warrocks

Hi fellow travel bugs,


I have prepared the following tentative itinerary for Sri Lanka. I'm travelling with my girlfriend from 7th March 2020 (Saturday) to 15th March 2020 (Sunday)

- 7th March: Early morning flight from Delhi to Colombo.. Reach Colombo at 1:40 AM. Take the train from Colombo fort at 5:55 AM to Nuwara Eliya (which should reach Nuwara Eliya by 2 PM max as ETA is 12:50 PM). Stay in Nuwara Eliya

- 8th March: Take train from Nuwara Eliya to Ella. Stay in Ella

- 9th March: Stay in Ella.

- 10th March: Travel from Ella to Tangalle Beach

- 11th-13th March: Explore the beaches in the Southern coast

- 14th March: Travel to Negombo. Stay in Negombo

- 15th March: Early morning flight from Colombo Airport to New Delhi

Please let me know if I should make any changes in the above itinerary.

Also had a couple of more questions:

- Please also let me know which beaches should I shortlist in the Southern/Southwestern Coast for the 4 nights that I'm planning to spend in the area.

- After reaching Ella by train, what would be the best mode of transport from Ella to the Southern beaches and then to Negombo?

Thanks in advance!

shaunrand

Hi, I have just couple of suggestions for you.
1. On your first day, rather than waiting until 5.55 for the 1st train, I would suggest you to take a bus from Colombo Busstand ( located around 1km away from the Railway Station) which will take only 4 hours to reach Nuwaraeliya during night time.
2. Ella to Southern beach, there are no train. But you could easily find some people to share a ride with a privately hired vehicle or just catch a Bus to Wellawaya ( 40 minitues away) and take a Bus to Matara, Tangalle or Galle from thereonwards.

Kathie

Sri Lanka has so much to offer! But it appears you are only interested in beaches - is that correct?

warrocks

shaunrand - Thanks for the valuable suggestions! Wanted to check if you would have any idea regarding the cost of taking a private vehicle from Colombo Airport to Nuwara Eliya (one way). Also, is the journey from Colombo Airport to Nuwara Eliya safe to drive at night (considering Nuwara Eliya is located 2000 metres above sea level)

Kathie - Yeah. Our idea is to have a relaxing beach vacation, but just so that we don't completely miss out on the Inland beauty, we have decided to add the Nuwara Eliya-Ella stretch (instead of one of the national parks) along with the scenic train journey between the two destinations.

What itinerary would you recommend for the 4 days (10th - 13th March) in the Southern coast, considering we would like to swim on the beach, and visit different beaches

crellston

"What itinerary would you recommend for the 4 days (10th - 13th March) in the Southern coast, considering we would like to swim on the beach, and visit different beaches"

Whilst the beaches along the south coast, Goyambokka, Mirrisa, Weligama Etc are indeed beautiful, one look at the pipe disgorging raw sewage into the sea put us off having a dip!

shaunrand

warrocks - Direct car hire from Negombo to Nuwaraeliya can be around USD 100.00 I think. I will also reply on this thread about whether they drive to Nuwaraeliya due to the potencial heavy mist.

warrocks

Okay, thanks for the information! I will wait for your revert regarding the drive to Nuwara Eliya.

shaunrand

warrocks - According to the ground sources, transfers are available anytime of the day from Airport to Nuwaraeliya. (private car hires). Most of the times of the year are ok to travel but there can be somedays you get some mist. But still the transfers are available. Specially during the months of March, April the the weather is good and you can easily find a transfer from Airport to Nuwaraeliya.

warrocks

Thank you @shaunrand. Just came back from the trip! We took a private transfer for the first 4 days (i..e from Airport to Nuwara Eliya on Day 1, dropping us to railway station in Eliya and picking up from Ella railway station to take us to accommodation on Day 2, taking us to Ella town, Nine Arches bridge on Day 3 and taking us from Ella to Unawatuna on Day 4). Total cost for this package was 32,000 LKR. Driver was quite caring and responsible

warrocks

Let me know if you require any additional help. Just came back from the trip, so might be able to be of some use!