Anyone been to Sri Lanka?

[liveoppositeacrazyhorse]

Would love to go this summer for 2 weeks, end of July. Will we melt in the heat? Know it's monsoon in the south west but can work around that and go to the east coast.

The places that really appeal so far are Kandy, Arugam Bay (surfing), Yala (safari) Ella (the train there) Sinharaja rainforest and Rekawa beach if we can see turtles.

We are a very active family with older teens, we all love the sea/ wildlife/ culture. Is there anywhere you'd recommend for cycling (nothing too serious) or kayaking?

All your top tips and advice greatly appreciated!

Also, do we need a visa? And what's the best way to transfer between places? Book different drivers when there?

Thanks everyone for all the top tips before we arrived!

Yes spent a good amount of time there ! Galle is worth a visit if you can fit it in, you can get the train from Colombo. Surfing is amazing, Ella is also worth a visit. Weligama has good surf.

We are off to Ella then surfing then Mirissa and Galle! Such a beautiful country

Sorry to jump on this thread! Came across it after seeing Sri Lanka mentioned on another thread.

Can anyone who has been advice if they’d feel comfortable going there with a slightly higher risk of needing hospital treatment? My child has Type 1 diabetes and has never needed to be admitted but it’s always in the back of my mind.

Thanks and I am very jealous OP!

I'm not sure about hospitals but @Wantingtomove123 might know as they live here? It is an amazing place for a holiday! Loving it.

they will be very familiar with diabetes. We went to a private hospital in Colombo for some x rays required for a visa & it felt clean, well organised etc.

Colombo has good private hospitals (like Lanka hospital, Nawaloka, Asiri and Kings …if you want to look them up) but expensive too so make sure you have insurance! There aren’t many good hospitals out of Colombo perhaps except big cities like Kandy and possibly Galle. Don’t count on the government ones …

To the people I was posting with earlier on…. I went to Nilaveli which is near trincomalee very recently and the sea was really nice with water sports and we were able to swim in sea. The place we stayed at was Nilaveli Oceanfront Condeminiums which are good for families and reasonable price. There were plenty of families from abroad there but not too busy. A few cafes around there.
Also, climbed Sigiriya and went on a safari tour in Minneriya National park and saw lots of elephants!

Glad you are loving it - I am very jealous! We are saving like mad to go back end of Jan next year!

I might copy your holiday for next summer OP! I really want something amazing to look forward to.

Also tagging @Wantingtomove123 - I have just booked the Heritance for 5 nights in Feb 2025. Cannot wait!!! Although I now need to fill the other 10 days we are there 😬

I'm thinking 2 nights in Colombo when we arrive before heading to Kandalama and then possibly south to a beach? I've heard good things about Mirissa, Kosgoda, Galle and Bentota?!

Anyone got any hints or tips???

I don't want there to be loads of travelling (would like a few days to just chill on a beach / by a pool with cocktails and a good book!) but also don't want to miss out on anything and regret it!

Thank you in advance 😊

We visited Colombo for the day, not sure I'd spend 2 nights there but then I preferred the beaches to the cities and it was our last day. Our favourite beaches were Trincomalee and Arugam Bay. Liked Unawatuna too. Wasn't as keen on Mirissa as the other beaches but it's probably completely different in February compared to August.

Galle was lovely. We visited for the afternoon when we stayed in Unawatuna.

I’m going to kandalama on Monday for 2 nights so will let you know if it’s as good as I remember many years ago. Five nights maybe too much though as there’s no beach to relax at. You could climb Sigiriya/Dambulla/Pidurangala and go on elephant safari in Minneriya but I personally would spend about 2 nights there. I’m not sure if you’ll see lots of elephants there in Feb but I went last month and saw hundreds.
I think one night in Colombo is enough as there’s not a huge amount of sightseeing in Colombo…
South of Sri Lanka will have good weather when you are coming. There’s not a huge difference between the places you mentioned. Galle is nice to walk around and see the colonial architecture and the fort. If you want to relax without noise I would advice to book one of the more expensive hotels as there’s a quite a few backpackers and some of the smaller hotels have loud music etc. Also, avoid beaches near cities and towns (Look on Google maps?) I would say the more south you go, the less busy it is and as a whole the beach is nicer.

