Sri Lanka itinerary - too much?

[RunLyraRun]

Me and DP, and my DS aged 15, next summer. Hoping to book flights soon (which are already a crazy price - thanks Trump). We all like hiking, eating, wildlife, snorkelling, spending most of our time outdoors.

This is my current plan. I've been sending ideas back and forth with Blue Lanka as they seems to be a good halfway house between UK-based tour operators (too expensive) and arranging everything independently (too much faff), but I would love some Mumsnet wisdom. I'm avoiding the south and west with it being monsoon season there.

Nights 1-3: arrive mid-afternoon on day 1 after overnight flight. Meet driver, transfer straight to Sigiriya area (to avoid wasting a night in Negombo). Minneriya for elephants, Lion Rock, Pidurangala Rock, Polonnaruwa.

Nights 4-6: Trincomalee. Pigeon island snorkelling, whale watching trip, chill.

Nights 7&8: Kandy. Temple of the tooth, botanical gardens. I'm a bit concerned that Kandy will be too chaotic for DS, who isn't great with crowded places. But would we be mad to skip it?

Nights 9&10: Nuwara Eliya. Horton Plains hike. Lovers' Leap waterfall.

Nights 11&12: Ella. Train from Nanu Oya to Demodara. Little Adam's Peak hike, Nine Arch Bridge.

Nights 13&14: Udawalawe or Yala safari. My current thinking is that Yala will be too crazy busy. I know it's the best chance of seeing a leopard but I think the crowds would spoil that for me.

Flight home in the late evening of day 15.

DS has never left Europe and I'm conscious of how few years I have until he won't want to travel with me. So it's important to me that this holiday feels like a big adventure, not a slog! Am I trying to squeeze too much in? Specifically, too much driving, and too many short stays? If so, how can I avoid that? Thanks for your help, vipers!

We went this summer and booked independently, it wasn't that difficult to do that and pretty much everything was free cancellation until very close to arrival.

We did opposite way round as wanted wildlife the most so wanted to have that first. We went to Yala but it was by block 5 not block 1, saw a leopard and wasn't busy - we did an afternoon safari and stayed at Mailagama Cinnamon Residence which was excellent value and they arranged the safari which was £50 for vehicle and also gave us a free tour of their rice fields, cinnamon, fruit and veg they grow and a free tuk tuk ride to a bird conservation park where you meet a conservationist and walk round (we gave a donation). We also went to Kumana National park which also saw leopards at, stayed at Wild Edge Panama and safari by BBC wildlife photographer. There was a big pilgrimage on at the time.

We didn't go to Kandy, heard mixed reviews about it and we had to cut something and no regrets about that. Didn't do Trincomalee either but have done whale watching elsewhere. It is a very active holiday but we loved that. I was a bit nervous about getting ill but we were careful with food and drink and absolutely fine and was amazing holiday.

Hi OP - we went to Sri Lanka this summer with DS15 and DD11. unlike you, we didn’t pre-book a trip and organised everything ourselves. To be honest our trip was a bit mixed. It was definitely an adventurous destination and not a relaxing one
The highlights:—
safari in wilpattu. We stayed in a small guest house who organised the safari for us. The driver was excellent. He avoided other cars when asked and we saw everything except for sloth bears. This was by far our best experience in Sri Lanka. The guest house food was great and it was in a rural location with a lovely walk to a lake with crocodiles in it.
Sigirya - we stayed nearby in a fabulous hotel with a lovely pool. Climbing sigiriya was fun and so was a village tour - the kids loved the village tour. Don’t underestimate the heat and the strength of the sun.
the scenery, countryside and wildlife is fabulous, monkeys all over the place, wild elephants

the lowlights
first bad experience was the ladies loos at the airport. Fucking filthy with blood smeared walls. My daughter cried. We quickly discovered that the only loos we could use in Sri Lanka were in tourist hotels, tourist restaurants and in the occasional supermarket
litter almost everywhere, including historic temples and ancient ruins
being asked for money all the time.
a good driver will make or break your trip. They accompany you a lot more than we expected. The one who texted me asking for “photos for my status” at 1am and for more money for an agreed journey while driving us was aggravating
we can handle spicy food but not in Sri Lanka. My son got blisters in his mouth from chilli
i wouldn’t go to Trincomalee unless you stay in a really lovely resort. Many of the beaches had a lot of litter. The crowds at pigeon island meant we got out of the water and couldn’t actually snorkel there - it was shoulder to shoulder kick in the face kind of swimming.
elephant safari at Minneriya - more jeeps than elephants. The traffic fumes and the heat made this unbearable. We had to leave as DS got sunstroke

