Rate my Sri Lanka itinerary

[Banjobollo]

After being inspired by all the rave reviews on here, we’ve booked to go to Sri Lanka for 3 weeks at the end of July. Was gutted to hear about the terrible flooding recently but things should hopefully be back to normal by then. Would really appreciate your thoughts on our planned itinerary and whether it will be too much travelling around.

We are 2 adults and 2 teens (13 & 15) and plan to hire a private driver and book hotels using Booking.com ourselves rather than doing a tour. I backpacked round Asia in my 20s so feel quite comfortable with this but DH is nervous as he hasn’t ventured far out of Europe.

Any personal recommendations for drivers would also be gratefully received!

Hoping to see plenty of wildlife and beautiful scenery and have some beach time for snorkelling and surfing etc.

Here is the planned route. As it’s monsoon season in the South West we’re heading to the East Coast for beaches. Wonder if we have too much beach time as DH gets bored…do we need longer in the hill country as there seems to be lots to do there?

• Negombo – 1 night after arriving late afternoon
• Sigiriya area – 3 nights (Lions Rock, Minierya National Park, Pollonurwa ruins)
• Uppuveli / Trincomalee – 4 nights (Pigeon island snorkelling, whale watching, relaxing)
• Kandy – 1 night to break journey and see the city (train journey to Ella if the line has reopened)
• Ella – 4 nights (9 Arch Bridge, tea plantations, waterfall, zip line, walks etc)
• Arugam Bay – 4 nights (surf lessons, chilling)
• Yala National Park – 2 nights for full day safari
• Galle – 1 night stop over
• Negombo – 1 night before flying at 10am the next day

Thank you!

You could do another day in Galle rather than go to Negombo for a bit of a break. It's lovely.
This might be a bit of a hectic tour I think Doing your own trip is fine though. A lovely and friendly country. English very widely spoken.

Ooh try to stay in a Geoffrey Bawa hotel or at least visit for a drink.

Thank you both. I do wonder if we’re trying to do too much. Hard to know which bit to cut out though!
Will definitely check out Geoffrey Bawa hotels.

I see Galle is only 2 hours from the airport so that could work for our last night of we get up early.

We did pretty much the same and 4 nights each place was ideal.
Went from Trincomalee straight to Arugum Bay then Ella and then train to Kandy.
Straight from Kandy to airport (although evening flight so this worked for us).
Skipped Galle as it didn't fit (and fully intend to return one winter for west and south).
We used public transport and didn't feel rushed. With a driver it'll be even less rushed.

Thanks @House4DS thats good to know. Hadn’t thought of doing the hill country at the end so will look into that.

It looks like a lot of time in a car which can get wearing as the roads are mostly poor and driving is shall we say adventurous. Our driver came from a company in Colombo called Walkers Tours and he was excellent. Not just a driver but a guide and lovely man as well. The people are friendly and the food is divine.
A hotel we stayed in for some r and r is called Saman Villas in Bentota, I still dream about the staff and their lovely manners.

I’d say it’s too much! As others have said, the roads in Sri Lanka are pretty awful in many places so travel is hard going.

Negombo – 1 night after arriving late afternoon From the airport I’d go straight to Sigiriya area and miss out Negombo - a late afternoon flight arrival means you’ll likely not leave the airport until early evening and Negombo is the opposite direction to Sigiriya
• Sigiriya area – 3 nights (Lions Rock, Minierya National Park, Pollonurwa ruins)
• Uppuveli / Trincomalee – 4 nights (Pigeon island snorkelling, whale watching, relaxing) just do 3 nights here
• Kandy – 1 night to break journey and see the city (train journey to Ella if the line has reopened) 2 nights here
• Ella – 4 nights (9 Arch Bridge, tea plantations, waterfall, zip line, walks etc)
• Arugam Bay – 4 nights (surf lessons, chilling) 3 nights
• Yala National Park – 2 nights for full day safari
• Galle – 1 night stop over *3 nights - it’s a beautiful place!I
• Negombo – 1 night before flying at 10am the next day a night / day in Columbo might be really fun instead

@Soontobe60 I agree with going straight to Sigirya area - that will save you half a day and one less pack/unpack.
Personally I wouldn't worry about slow roads / driving times (and they'll be much less than our bus journeys). We loved watching the world out of the windows.
Another thought - you can access Yala from Arugum Bay side - again might save some packing/unpacking. We skipped Yala as we saw elephants in the north. Again saved for my return trip 😁.
And if you're going to shave off a beach night, I'd take it off Trinco rather than Arugum Bay. My kids loved both but particularly loved the surfing (and so cheap they went everyday).

