Budget ideas for Sri Lanka?

[DeliveredByKiki]

Planning a once in a lifetime trip to Sri Lanka next Christmas with my parents, DH and 2 DC (ages 7&10) but have no idea how much we should start budgeting - anyone been recently? My family loves there 30years ago so our info

Depends how you plan to travel, hotel class etc. We went one Christmas, 4 of us, and it was around £10,000. That includes flights, good hotel accommodation, private car and driver, entrance to sights etc, a booking course. It excludes most meals (except Christmas Day). I recommend Selective Asia, both to get ideas on itineraries, weather etc from their website and as agents to book through. Used them a few times now and they are good value for money and very helpful.

I mean a cooking class, not a booking class!

Thankyou! I was hoping we could do it for under $10K (we live in the US) not including the flights so that prob works out

rest of the message I didn't put on this in case anyone else has thoughts - please also send me any tips!! I'd love to do a cooking course, did you take your children Annebronte?

We’re looking at 2-3 weeks over Christmas and new year, will be travelling around but spending a reasonable amount of time in each place. I want to travel mainly by train but my parents have talked about having a driver for some of it. Plan is prob to spend Christmas along the coast near Galle and we’d splurge on a house with a chef etc

Otherwise we’re fine with low-mid budget options, prob mainly Self catering with the odd hotel

Not including flights btw but everything else! Any ballpark figures?

Yes, we took two young teens, who loved it. It was a two week trip from mid December to just after Christmas. The TripAdvisor Sri Lanka forum is a great place to get advice too. We travelled mostly with a driver, but did Kandy to Ella by train, which I recommend, but you do need to ore-book through a Sri Lankan agent.

I've heard so much about that train ride Annebronte - did you stay up in the hills at all? My mum is saying there's not enough time to but we also want some time just the 4 of us so I'm thinking we could actually stay up there for a few days

I think the cheapest way is to book flights and book small hotels / guest houses in locations that you want to visit.
Consider where you want to go, along side the weather/climate as Sri Lanka has a very variable - region by region - climate pattern.
Also remember that although Sri Lanka looks small on a world map, in comparison to India, distances are actually big, so maybe restrict yourselves to one part of the island.
I haven't been to Sri Lanka but am planning a trip, and will be going Columbo - Kandy - Newara Eliya - Udawalawe - Mirissa - Galle - Columbo.
A friend of a friend, a British couple, have a lovely guest house at Kandy which comes highly rated - here

The train ride is amazing. We stayed in Ella: just for 2 nights, then on to Yala, but well worth it. The views are stunning, birds amazing, beautiful walks (and accessible for children). We stayed at 1000 Acres, which was lovely. That’s also where we had a family cooking lesson with the hotel chef. It has a beautiful pool, perched on a ridge, surrounded by a tea plantation!

that sounds incredible AnneBronte

thankyou sealsong I'll check out the guesthouse - we're looking at a very similar itinerary, one of the reasons for going at Christmas is to have better weather in the southern part of the island, a lot of our trip is being a bit dictated by going down memory lane with my parents

Anyone know if the train goes (and if its just as scenic) from Ella to Kandy rather than the other way around?

We did similar route over Christmas: Habarana (to see Sigiriya, Polunnarawa, Kaudula/Minneriya); Kandy; Ella; Yala; beach near Tangalle; Galle; evening in Columbi before 3 am flight home.

Hi, I lived in Sri Lanka until last April so feel free to PM me.

Most people get cars for a reason. Train travel is beautiful but can be VERY slow and knocks days out of your itinerary. It's not the most comfortable way to travel either. And if you can't book in advance (use expo rail) then your choice will be limited to what's available when you turn up at the town you are leaving from. SL is a small country but the infrastructure (or lack of it) means things take a lot longer than anticipated. We were on a train last December in the Hills and it was miserable - cold and wet.

Remember if you are traveling you will also have your bags with you and in all likeliehood will need to get to and from the station in tuks etc. My strong advice is treat the trains as an 'experience' and do a couple of key scenic ones, rather than a mode of travel. DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER THE BUSSES! I know you want to do it on a budget but....

I didn't really come across self-catering while I was there because most accommodation has a chef attached. Unless you are happy to go to the market every morning then you run a chance of very limited food options. Out of major (and that's Colombo, Kandy, Galle and Jaffna) cities there aren't very many supermarkets that are stocked for 'quick' or 'easy' meals. You are better off heading out for a cheap dosa or rice packet wherever you are. Again - think transport.

You can get very cheap accommodation but it's cheap for a reason. Check out Booking or Agoda for ideas. A villa in Galle with attached chef will be lush - but not cheap!

I sound the voice of doom and gloom and I don't mean to be, but I do speak from experience! Pm me with any questions.

girlgoneglobal thankyou - I’ll def PM you!