Garima

Hi all,

I'm planning a trip to SL in June/July with a friend of mine. This is what I have proposed based on all the info I found on the net. But I'm not sure if this is a reasonable plan, in terms of logistics of getting from point A to B . Would love it if you could let me know. Many thanks!

Day 01: Arrival at Colombo. Spend the day in Colombo. I'd like to spend some time at least in the capital.
Day 02: Go to The Kandalama resort and visit Sigiriya Rock in the evening (170 kms - 4 hours).
Day 03 - Visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Polonnaruwa
Day 04 - Visit Anuradhapura and Mihintale but possible skip this as entrance fee is USD50?? Would you say it wont be too sacrilegious to skip this?
Day 05 and 6: Go to Trincomalee and Nilaveli beach OR we go to the south and visit Merissa beach instead? We can do either/or as we have time constraints. Which one would you recommend?
Day 07: Visit Dambulla. Spend night in Kandy. Is it doable to get from Nilaveli - Dambulla - Kandy in a day?
Day 08: Explore Kandy, and in the evening catch train to tree country. Is there a train in the evening?
Day 09 and 10: Explore tree country. Have to figure out which places to go to - Nuwara Eliya, Adam’s Peak/ Horton Plains National Park, Hatton-Dikoya and Maskeliya, Ella. Need help to figure how to spend our 2 days across these 5 towns. Which ones to skip? We are interested in doing the famed Adam's Peak trek.
Day 11: Back to Colombo to catch flight

Waiting eagerly to hear your opinions! Btw, I need to restrict it to 10 days!!

Garima

Kathie

Too much in too little time!

The day you go to the Kandalama, you could also visit the Dambulla cave temples in the late afternoon. The Kandalama is located near Dambulla. The next day you can go to Polonnaruwa, and the following day get up early in the morning and go to Sigiriya as early as possible.

Your choice as to whether to go to Anuradhapura. It's a bit of a drive from teh Kandalama. The entrance fee is NOT $50.

You might opt to go to Kandy next, then to Tea country. I'd choose one place to stay in Tea country.

Save the beach until last.

I'd recommend you work with a travel agent in Sri Lanka to get a car and driver and make your hotel reservations. The agent can give you realistic drive times between your destinations.

Have you read any of the many trip reports here on Sri Lanka? Three Fodorites have trip reports from this year: Femi, crellston, LeighTravelClub. I also have a trip report, though it is several years old. You might find our photos helpful www.marlandc.com/SriLanka/index.htm

Go to the top of this page and choose Sri Lanka from the drop-down menu. You'll get a list of recent posts on Sri lanka, not only trip reports but also people in the planning stages like you.

Garima

Thanks Kathie! This is very useful - I am going to incorporate all your suggestions. Yes, I know - its a bit of a rush to fit all that in, but we are fast travelers needing something new to do every day.

Yes - I read a few of the travel reports but didnt find much on Trinco Vs Merissa. If I have to do the beach at the end, it makes more sense to go to Merissa, rather than go all the way north to Trinco again and then head across country to Colombo.

I will do some more research and post any new info I find over here.

Robbietravels

I agree with Kathi's recommendations about the Ancient Cities routing, then Kandy/tea country. Keep in mind that a four hour drive is usually a best case scenario; roads are sometimes washed out dirt tracts. I'm curious about your desire to beach at Trinco or Merissa; I've not read about them either. If you are departing from Colombo, then it would be convenient to do a beach stay on the west coast or south coast near Galle. In fact, you could stay at a beach near Galle and visit this interesting town. I also have a trip report from 2008 or 2009 that you can took up on this forum.

Mohammed

Coming in June July, forget Mirissa and do Trincomalee, its the southwest monsoon time.

Kathie

I'd rely on Mohammed's advice on the beach!