Thanks everyone, some really helpful suggestions to streamline the itinerary. Back to the drawing board!
Will check out Walker Tours for a driver…having looked at a few Facebook groups there are so many independent drivers to choose from.

Don’t forget about trains as a transport option, can’t help with drivers because we borrowed dps old bosses but try emailing your first hotel who are likely to have contacts

Am in SL at the moment but am mainly between Colombo and Galle.

Your itinerary looks very busy / Sri Lankan roads are tiring outside cities/the motorway so I would revert to doing less in your time. This is a good itinerary to start with and doesn’t try too hard to cover too much ground - obviously spend a night or two in the towns they have suggested for Shabbat/weekends.

elephanttravels.com/sri-lanka-kosher-holidays/

Dambulla cave temple is nice

Thanks all. Hoping to do at least part of the Kandy to Ella journey by train but will look into others. Someone suggested using single taxis for each leg so could combine with that perhaps.

We went to Sri Lanka a few years ago doing a very similar itinerary. It was beautiful and we loved the country. However we did feel the amount of time spent in a car was too much, and it was an exhausting trip. Up early every day to travel and having a driver/guide meant no independent time to explore, which I would really have valued. Personally I also found it really difficult spending that much time with a stranger. He was great and there was no pressure for small talk if we didn't need to, but I found it quite uncomfortable. Also we kept seeing the same people at each picturesque rest stop - everyone was on the same route! Personally I wouldn't choose to travel in that way again. Highlights for me were Sigiriya, Yala and the train from Kandy to Ella. It is a spectacular country and I'm sure you'll love it. Personally I had never travelled in that way before (driver and a relentless sightseeing itinerary) and I found it wasn't for me.

Yes all very good points. This amount of road travel won't feel like a holiday and it"s hard to be with a driver all the way.

Just back from there! My third visit.
Itinerary looks good. I would maybe add Nuwara Eliya as a stop instead of the 4 nights in Ella.
The trains are back fine after the cyclone but we had to go from Ambuwela instead of Kandy. Also they were madly difficult to book as it is peak season and so popular now but you should be OK in July.
All the roads on the main tourist routes in the worst affected bits of the hill country are already open with just a bit of work ongoing.
The roads we used on the main tourist routes were excellent. Just a few less well maintained ones when we took a detour or went looking for wild elephants.
I didn’t do the north or the east coast and missed Yala after reading several less positive reviews. We got to see plenty of wildlife in the hill country and a smaller elephant safari around Pinnawala.
I’d end the trip on the west coast rather than go back to Negombo. It’s not far from somewhere like Hikkaduwa or Bentota to the airport. Do have the first day in Negombo though for the jet lag.
As to how to travel. We used a local company who provided a driver/guide for the whole trip and very glad we did. The cost is worth it for the time saved in making own arrangements and faffing with transport options and it meant we were able to take numerous small side trips and see amazing things we would have missed.
Our driver was extremely good and very eager to please (as they all are) and we could just ask for random stops to try some fruit or he would take us off somewhere he knew we’d enjoy.
We used Blue Lanka Tours and 100% recommend. Would suggest booking via a Sri Lankan agency so your valuable currency stays where it’s needed.

More interesting insights, thanks everyone.

@Cando6 great to hear things are getting back to normal now.
I was starting to wonder if Yala might be too busy..we’re only including it as it seems to be the best place to see leopards so may think about alternatives.
Bentota could be a good shout for the last night as there have been a few good hotel suggestions there.

Bentota would be a great relaxing end to a busy trip. Good surf for the teens. I don’t know how fancy you like your hotels but highly recommend the Ekho Surf there. It’s right on an amazing beach. Slightly old hotel but unbeatable location.

@Cando6 thank you, that looks great