🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
You will fall in love with Sri Lanka and its heavenly beaches, rich historical culture, wild elephants, fine tea, fascinating biodiversity and the kindness of the people.
Here are some photos from our trip:
Itinerary preview
🗓 9 days
DAY 1: Colombo - Mirissa
DAY 2: Yala National Park
DAY 3: Buduruwagala - She
DAY 4: Ella - Nuwara Eliya
DAY 5: Kandy
THURNO 6: Kandy - Dambulla
DAY 7: Polonnaruwa -National park Minneriya
DAY 8: Sigiriya
DAY 9: Negombo - Colombo
🔗 Useful links
💸 Cost
(for 2 people)
🚗 Driver + hotel (4/5* and half board): €1920
✈️ Flights (Qatar Airways): €1866
💊 Insurance: €121
👮🏻 Visa: €96
💰 Miscellaneous expenses: €400
Total: €4400 (€2200 per person)
✨ Essential
🦟 Strong mosquito repellent!
🧊 Don't use ice
🚰 Don't drink tap water, always in a closed bottle
🍣 Don't eat raw food
Features of the trip
Features of this itinerary based on our real experience:
🔹 9 days
🔹 Road trip with private driver
🔹 Organized with local agency: Siriranga Viaggi
🔹 Travel as a couple
🔹 April 2023
In this itinerary you will find:
🔸 List of the places visited every day
🔸 Links to Google images of every place
🔸 Link to daily map on Google Maps
🔸 Link to accommodation on Booking.com
🔸 Tips and impressions of every day
🔸 Useful links for this trip
🔸 Total cost of the trip (for two people)
When to go
January ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
February ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
March ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
April ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
May ⭐️⭐️
June ⭐️⭐️⭐️
July ⭐️⭐️⭐️
August ⭐️⭐️⭐️
September ⭐️⭐️⭐️
October ⭐️⭐️⭐️
November ⭐️⭐️
December ⭐️⭐️
More info on www.quandoandare.info
🗓 Day 1
🛬 Arrival in Colombo with Qatar Airways after stopping in Doha.
🇱🇰 After passport control, meeting with the owner of the local Siriranga Viaggi agency, Buddhi, and with our driver, Sebastian. Let's change some money and buy a phone/internet card.
Our journey begins!
Places visited along the route:
📍 Colombo
📍 River safari Madu Ganga
📍 Fortress of Galle
📍 Mirissa Beach
Tips
💡 We organized this trip with local agency Siriganga Viaggi di Buddhi. We spoke with him several times before the trip to customize the itinerary based on our needs and he provided us with a driver, Sebastian, for the entire trip. We had a very good time with them.
💡 We initially changed €300. We had to change again on the last day to pay for an excursion that could only be paid in cash, otherwise they would have sufficed.
💡 The local telephone card it was very useful to us. The cell phone with that card acted as a hotspot for us and we could both use the internet. Furthermore, we paid very little for it at the airport (around €8).
💡 The boat ride in the river Madu Ganga it was very pleasant among palm trees, mangroves, monkeys and Buddha statues. We also visited a local house where they process cinnamon.
💡 In the area of Welligama, between Galle and Mirissa, you can spot the famous fishermen on stilts Along the coast. In recent years this has become a real tourist attraction and, when you try to photograph them, they ask you for an offer in exchange.
🗓 Day 2
Tips
💡 Mirissa is the most popular place in Sri Lanka for spotting blue whales. The best period is from November to April and the cost is around $50 per person.
💡 Making a safari in Yala National Park in Sri Lanka offers an exceptional wildlife spotting experience. With the highest density of leopards in the world, you can see them alongside elephants, crocodiles, exotic birds and much more. The vast landscapes of savannah, forest and lagoons add to the natural beauty, allowing for complete immersion in the biodiversity and magic of unspoiled nature.
We booked a private jeep to do the afternoon safari at a cost of around €40 per person.
🗓 Day 3
Places to visit along the route:
📍 Monastery of Buduruwagala
📍 Waterfall of Ravana
📍 Bridge of the nine arches
📍 Ella
Tips
💡 The Buduruwagala monastery we really liked it despite it being a less traveled place than others in Sri Lanka. Being able to admire the Buddhas carved into the rock without travellers' caves around was a beautiful experience.
💡 The nine arches bridge it's definitely a must in Sri Lanka. Check the train timetable so you can see it when it passes over the bridge and enjoy the naturalistic panorama.
You have to take a route in the middle of nature to get there and, if it rains or if the ground is damp, pay attention to the leeches. I was bitten by one but Sebastian, our driver, immediately removed it in the right way. Don't panic! they are not dangerous and with a little alcoholic hand gel they come off on their own.
