Sri Lanka

[mkjess123]

Hi,
Next January we will be going to Sri Lanka, and we will be staying at four locations, Polonnaruwa, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, and Colombo.
Does anybody have any experience of these locations and if so, any recommendations for trips / things to see?
Thanks.

[nikaiyo2]

mkjess123 said:

Hi,
Next January we will be going to Sri Lanka, and we will be staying at four locations, Polonnaruwa, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, and Colombo.
Does anybody have any experience of these locations and if so, any recommendations for trips / things to see?
Thanks.

Sri Lanka is epic one of the best places to visit imho.

I found Sigiriya to be a bit meh. After walking up a million steps to see very little other than an epic view. Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura are vastly more interesting.
There are really lovely small hotels here that are 3 star due to no facilities but they are lovely and much nicer imho than many 5 star places.

kaudulla national park Is close (if memory is right) and is brilliant for seeing elephants.

Kandy is brilliant for a few nights, the obvious temple of the tooth is lovely. https://www.helgasfolly.com/ Is mad and worth going for dinner/ tea/ drink. There is a lovely place to eat called No Name Restaurant that serves basic local rice and curry.
I like the raddison in Kandy really handy location.

Avoid the spics garden tours, they are ok till the end when you go through the shop and realise that the potions are rather costly.

Nuwara Elia is ok, quite picturesque almost alpine but not much there really. There is a nice hotel that serves traditional afternoon tea… lots of waterfalls in the hills, tea plantations are interesting as is Seetha Amman Temple

Colombo is ok, but not much to do, the sea front is nice but I would be bored after a day. It’s quite a busy city, street food tour with a guide might be fun.
Personally I would stay in Negombo for arrival/ departure.

[loskie]

in 2019 I did this:

https://www.telltaletravel.co.uk/sri-lanka/group-h...

you could pinch ideas from this.

[shirt]

nikaiyo2 said:

I found Sigiriya to be a bit meh. After walking up a million steps to see very little other than an epic view.

???

The ascent and the view is the whole point really. Imagine all those stairs and only being rewarded by that view, terrible!

[nikaiyo2]

shirt said:

???

The ascent and the view is the whole point really. Imagine all those stairs and only being rewarded by that view, terrible!

Sorry I meant compared to the Buddhist sites in central Sri Lanka sigiriya is only really about the view, I did not find the history “ruins” that interesting/ worth the climb.

I am not great with heights so found some of hehe climb absolutely terrifying, so maybe this clouded my judgement!!

[loskie]

I got too "bhuddad" when I was there. There's only so many you can appreciate. For me that climb at daybreak was a highlight,

[mkjess123]

There are some very good suggestions and we will consider them all.

Experience has taught us that most of the trips you do on holidays as expensive and a few leave you a little deflated. I would like to see a little more of the real country when travelling abroad, and I often find that you see more looking out of the coach's window on route to and from these.

Thank you to everybody who took time to reply. It is really appreciated!

[kswapp46]

Hi OP,
I think Colombo might be a little boing if you’re just looking for experiences/monuments so I would recommend experiencing the restaurants in Colombo. There are plenty of good ones to try for authentic food.
I can PM if you want any suggestions for good southern and Tamil cuisine as there are so many good options.

Controversially I would also recommend experiencing the hotels in Colombo, the service is excellent in all of the 5 stars and I really enjoy the vibe of some of the outdoor bars/restaurants for not a ridiculous amount of money.

Edited by kswapp46 on Saturday 21st September 02:41

Edited by kswapp46 on Saturday 21st September 03:44

[dunkind]

Spent six weeks in this hotel, absolutely loved it and made a great base for the things I wanted to do.
https://www.gallefacehotel.com/

[Cupid-stunt]

Went many many years ago and stayed in Polonnaruwa and then got a taxi driver to take us to Galle.
That was an epic journey and learned so much!

Whilst in Polonnaruwa we went to Minneriya to see elephants - that was fun and well worth the trip.

[Prisoner 24601]

dunkind said:

Spent six weeks in this hotel, absolutely loved it and made a great base for the things I wanted to do.
https://www.gallefacehotel.com/

First thing that comes to mind when I see this hotel is Devilled Eggs!

