where to go in Sri Lanka?

emmad25

Heading to Sri Lanka on the 30th December for 18 nights. Looking for suggestions for must see places preferably southwest, south, south east and central, unless there is somewhere up north that should not be missed. We arrive in Colombo in the afternoon of the 31st and we are going to head down south to a beach for New Years Eve. So suggestions for a beach maybe one hour or two hours drive South of Colombo to stay. Thanks.

duffman13

emmad25 wrote: »

Heading to Sri Lanka on the 30th December for 18 nights. Looking for suggestions for must see places preferably southwest, south, south east and central, unless there is somewhere up north that should not be missed. We arrive in Colombo in the afternoon of the 31st and we are going to head down south to a beach for New Years Eve. So suggestions for a beach maybe one hour or two hours drive South of Colombo to stay. Thanks.

Was in Sri Lanka for 3 weeks not so long ago. If your looking to get straight out of Colombo and I think you probably should id probably head to Hikkaduwa which is 2 to 3 hours south of Colombo on the motorway. I went to Galle afterwards for a couple of days and then on to Mirissa. All of those are beach places except for Galle which has a nice fort which is nice for the walk.

I then moved on to Tangalle which I didn't enjoy massively but if your a seafood fan you might enjoy the area. There is two national parks were you can do safari a couple of hours on from there. I then went up to Ella which is visually stunning with lots of good hikes and full of tea plantations. You can get a train from Ella to Kandy which is amazing scenery on a 7 hour train ride. Kandy is central and has easy access to Sigiriya to go and see the Lion rock.

There is lots to do and a lot to see, are you gonna be travelling cheap and outside of beaches what are your main interests?

emmad25

duffman13 wrote: »

Was in Sri Lanka for 3 weeks not so long ago. If your looking to get straight out of Colombo and I think you probably should id probably head to Hikkaduwa which is 2 to 3 hours south of Colombo on the motorway. I went to Galle afterwards for a couple of days and then on to Mirissa. All of those are beach places except for Galle which has a nice fort which is nice for the walk.

I then moved on to Tangalle which I didn't enjoy massively but if your a seafood fan you might enjoy the area. There is two national parks were you can do safari a couple of hours on from there. I then went up to Ella which is visually stunning with lots of good hikes and full of tea plantations. You can get a train from Ella to Kandy which is amazing scenery on a 7 hour train ride. Kandy is central and has easy access to Sigiriya to go and see the Lion rock.

There is lots to do and a lot to see, are you gonna be travelling cheap and outside of beaches what are your main interests?

Great thanks. Two of the national parks I had researched were Yala National Park and Udawalawe National Park, did you visit either?

Don't have a budget to stick to, but still will be travelling relatively cheap. Really interested in the national parks and tea plantations, as well as a bit of surfing if we can find a good surf beach.

Is there much to do in Colombo city?

killbillvol2

Arugam Bay for surfing. Nice vibe to it as well.

I'd agree with duffman about Ella and the train journeys. I also stopped in Nuwara Eliya which is in tea country.

I liked Mirissa best on the south coast too.

Yala is well worth a trip - check out which parts are open, I remember some issue.

I like Colombo but there isn't an awful lot to do there except eat - there's some really great food.

I also visited Jaffna 3 years ago. It was just opening up to tourism and I found it really interesting. The surrounding area is spectacular. The rail line has fully reopened now so it's easier to get there. Not sure about weather this time of year though?

Buses and trains are dirt cheap so transport won't stretch your budget.

duffman13

emmad25 wrote: »

Great thanks. Two of the national parks I had researched were Yala National Park and Udawalawe National Park, did you visit either?

Don't have a budget to stick to, but still will be travelling relatively cheap. Really interested in the national parks and tea plantations, as well as a bit of surfing if we can find a good surf beach.

Is there much to do in Colombo city?

I went to Yala which was nice and would reccomend a safari there. This time of year (Dec-Mar) the best weather is along the west and south coast. Killbill is spot on, Arugam is lovely but can be wet this time of year. Be very careful surfing or swimming as I found the rips to be treacherous when I was down around Mirissa and Hikkaduwa.

If your looking for tea plantations there are a couple in Ella but Nuriya Elia would probably be better for this. Public transport is laughably cheap and actually fairly efficient. I wasn't a huge fan of the buses because they can be rammed but the trains were great. If you are doing the ella to kandy train then book well in advance to get a decent seat with a good view. I didn't stay in Colombo because it's a disaster with traffic, I stayed in Mount Lavinia which is a few kms south of Colombo but on the train line for Hikkaduwa/Galle/Mirissa so gave us options.

con1982

If you are getting the train from Colombo to Kandy/Ella, don't bother with the tourist observation carriage. Waste of time. Just take a standard train and sit on the steps as the train slowly moves through the mountains

Anuradhapura is amazing. It's an old temple complex north-west of Dambula. Dambula caves are Ok, nothing special.

The tooth temple in Kandy is excellent. Also check out Madame Hilda's tea shop. Lots of celebrities have visited over the years. The staff are fun, in an odd way.....

emmad25

duffman13 wrote: »

emmad25 wrote: »

Great thanks. Two of the national parks I had researched were Yala National Park and Udawalawe National Park, did you visit either?

Don't have a budget to stick to, but still will be travelling relatively cheap. Really interested in the national parks and tea plantations, as well as a bit of surfing if we can find a good surf beach.

Is there much to do in Colombo city?

I went to Yala which was nice and would reccomend a safari there. This time of year (Dec-Mar) the best weather is along the west and south coast. Killbill is spot on, Arugam is lovely but can be wet this time of year. Be very careful surfing or swimming as I found the rips to be treacherous when I was down around Mirissa and Hikkaduwa.

If your looking for tea plantations there are a couple in Ella but Nuriya Elia would probably be better for this. Public transport is laughably cheap and actually fairly efficient. I wasn't a huge fan of the buses because they can be rammed but the trains were great. If you are doing the ella to kandy train then book well in advance to get a decent seat with a good view. I didn't stay in Colombo because it's a disaster with traffic, I stayed in Mount Lavinia which is a few kms south of Colombo but on the train line for Hikkaduwa/Galle/Mirissa so gave us options.

What is Mount Lavina like in terms of how good the beach is and also bars and restaurants?? Have couple of nights left and want to spend them at the beach, close enough to Colombo. We have an evening flight so plenty of time to get to the airport. So want to stay at a nice beach for remaining nights. Thanks.

duffman13

emmad25 wrote: »

What is Mount Lavina like in terms of how good the beach is and also bars and restaurants?? Have couple of nights left and want to spend them at the beach, close enough to Colombo. We have an evening flight so plenty of time to get to the airport. So want to stay at a nice beach for remaining nights. Thanks.

To be honest it's just OK, was very queit as the peak season hadn't kicked off but lots of restaurants and a couple of bars however the nightlife wasn't up to much when I was there however that could be the season. I met an Irish girl while I was there who said Negombo was nice and close to the airport but you'd need to maybe check out the TripAdvisor forum for that one

con1982

We spent two nights in Negombo. It is handy for the airport. The beach is ok. Rates in the area are good compared to the Colombo