@Wantingtomove123 we stayed at the Heritance Tea Factory in June for three nights. It's a way out from Nuara Eliya and high up so it does get chilly. Definitely do the early morning nature walk. It was amazing

Hope you had a good time @Wantingtomove123 Kandalama was amazing and the highlight of our trip - loved the monkeys on the balcony. Tip for anyone else going - ask to be seated outside if you have the evening meal plan (you may have to book the night before) as it's much calmer than the mad canteen atmosphere indoors and they have torches lit - very atmospheric.

I would not go to Colombo if I could do it all again. Generally I love big hectic Asian cities like Jakarta and Bangkok but found Colombo very hard to like. There isn't much to see and a lot of the heritage stuff is either concreted over or collapsing. Avoid eating at the Galle Face Hotel if you do end up there, as it is very faded and the food is horrendous.

Another tip - to avoid long drives, Cinnamon Air do short hop flights for $150+pp - the drives are really long and although you get to see a lot it does get wearing.

@liveoppositeacrazyhorse How did you find eating gluten free in Sri Lanka?
We too are considering a trip but also have a Coeliac in the family.

Had a great time! The sun being out as opposed to rain does make a huge difference though. Relaxed by the infinity pool when the sun was out. And booking a room with jacuzzi helped when it was raining outside. Tip- book a room which is higher up as the lower ones have no view. And if u book at Sigiriya end you are closer to the main restaurant, infinitely pool, spa and so on. If you book at Dambulla end you have to walk quite far. I’ve been in both ends and definitely would not book lower ones at Dambulla end. Try to avoid Kandalama on a weekend(Google Sri Lankan holidays too) as Kandalama is a favourite amongst Sri Lankans also so it gets extremely busy especially in restaurant and especially at dinner time. After dinner, go to the lounge opposite where they serve coffee and there’s a Sri Lankan band playing instrumental music.
The monkeys on the balcony were fun!

@mysweeties my coeliac DS decided not to come, for other reasons, but if am honest think it would have been tricky.

Oh ok, thanks for responding anyway @liveoppositeacrazyhorse that is my concern.
We were definitely spoilt this year in Spain with dedicated GF bakeries and restaurants!

As was I. And the butterflies were so awesome. A swarm of butterflies.
It's not the easiest, especially in the heat but I was elated (also had a Duran Duran moment - only relevant if you vaguely remember the '80s)

Thank you for the helpful comments and tips @MyRamone @liveoppositeacrazyhorse and @Wantingtomove123

Ok so we have the following itinerary (loosely!) in place now:

2 nights in Colombo on arrival (Saturday - Monday)
4 nights at Heritance Kandalama (Monday - Friday - full board)
5 nights in Tangalle (Friday - Wednesday)
3 nights in Galle (Wednesday - Saturday)

Does this sound ok?? Any changes anyone would suggest? Less nights at Kandalama?

Also, where and how would we fit in the train ride from Kandy > Ella?

Thank you 😊

Also (sorry!) how do you suggest getting from place to place? Private driver? Car hire? Or public transport?

This is such a great thread! We're keen to make Sri Lanka our 2025 family holiday. Given we're limited by school holidays, would we be better to go in April or August?
Where should we go if these are on our 2 week trip wishlist:
Elephants - with some interaction (but definitely ethical!)
Turtles - ideally baby turtle hatching and also swimming with big ones
Ziplining
Water rafting
Then a lovely beach place with good snorkelling and swimming to relax at the end!
Kids are not keen on super long drives, and I'm not keen on packing/repacking every day, so ideally we want to keep this to as few locations as close to each other as possible.
Could any of you wise Sri Lanka experts please suggest an itinerary for us?!

@sunseeker19 My post is above yours so not actually been ourselves yet (we go in Feb!) but I've heard Kosgoda (lower south west coast) is the best place for turtles 😊

I took the kids on a surfing and yoga retreat in December 2018 near Ahangama.

We had an amazing time. I am a single parent and I wanted something that they could get involved in that was a bit more adult (dd was 18 and ds was 17).

We flew via Doha. My only comment would be the medical facilities - I had a head injury and really, if I had needed proper treatment we would have had to go back to Colombo. There was a small hospital north of Galle and tbh I didn't need major treatment but that did make me think on the way home that if we were a family with a medical condition or a very young child, we might have been too far away from proper doctors for comfort.

Other than that, it was fantastic