Sri Lanka - Private Driver

[BlackBean2023]

How does it work in practice? We would pay for accommodation, food etc but do they book it themselves and we just pay an all in price? Where do we find a great driver? What should we expect?

We’re looking at going for two weeks in April. It feels like a long time to spend with a stranger!

We had a private driver in Sri Lanka for our honeymoon and he was absolutely amazing. He was able to skip us past queues, knew all the best places to go and went at our pace. He was our tour guide as well as our driver and an all-round lovely guy.

We’d booked the trip through Kuoni and he was part of the package, so I don’t know how you’d book one separately. All of his accommodation/meals were already sorted, we just arranged a pick up time the night before and met him at the front of the hotel. He explained that all the drivers have separate accommodation and dining rooms at the hotels.

Get in touch with your accommodation provider and ask for recommendations?

Also, check for a Facebook page for travel tips, Sri Lanka or similar. I wouldn't book anything directly from Facebook (and take any advice offered with a pinch of salt) but sometimes those pages can provide some good leads in between the drivel.... (usually there's a mix of locals promoting their businesses, tourists who have been there and are eager to share their experiences, and spammy Ai nonsense..)

You book a package of hotels, car and driver through a company - one based in Sri Lanka would be best, then they sort it, the big hotels will have facilities for drivers to eat and sleep. Alternatively if you just want a car and driver for a day, the concierge at your hotel will be able to organise it. If your going from Colombo to Galle, maybe get the driver to take your luggage, while you take the train that runs just behind the beach (the bus is also a great experience). Likewise the train ride Colombo to Kandy is worth doing. Ideally car one way, train the other, so you can visit the Elephant Orphanage, the Batik Factory and other retail outlets.

Following as would love to do this!

We are going to book individual drivers between each leg of our trip instead of one for the whole trip. I’ve done a couple of trips with a driver for the whole trip and I found it was too much time to spend with the same person.

We had a sweet driver in Sri Lanka. He wasn't absolutely perfect. He did (very occasionally) take us to more touristy restaurants than we'd choose, as it meant he could have his lunch free. But more often he'd whizz up to a roadside stand so we could try local delicacies for a few pence. He was gentle, polite and really went the extra mile on many occasions - once he took us on an extra unscheduled trip because he knew we were interested in a specific part of history and there were ruins there. He also always whizzed us to the parts of museums that focused on that aspect of the history. He rescheduled a day of our tour so we could attend a special festival in Kandy, which was amazing. And he knew the best drivers for game drives. We had two outstanding game drives, and met other people who hadn't even seen an elephant!

When we got stranded for an extra week in Sri Lanka due to the Middle East crisis, he was booked onto another tour, but did a round trip after work and drove to the village where we had found a hotel, to deliver a home made feast cooked by his wife, to check we were okay.

If you PM me, I could give you his contact details.

Also, we designed our own itinerary then used a UK travel agent, specialist in Sri Lankan holidays, to book it for us. It was incredibly good value. For the same price as a budget group tour we had a private driver, our ideal itinerary, gorgeous hotels and half board - game drives, genuine elephant rescue centre day, Sri Pada night climb, tea and spice plantation stays all included. If we'd gone with the budget tour group, as we originally thought we might, we'd have paid extra for many of the trips, missed out on some of our favourite visits, been rushed round important places, had to sort out our own ariport runs and food.

I recommend David at The Great Holiday Collection

I never use a third party to arrange trips - normally do it myself - but wondering if this is one I’ll have to bite the bullet with!

Yes please, I can’t seem to DM off the app so will log in via PC later!

I've been looking at Trailfinders Sri Lanka holidays with a private guide/driver, & comparing with arranging it all myself - & they won ! Plus it's 100% secure.

We had Sri Lanka booked for this April but had to cancel due to Emirates flights, that time we had arranged a private driver via one of the hotels. Luckily everything was free to cancel.

We are now going this summer and have got a private driver through the Sri Lanka site https://srilankacaranddriverhire.com/ You only pay when you arrive. We have booked everything independently and been pretty easy to do.

We had a private driver in Sri Lanka who was recommended to me by a friend who had used him twice before. A few friends of friends had used him and recommended him. (DM me for details). He was an absolute find! He asked if our kids would like to go into school with his kids in Negombo one afternoon to visit the classroom, he took us out fishing and we then visited the fish market to sell the catch. There were many special off the beaten track experiences that made the trip. We paid him a daily rate for him and his Merc Van. We travelled for 7 days staying in hotels and visiting places he recommended or we wanted to see. He then dropped us at Wilaptu NP where we did a Safari for 3 nights before he collected us and dropped us to a beach resort for 5 nights. He then took us to the airport.