Don88

I'm planning a twelve day solo trip to Sri Lanka in mid-April 2010. Concentrating on the south, I plan to stay two nights each in Mt. Lavinia, Hikkaduwa, Galle, Yala, Kandy, and back to Mt. Lavinia. Looking for any and all advice from recent visitors on my itinerary; on whether it's best to arrange for a driver for the whole trip, or just between stops since I will be staying at each locale two days; weather in the south in April; and any thoughts on security. Thanks!

Kathie

Hi, Don, we had a wonderful trip to Sri Lank a year and a half ago. Craig was there a little over a year ago, and Robbietravels was there about 6 months ago. All of us wrote trip reports. Click on my name and you'll find a list of my trip reports.

We loved Sri Lanka and will return someday.

Also, photos are at www.marlandc.com

Mohammed

Hi Don,

You might find it quite a bit easier and also more economical to keep a veicle with you for the full duration of your tour. Depending on your interests and touring style the vehicle could be very useful for visiting the various sites and places along the way, unless of course you are prefer to just hang out at a beach and your hotel.

As for security, Sri Lanka is really very safe for travel, always has been despite all the media hype.

April is the tail end of the South and West coast season but still good time to travel. You need to note that there are a lot of holidays during April, especially between about 10th - 17th a lot of locals go on holiday and fill up hotels.

Kathie

Hi, Mohammed, I was hoping you would respond to this post!

Don88

Thank you Kathie and Mohammed.

I will read up on your posts and trip reports and no doubt have more questions. Mohammed - while I will want to have some relaxation time at the beautiful beaches, I would definitely want to see the various sites, so a vehicle with driver will probably make the most sense. Kathie - I see you used Boutique Sri Lanka with travel arrangements, and you seem to have been very pleased with their services. A few of the hotels that I am interested in do not seem to be part of the BSL network, do you know if they can still work with other hotels? Thanks so much for all of your assistance!

Kathie

Don, I expect they could work with other hotels. Email them - I found them very responsive. I believe Craig also used BSL, but he made his own arrangements with a driver. Robbietravels used a different company and wasn't as happy with them. Since both of their trip reports were completed before the new tagging system for trip reports, they may be a bit harder to find. A first search by choosing Sri Lanka for view by country might turn them up.