I was careful to research toilets in advance and we didn't have issues anywhere - when I went in the ladies at the airport it was immaculate with a cleaner though it may depend which one you go in as I did read bad reports before. Also keep walking to get a western toilet. Husband said gents were fine too but no cleaner in those. Otherwise did use toilets at the hotel and restaurants were I have checked reviews first for toilets. I took hand gel and also it can be advised to take toilet paper which we did but everywhere had it.

We used a private driver and he was only with us for the journeys and one meal and a sweet, lovely, quiet man. We didn't see litter but think that depends where you go, we didn't do beach areas or Trincomalee. Some areas have lots of stray dogs but had researched that and the dogs kept themselves to themselves and was always clean from them. We weren't asked for money anywhere but the people are very poor, and so we did leave extra money when staying at cheaper hotels and tip the driver.

We did find the Sri Lanka food sometimes described as mild could be very hot by British standards. We only had this issue once but was on last day. There was always a western option for breakfast with lots of fresh fruit, sometimes fresh pancakes, toast, egg, sometimes yoghurt etc which were amazing especially the fruit. There was a surprising amount of pizza around as well. We did have Sri Lankan food most evenings and only once was it far too spicy but it was in our hotels used to tourists and we chose the least spicy options. We also had vegetarian everywhere and that was great, there are so many fruits and veg they grow. Food / drink is very cheap.

I appreciate the mixed reviews! Everything I've heard up to now has been universally positive, which isn't really realistic, particularly in an emerging economy. We had a similarly mixed experience in Montenegro this summer, which was all the more difficult for being unexpected, so I think forewarned is forearmed. Sounds like I might need to swap Minneriya for Wilpattu, and Trincomalee for elsewhere??

How did you both find a good driver, @OneZanyCat and @thinkfast , if you arranged everything independently?

This is similar to the itinerary we had except we didn’t go to Trincomalee but did go to Adam’s Peak - that’s an adventure - you climb overnight and see the sunrise our primary aged children managed it but we are very outdoorsy so felt confident.

we found the food easier from a spice perspective than south India especially as there was always something recognisable on the menu for the kids (green curry etc)

I love Sri Lanka and have been 3 times all independently booked using a combination of trains, busses and taxis.

We got our driver through here - you put it itinerary and how many bids you will accept. I went with the pre set of 15 which arrived very quickly, all rated about 4.8 and above. I chose one as he said he gave water on each journey and included sweets and fresh fruit. He also wasn't trying to say he could plan my whole journey like one or two where which I didn't want. I didn't go with the cheapest but mid price but all the prices were very reasonable. Ours was $650 for the trip, used him for most of trip and got airport pick up. We loved it and would consider going back.

srilankacaranddriverhire.com/

I found Tripadviser useful for reviews and ruled on Trincomalee and Kandy based on some of those though Kandy was more lack of time and possibly a bit busy for us.

Thank you. Good to know that's a reliable site to use. $650 for how long?

Adam's Peak might be an option for us - we hike every weekend - but I've heard the stairs are relentless?!

You're the thread expert having been three times! Do you think my itinerary is roughly OK then? What were your top three experiences?

I've always booked all our travel independently but only in Europe, this feels a bit out of my comfort zone but maybe I'm wrong?

I think we used the driver for 10 days - we got bids from $600 to $800 dollars, we were high mileage for Sri Lanka. The $800 tended to be massive vehicles which we didn't need. It is useful to have mineral water provided every journey as its hot, vehicles are air conditioned.

