn't cost much at all - in fact we doubled what he'd asked for as he was such an asset to have a round and was a great guide.
We went to the Elephant Orphanage - and wished we hadn't. Kandy was interesting - Visit Helga's Folly (stay there for a real experience!). We also climbed Adams Peak at dawn, went to Ella, which was beautiful, Gaul Fort was nice - we stayed a couple of days there - and we followed the coast for a bit.
All in all a beautiful country, nice people, great food and really easy to get around under your own steam and without planning too much.
Have fun!
We took a Lonely Planet guide, chose destinations based on what we felt like doing and traveled around under our own steam. We hired a driver for a few days - he was great, took us to places we wanted to go to, stayed in towns we visited and drove us to places we wanted to see. Didn't cost much at all - in fact we doubled what he'd asked for as he was such an asset to have a round and was a great guide.
We went to the Elephant Orphanage - and wished we hadn't. Kandy was interesting - Visit Helga's Folly (stay there for a real experience!). We also climbed Adams Peak at dawn, went to Ella, which was beautiful, Gaul Fort was nice - we stayed a couple of days there - and we followed the coast for a bit.
All in all a beautiful country, nice people, great food and really easy to get around under your own steam and without planning too much.
Have fun!
Thanks to everyone for their help and tips/guidance.
From looking at what's been said it looks like we are going to travel around the island, staying in certain locations for a few days then moving on. We will probably hire a private driver. Air bnb have some nice villas at reasonable prices!
I will begin to look into the locations and attractions mentioned.
It's a shame about the elephant orphanage as interacting with the elephants would be good.
Many thanks to everyone please feel free to add more if you want it would be appreciated!
From looking at what's been said it looks like we are going to travel around the island, staying in certain locations for a few days then moving on. We will probably hire a private driver. Air bnb have some nice villas at reasonable prices!
I will begin to look into the locations and attractions mentioned.
It's a shame about the elephant orphanage as interacting with the elephants would be good.
Many thanks to everyone please feel free to add more if you want it would be appreciated!
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