💡 Ella it is one of the prettiest towns in Sri Lanka. In the evening there are many small shops and restaurants and you can visit it independently without problems. We took a tuk tuk to go back and forth from our hotel. Don't forget to always establish the price before getting into the tuk tuk!
🗓 Day 4
Places to visit along the route:
📍 Ella Railway station
📍 Ella - Nuwaraeliya (by train)
📍 Tea factory Damro Tea (factory visit)
Tips
💡 The train journey from Ella to Nuwaraeliya offers wonderful views of Sri Lankan nature. The train travels slowly and the doors and windows are open, so during the journey you will be able to take the famous photos looking out from the train (always with great caution because one could fall anyway).
It is not necessary to reserve a seat because you will spend the 3 hour journey photographing the landscape and moving around to find a free door or window. We got two tickets without a seat in second class for less than €1.
💡 We visited the Damro Tea tea factory and they showed us the different processes of all types of Sri Lankan tea. There is a shop there where you can buy tea (a little more expensive than in the local markets but very good and well packaged if you want to give it as a gift to some friend or relative).
We were interested in the plantation safari (a jeep ride inside the tea fields lasting about an hour) but there was no availability that day and we returned the next morning. Buddhi told us that few travelers are interested in that activity but we really liked it a lot.
🗓 Day 5
Places to visit along the route:
📍 Tea factory Damro Tea (tea plantation safari)
📍 Ramboda (waterfalls)
📍 Kandy (visit city center and market)
📍 Buddha Tooth Temple (Sri Dalada Maligawa)
Tips
💡 During the safari in the tea plantations of Damro Tea you will be immersed among the tea plants and will collect tea together with the pickers who work in those plantations. The price is around €40 (total cost and not per person).
💡 Visiting theTemple of the Tooth in Kandy evokes a mystical and sacred feeling. The fascinating architecture, the call of prayers, the devout atmosphere and the sense of history and spirituality inspire deep reverence and admiration. I suggest you go there around 6 pm to attend the 6.30 pm prayer.
🗓 Day 6
Places to visit along the route:
📍 Botanical Park of Peradeniya
📍 Sri Muttu Marie Amman Kovil (Hindu temple)
📍 Lunch at a peasant's family house
Tips
💡 The Dambulla Golden Temple it was the most impactful surprise of the trip and left us speechless. Go there, enter all the caves and you will find out why!
💡 The Hindu temple Sri Muttu Marie Amman Kovil it's the most beautiful we've seen in Sri Lanka. You cannot access the interior but it is worth taking a walk around and admiring the details of the facade.
🗓 Day 7
Tips
💡 Polonnaruwa is a historic city declared a world heritage site by UNESCO. Its ancient glory is revealed through the majestic archaeological remains, including magnificent dagobas, Buddha statues and intricate temples. Exploring this site offers an immersion in the culture, art and history of ancient Ceylon's past.
💡 We dedicated the afternoon to making aprivate jeep safari in Minneriya national park, where large herds of wild elephants can be spotted. As suggested by Buddhi, we preferred to do this safari and see the elephants in the wild rather than visit some elephant orphanage where these wonderful animals are chained. Much better in freedom, don't you think?
We paid around €40 per person for this private afternoon safari.
🗓 Day 8
Places to visit along the route:
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Lunch with local family
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Boat ride on the lake
📍 Ayurvedic wellness center (Ayurvedic massage)
Tips
️💡 The climb up the Sigiriya rock it's definitely worth it. The adventurous ascent leads to the discovery of an ancient fortress and fascinating frescoes, making it memorable and rewarding.
️💡 Get on the Pidurangala rock offers spectacular views of nearby Sigiriya. The excursion, with a somewhat demanding final section, allows you to admire a breathtaking view and experience a quiet and less crowded atmosphere compared to Sigiriya.
️💡 We took a trip to Hiriwadunna village with an absolutely amazing boat ride in the lake. The lake looked like a mirror reflecting the blue sky with clouds and Sigiriya could be seen from the lake. The farmer made us a collar and a hat with water lilies on the lake. This was a real treat.
🗓 Day 9
Places to visit along the route:
📍 Departure towards Negombo
📍 Lunch on the street in the fruit and corn stalls
📍 Negombo
📍 Aperitif with Buddhi
📍 Airport to leave for the Maldives (Maldives itinerary)
Alla prossima, Sri Lanka! 👋🏼
Tips
💡 Eating fresh and exotic fruit in the street stalls in the middle of the wild nature of Sri Lanka is priceless! Mango, papaya, red bananas, corn cobs...
️💡 Buddhi offered us an aperitif in his restaurant before leaving for the airport. We exchanged impressions about our experience in Sri Lanka. Organizing the trip with Buddhi allowed us to relax during the trip, visit the country with a local person who showed us every place with passion and without giving up the freedom to change the places to visit freely thanks to their flexibility.