No one has yet said I'm packing too much in...although skipping Kandy would certainly free up space...

Has the driver given you approximate drive times for those journeys?

Depends a lot on what sort of vehicle. it's 20 years since I was there but I doubt the roads have improved much.

re: toilets - when traveling i wore a knee or calf length skirt - much easier with the squat toilets. Learn how to use them without toilet paper (water instead) and you'll be fine. It's part of the experience.

Amazing country.

I was thinking we might need a minivan for three of us (plus driver) and three suitcases and enough space for comfort on long journeys - but maybe that's unnecessary?

Moving every 2 nights is fairly normal there.

We found the road timings on our route matched what AA routeplanner said they would but we went via southern motorway at start. Roads in hill country are hilly and windy and those can be slow, otherwise ours weren't bad at all but did have tuk tuks and elephants, monkeys and peacocks on them in places. So not massive distances in one go ideally.

You can get whatever vehicle size works for you - we just took two not big suitcases, its so hot you don't need much for clothing though do need to cover shoulders and knees for religious sites.

No need to use squat toilets if you don't want to but check out in advance - safari toilets are unlikely to be great so we took half day safaris and actually that's plenty.

Honestly your itinerary sounds fine. It’s a little packed but you get to see everything you want to see! And your son is 15 so it’s not like you’re travelling with a young child. The only thing I’d change is I’d want a few extra days by the beach to relax so I’d feel like I’ve had a relaxing part of my holiday but if that doesn’t bother you (or you physically couldn’t add more time on anyway) then I think it’s perfect!

It all sounds lovely but please, for the love of Mike, don't go on one of those elephant riding experiences.

Gosh no, don't worry, wouldn't dream of it.

We have been to Sri-Lanka a few times now. For me your itinerary is too busy. Don't underestimate the jet lag and tiredness you will feel after doing so much travelling then a packed schedule. We have always left at least 5-7 days at the end to chill out on the south coast before making our way back to the airport.

ETA The temple in Kandy was absolutely heaving on the night time if your DS doesn't like crowds I would go in the day time. We did Kandy to Ella by train and had to book well in advance of the trip for tickets so double check that.

Thank you. This is the problem with going in our summer - it's monsoon season on the south coast, and the east coast is too far away from Colombo to tack on at the end - we will have to do it in the middle of the trip, which is less relaxing...

Look at climbing Adam’s peak at night, that’s part of the fun. I do think you are packing a bit too much in for dc, I’d do it myself but dealing with more than 2 people you need more flex. I do highly recommend a river safari near bentota if you stay near there, we saw nearly all the wildlife you expect bar leopards and elephants, the latter we saw playing in the surf by our hotel! We book independently and last trip were fortunate to have use of an acquaintances driver but I’ve travelled fully by public transport and taxi in the past too

We just booked flights (best use credit card for protection, think I read Sri Lankan airlines has financial issues but direct was great if pricey) - think BA may now be doing direct flights as well, hotels (all free cancellation) in advance and reserved free cancellation the driver and also the Ella train you book 30 days in advance asap that morning online for best tickets. Rest was easy to add over there, like just have it on itinerary for driver and hotels generally have safari links if by them. Kunama we said in advance but was free reservation. We did stay one night in-between Yala and Colombo airport which was in monsoon area but was fine and a third normal price and just us but it's depends on luck with weather. We got no rain in day and about 30 mins in night. Otherwise it's 4 hours drive from Yala to airport.

I would take out Trincomalee personally and add days elsewhere and a night between Yala and airport. But it's largely personal preference.

OK that's interesting, thanks...really starting to think we should arrange stuff ourselves, as that would give us more control and flexibility and the benefit of cancellable accommodation...

Why did you rule out Trincomalee? Too far east or too busy?

Partly lack of time, the rabies worried me as well and distance.

Far too much! Pick 4 things. Also write off the first two days. The flight is a killer and you'll be too jet lagged to do anything. I would do a few days in Colombo or nearby beach to come to, Kandy/pinnawella, Polonaruwa/ Trincomalee and then either yala or Sigiria on your way back.