Sri Lanka - advice please!

[IsThisNameTaken]

Looking for advice from anyone who has travelled around Sri Lanka - it seems very common to hire a driver for the whole time, but I'm really not keen on this idea. Has anyone done this and how did it work? Do they literally stay with you the whole time (not in the same room!!) and eat with you etc? I'm sure they're very nice and can provide lots of useful info, but would like to just be with family rather than an extra person. Or do they just drive you from A to B and then you can get on with sightseeing or whatever on your own?

Public transport doesn't seem to be a good option there, and I've heard horror stories about driving yourself. Any advice appreciated :)

We had a driver who was so good at driving that DS who is constantly travel sick at home didn’t vomit once, even when we went up windy mountains. He arranged his own accommodation and was really helpful but it wasn’t like another family member - he drove us to where we wanted, arranged for when we wanted to be driven next and went off and left us to it. I’d highly recommend it (and specifically him!)

Honestly , the driving in Sri Lanka is crazy so you are better off employing someone who knows how to navigate the roads

We had a driver for full 3 weeks.
Theres drivers accommodation everywhere so they arrange that and stay nearby.
We didn’t eat with ours unless we stopped onroute somewhere and that was mainly tea break

You can choose whether you have driver as full guide or your more independent. We stayed 2-3 nights in most location and some days didn’t use driver if we stayed local. And we used tuk tuk sometimes in evenings to restaurants instead. Although our driver would have come collected had we wanted.

its hard to do without driver right now as a huge section of trainline is still damaged from cyclone last year. But tbh we went with young child and I think train and bus every where would have been too hard as he was too young to carry stuff and the train we did take was rammed.

Also, whatever Google stays, it’s usually at least an hour longer to drive.
Our driver was pretty cautious driver and always drove way below speed limit even on the motorway equivalent which was empty. He said it’s because often animals or damage to road, so very few drive fast or it was 100km speed limit I think and you rarely drive above 70km.
In towns there’s so much traffic it’s just slow regardless. Kandy was worst for traffic, if you stay outside you can easily spend 1hr just getting in or out.

Thank you @FinnoualaSpork and @Caspianberg - it's good to know how it works from someone who has actually done it. Would love to know how much you paid if you wouldn't mind? I've been in touch with 3 drivers and have 3, wildly different quotes! Also would appreciate any driver recommendations.

I am typing this from Ella Sri Lanka. We have been in Sri Lanka for 15 days now with another 10 to go. We have travelled so far between Negombo, Mirissa onto Yala National Park and now in Ella, moving on again tomorrow. We have not booked a tour or a driver. We have moved independently. There is an app called Pickme which allows booking of everything between a tuk tuk and a mini bus. Currently in Ella t doesn’t work but there is always plenty of taxis to take you where you want to go. I would not drive independently here though as the driving is crazy. One point though is due to the cyclone last year much of the rail network is still being repaired so factor that into any plans you make.

@IsThisNameTaken - ours was bundled in as we used a Sri Lankan tour company to book so accommodation, excursions etc also included

I think we I looked most people seemed to say your looking $70-100 per day depending on how looked booked for, size car etc. That obviously includes driver pay, his accommodation, fuel, car maintenance, and toll roads, plus car hire cost effectively, so it’s pretty good value imo. Most drivers are a tour guide also, and ours made all arrangements for us for safari bookings, or train tickets, or other tours we did.
However we went pre Iran war, so I know fuel had increased a lot there and less tourists so I would expect some prices to increase.

I would say I wouldn’t book any driver offering super cheap ie less than above. You want car to be safely maintained, and someone with good experience not just taking any offers.

Also would say it really depends on where you go. If your just going following coast down from Colombo to south coast, and staying a while in each location then you could actually using trains far easier and just get a driver occasionally. Theres a fairly regular train from Colombo to Galle for example.
And depending on if your dragging a pile of small children with you..

@emeraldsarebest - if you have time, HoneyBees cookery class was lovely in Ella. The lady was really nice and it’s small and authentic

We went in April 2024 and I’ve attached our itinerary below. We had a driver up until the final hotel and then we had a beach holiday with no travelling so didn’t need one after.

The itinerary is a bit weird because we had to visit family in Puttalam (which I wouldn’t recommend visiting) and we tried to limit the amount of driving because of DS’s travel sickness (which somehow, miraculously, did not materialise). The itinerary changed eg we stayed at some places a night or two longer if we liked it, we changed our final hotel to one in bentota as we didn’t like unawatuna, but the shape is broadly the same!

The total cost for the driver hire from 23rd march to 4th April was £733.

We had a driver that was recommended to us for 10 days and then flopped on a beach for a week after. I wouldn't want to drive or get buses in Sri Lanka - the roads and driving is terrifying. The driver was about £75 a day - that included his minivan, petrol and he took all the hassle out of tickets and queuing systems. He was invaluable for etiquette tips and food off the tourist routes. As a local, he had access to places that we would have never seen.
Sri Lankan hotels have drivers accommodation on site so we didnt see him when staying in hotels except for our arranged departure times. He was honestly the best bit of the trip - our kids went to school one afternoon with his kids to do English and cricket so we could get over jet lag. He took us to his Uncle's fishing boat at some ungodly hour where we caught tuna and took it to his market stall to be filleted and sold and had tuna steaks for breakfast in hoppers. Do message if you want his details..we still keep in contact!

I’ve been to SL a few times, a driver is a must. I have a contact there if that’s of interest - he has driven for us and friends of ours a few times.

Agree with above. We loved everywhere except Unawatuna. We were due to stay 4 nights, left after 1, moved up the coast to the other side Galle which was lovely.

We used a website called Sri Lanka car and driver hire to find someone when we went just over a year ago. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to post a link but you should find it through a web search pretty easily if you want to!

You post your requirements and then several drivers can give you a price. They are all checked and you can see reviews and photos from previous clients. The one we chose was excellent, really careful (in contrast to some other taxi drivers we got through the booking apps like Kangaroo and PickMe at other times for short trips). As others have said he was happy to just drive us, we weren’t expected to eat or socialise with him if we didn’t want to. But he was so helpful we were very happy to include him on coffee breaks etc on the road. Had time totally by ourselves when he wasn’t driving us.

Worth knowing there are two categories - some are just drivers, some are licensed to guide as well. Ours was “just” a driver but that worked for us as we could specify more what we wanted to do (although he did make some suggestions - just couldn’t actually take us round places). Would be really happy to pass on his details if you want me to. We paid $560 for 7 days, that included all fuel, his food & accommodation.

Thank you all for your advice - hiring a driver definitely sounds like the way to go. I've done a request via the site you recommended @Uninvitedleaf

Glad that helped! I was very reassured by seeing the reviews and pictures from previous clients, and from what he said to us the site owners are pretty strict about policing it.

We used Sri Lanka Car and Driver Hire as well - you get pictures of the vehicles so you can see what state they're in. Sri Lankan driving is... something you get used to! I'd also recommend Cinnamon Air if you want to cover large distances quickly - the drive from Ella in Tea Country to Colombo is about 5-6 hours but the plane takes 30 minutes.