Anyone done Sri Lanka with just a driver/guide, booking accommodation direct?

[DoTheCabinetShuffle]

Hi all

Obtained a couple of quotes from travel companies to do a fortnight in Sri Lanka, obviously i'm aware they're profit making businesses, and you're also paying for the pleasure of having someone else do all the itinerary legwork, so expected there to be a mark up.

The difference between their quote, and us booking same flights and accommodation direct is £1,900 for one agency and £3,100 for another. Would like to get a quote for just being ferried around, just to see what it would be by itself? I genuinely have no idea, but appreciate its their job, time, petrol, local knowledge etc.

Has anyone done this?

Clearly would rather all was arranged by travel agency for minimal stress, but mindful maybe we're paying them over £1,000 to arrange all of this when we could easily do it ourselves and put that towards the cost of the holiday.

TIA!

Yes we did it in April over the Easter holidays and there were many Brits, Australians & Scandanavian families doing just this. The coach party trade seemed to be mostly older Europeans or Chinese. I booked our hotels through booking.com and found our transport companies through looking at top ten recommended companies on TripAdvisor, emailing them for quotes and going from there. We used one company for our main journeys (Colombo to Kandy, Kandy to Tangalle, Tangalle to Colombo) and another for day trips from Kandy (Nuwara Eliya, Dambulla, Sigiriya & Minneriya National Park. I’d highly recommend both! They were really professional, kind, spoke good English & turned up when they said they would. Will post their details in a minute if you want a quote.
Totally agree about the huge difference in price between putting it together yourself & buying a tour to Sri Lanka. We had a fantastic trip & the people were wonderful. It was a great shock when three days after we got back the bombings happened. We had felt very safe & there was no security presence we could see. I imagine that has changed. It’s a beautiful island & the people couldn’t have been more welcoming - it’s a place you can’t do anything but wish well!

We stayed in the Cinnamon Red in Colombo, the Ozo in Kandy & The Lagoon Paradise Hotel in Tangalle, all of which were good. If you plan to do Sigiriya, it really is bloody huge so best to do early in the morning when it’s cooler.

Happy to answer any queries if you have got them!

Company we used for transfers between locations - yourdriversrilanka.com/

Yes! Did this! Really really happy with the whole experience. Place marking to come back with the info... hold on!

Company we used for day trips from Kandy -aaliyatours.com/

I second Ozo hotel in Kandy, it's lovely, great views and just a walk or tuktuk into the centre.

We did a couple of trips from Kandy and used https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/AttractionReview-g304138-d12456546-Reviews-KandyyBudgetTaxi-KandyyKandyDistricttCentralProvince.html the drivers were great and really reasonably priced.

My favourite experience in Sri Lanka was at The Elephant Freedom Project (not too far from Kandy). I'd highly recommend it.

We didn't see The Elephant Freedom Project (and gave the Pinnawala Orphanage a wide swerve!) but looks great. Was upset to see elephant rides still being a pretty common tourist attraction despite the adverse publicity - twats!!

Wow thanks so much everybody. Those that did it this way, did you just contact the driver companies with an itinerary ahead of time for a quote i.e. we plan to be in A, B, and C on these dates - can you transport us there? Are drivers easy enough to get out there, could you enquire whilst there to go quite a distance and still get a good price?

I emailed five companies I found on TripAdvisor with great reviews with an intinerary & dates and asked for quotes. Both the companies we used seemed to be booked up & busy but this has probably changed a good deal since Easter as tourist numbers will have plummeted so I imagine it would be very easily possible to source a driver when you are out there. Might be easier to do in advance though just to save some hassle?

Okay, I've finally had time to check. Here is our itinerary, although we changed a couple of the hotels, in the end. We went a couple of years ago and paid £810 for the driver (162usd), car (374usd) and accommodation (467usd), for two people. As in, £405 each. Had a great time and really recommend the company.

Just as a point of contrast, these were our transfer costs. Our accomodation was pricier though!

Date

Day

Location/Transfers

Hotel

Site visits/Excursions
08th, April

Monday

Airport - Colombo

Cinnamon Red Colombo

Transfer only
09th, April

Tuesday

Colombo - Kandy

OZO Kandy, No 31, Saranankara Mawatha,, 20000 Kandy,

Pick up from the Cinnamon Red Colombo on at 9.30am and transfer to Ozo Hotel
13th, April

Saturday

Kandy - Tangalle

Lagoon Paradise Beach Resort in Marakolliya, Tangalle

Pick up from the OZO Kandy on at 9am and transfer to Lagoon Paradise Beach
17th, April

Wednesday

Tangalle - Negombo

Hotel Thilon, 02 Ransini Garden, Gangarama Road, Andiambalama, 10050 Katunayaka

Pick up from the Lagoon Paradise Beach Resort in Tangalle on at 15.00 hrs and drop at Hotel Thilion

1. Total Cost:

US$ 350/-

1. Payment Method:

US$ by cash 80% ( $ 280/-) on the first transfer and the balance on the last transfer ( $ 70/- )

Please contact me on the following numbers if you need further information

Tel - +94 774 575 937( Whatsapp)

Hotline - +94 777 10 11 72

Have great holiday,

Kind regards,

Chami.