Sri Lanka multi centre

[Wanderlustnearorfar]

Hi all,
We are looking to go Sri Lanka st some point next year. We were looking at possible going for 2 weeks and spending 11 nights or so travelling about and trying different experinces ie a whale watching boat trip wildlife tour and some sight seeing with a couple of days of relaxation at the end. Has anyone done this and which way would you say is best, using a particular travel comoany or going solo?
Sorry for the ramble and thank you

We are going with Families worldwide at Xmas. It takes the stress out of the planing. We usually travel independently so it’s a bit of a change for us, but I’m looking forward to it.

We went solo, booked hotels first and worked out a car for each change of location. We didn’t keep the driver throughout like most seem to-and I’m glad we didn’t as we ended up getting the train for some of our journeys and they were some of the most incredible train journeys I’ve ever done. I’m not usually one for being relaxed around travel but it was so easy going solo there. Have fun!

We did a multi stop tour with 2 kids, 2 years ago. Planned where we wanted to go, booked places to stay (quite a few on Airbnb). We just sorted the travel as we went, even long distance taxis are cheap. We liked the flexibility of not having a set driver and it meant we used trains and local buses too.
It’s a fab country, lovely people who are very welcoming.

It’s a really easy country to travel independently - we backpacked for 3 weeks and booked accommodation on the way. The trains are worth taking anyway for the views, and it’s always easy to find a taxi if you need one. The buses are busy and cramped but fine for shorter journeys. I’d recommend booking train tickets in advance though - Seat61 has a great guide and tells you how to buy online and pick up at the airport. www.seat61.com/SriLanka.htm

Hello I am going to maldives for 5 nights then Sri Lanka for 12 nights .I have good everything booked in on the price .when in Sri Lanka we have got a tour booked so we know what we are doing each day and are own driver

We're going in April (Colombo/Kandy/Tangalle) and we're going independent as it's a heck of a lot cheaper and the DH hates group tours. I found our transport company through Tripadvisor reviews - happy to share the details if you'd like but do actually think the OP's point about mixing up trains/buses/cars etc is valid - probably would be more interesting! We're doing day tours from Kandy and Tangalle through Viator. Logistically it's obviously more of a pain in bum to do it yourself but the comparison cost saving on this trip is a couple of grand!

Hi Wanderlustnearorfar,
Sri Lanka's beautiful now that the Troubles finished in 2009. There are at least five areas worth exploring:

1. The Cultural Triangle that has palaces, ancient cities, temples, monasteries and fortresses from the colonial past.
2. Jaffna and the north is really off the beaten path and has a National Park that was closed for 16 years (I think it's called Wilpaty or something) but it leopards as well as other wildlife. Jaffna is a colourful hotch potch of forts, colonial churches, temples and really beautiful beaches.
3. Galle is a pretty fort city on the south western tip of Sri Lanka and has interesting boutiques, cafes and grand colonial merchant houses.
4. Kandy in the centre is a pilgrimage site with a famous temple.
5. Near Kandy are cooler tea growing regions with old style colonial hotels that remind me of Nairobi in the 1960's (yes, I'm 400 years old!)

You'll absolutely love Sri Lanka!

Look on the Selective Asia website for sample itineraries. We booked through them too and found them excellent to work with and good value. Our journey was: Habarana (went to Sigiriya, Polunnarawa, Minneriya, Dambulla); Kandy; train to Ella; Yala; coast near Tangalle; Galle. This was over Christmas; you’d probably need to go north not south for good beach weather in our summer to avoid the monsoon.