[dunkind]

Prisoner 24601 said:

First thing that comes to mind when I see this hotel is Devilled Eggs!

Hmm…. Right, ok. Not quite getting it myself. You have stumped me here Valjean.

[Vasco]

I spent a week there some many years ago - during the Troubles when those from the north were strung up in the street if caught in Colombo. We had to fly out from the military airport as the civil one was too risky.
Having said that, it was an enjoyable week and we covered quite a bit of ground - usually by taxi. I think we would have also used an organised coach trip but I don't recall any at that time.
I'd go back anytime.
.

[Old Merc]

Sri Lanka is a fascinating country, so many different areas and places to visit. Here is just a snippet of what you can do.
We stayed in a lovely hotel on the beach at Kalutara.

The beaches can be deserted. Wonder to a simple little beach bar and have a beer, £2 a pint.

We hired a driver for a two day tour, all around Kandy.
The Temple of Tooth & Kandy National Museum very interesting. Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya, you can stroll for hours in wonderful scenery.
We stayed the night in the Mahaweli Reach Hotel fabulous place on the banks of the Mahaweli River.
Next day it was the Elephant Orphanage at Pinnawala, on most days they take Elephants to bath in the Maha Oya river.
.

A Tip ! avoid anything to do with TEA or Spices. You will be whisked around a "museum" or what ever, then its into the shop for the hard sell routine.
If your not careful you will end up with £££`s worth of boxes of the stuff

Edited by Old Merc on Saturday 21st September 17:47

[Prisoner 24601]

dunkind said:

Prisoner 24601 said:

First thing that comes to mind when I see this hotel is Devilled Eggs!

Hmm…. Right, ok. Not quite getting it myself. You have stumped me here Valjean.

We stayed here in 2011, not only was it our first time experiencing High Tea, but also the first time we'd seen Devilled Eggs. It was a fascinating afternoon. :-)

[shirt]

mkjess123 said:

There are some very good suggestions and we will consider them all.

Experience has taught us that most of the trips you do on holidays as expensive and a few leave you a little deflated. I would like to see a little more of the real country when travelling abroad, and I often find that you see more looking out of the coach's window on route to and from these.

Thank you to everybody who took time to reply. It is really appreciated!

I’d personally find it hell to be on a coach in the first place.

In Sri Lanka it’s normal to rent a car and a driver, all the big hotels are set up for it with food and accom for them included in your rate. But, you can self drive with either an international driving permit or a local temporary licence. The latter is a fair old faff but doable, the rental agency took me to get mine.

Not many people do it though, the agency found it quite novel. I’d booked a 4x4 but they advised against it, said something small and nippy would be better which turned out to be a Suzuki swift. They were of course correct, never needed awd capability but often needed to be small and nippy. Outside of Colombo the traffic really isn’t that bad if you maintain around 50Kph. Any slower and you’ll have buses stacked 3 wide all trying to overtake each other and you around a blind bend.

We stayed in 5 star hotels and $10 a night b&b’s, some which included home cooked food in with that. Got the car stuck on the beach over on the east coast and was rescued by a group of fishermen. Went all over the island including places you ‘shouldn’t’ go. Got got speeding but the guy was so surprised by a tourist driving he just let me off. Swiped the side of the hire car along a rock denting both doors, the agency guy laughed and gave me my full deposit back.

So my advice would be rent a car, don’t stay in one place more than a few days, and don’t be put off by the b&b’s.

Great country, super friendly people. I keep meaning to go back.

[Old Merc]

Driving in Sri Lanka is not for the faint hearted, it’s manic. So hire a car and driver from a recognised tour operator. Even then there were times when I thought, s**** he is not going to overtake that bus here !!!! He did.
We used these guys, they will organise anything you want.
https://www.aitkenspencetravels.com/tours.html

Edited by Old Merc on Monday 23 September 09:36

[shirt]

It’s really not that bad, I’ve driven in far worse places since then. It was my first third world country though and so it was very much my first rodeo, but it was fine. The door incident was parking up at a b&b, rock jumped out at me!

Edited by shirt on Monday 23 September 09:49