honeymoon travel
 

hi we're thinking of spending our honeymoon in July/August in sri lanka and after move on to spend 4 days in maldives. We're planning on spending the first two nights in Nuwara Eliya, then move on to Yala for one night and then spend the last day in srilanka at negombo. (4 nights in total in sri lanka)

Do you have any suggestions on what excursions we should do? We're interested in staying out of the city and focus more on nature and relaxation. Also what do you think of the Grand Hotel (in Nuwara Eliya) and Yala Village Hotel (after visiting Yala park) as we're thinking of staying there. Any alternatives?

Your help is much appreciated:)

WAY too much moving around in a mere 4 days in Sri Lanka! While the distances don't look at that far, the conditions of the roads mean that you are talking about drives in excess of 5 or 6 hours a day... not the way to spend a honeymoon! I'm not sure this is logistically possible, let alone enjoyable.

In a mere 8 days, choose one place - either Sri Lanka or the Maldives. Then, if you opt for Sri Lanka, choose two locations, plus a night before or after flying in near Negombo.

We had a wonderful trip to Sri Lanka. If you click on my name, you'll find a list of my trip reports and can read about our experiences there. That may help you decide if Sri Lanka is for you. Photos at www.marlandc.com and click on Sri Lanka

I haven’t been to Sri Lanka in a while, so can’t comment on the hotels, but would agree that it seems like a lot of moving around in a very short period of time, so perhaps not the ideal itin for relaxation. One night in a huge place like Yala seems like an insufficient. You will need to time yourself to be able to reach the park in time to join a game drive (ideally one in the morning and one in the evening as animals esp the leopards will be most active then); but in my experience, the more drives you do, the better chance you have of seeing a variety of animals, so that is why I would suggest you stay longer if you can. I also think the drive from Yala to Negombo may take a while, thereby eating into your time in either Yala or Negombo (I have not done it myself but they are on opposite coasts).

Also with only 4 days in the Maldives, bear in mind that depending on your arrival time and departure time for your int’l flights from Male and the location of your hotel, you may have to spend one or more nights at the airport hotel in Male, which means your 4 nights may really be only 2-3 nights on the resort island. I hope you have already looked into this. I am also concerned about the weather, as that is the monsoon season in the Maldives. While I think that even the thunderstorms there are magnificent, if you wanted to be able to lie out all day in the sun, you may have an issue with that. Also, if you planned on doing serious diving, these months would not be the best. However, if you are OK with cloudy/rainy afternoons and thunderstorms perhaps more than occasionally, then you will be fine.

thanks so much for your comments. re Maldives, we managed to book provisional flights where we don't need to stay at the airport hotel in Male. Re Sri Lanka we were also considering including Sigirya and Kandy. However as you said, that would include lots of hours of travelling by car.

we're still not sure what excursions to take in Nuwara Eliya and Negombo. Any suggestions please?

Better spell it out:
Day 1: arrive Colombo. After your flight, customs, immigration you want a <b>five</b> hour drive to Newaraa Elia.
Day 2: Stuff
Day 3 Newara Elia to Yala: <b>Seven </b>hours at least. It took me <i>ten</i>. You might make it in time for evening safari.
Day 4 Then you can get up pre-dawn for another safari, then you can drive for <b>seven hours</b> back up to Colombo/Negombo.
Day 5 Fly out.

Wow, sounds great, doesn't it?

If you want to survive the honeymoon, I'd suggest a re-think. Colombo/Kandy is a nice double, as is Colombo/Tea Trails.

look here:
http://www.teatrails.com/

If you want beach then go Galle. Three hours down, three ish hours back from Colombo. This place is great:
http://www.galleforthotel.com/

or look here, even closer: Bentota
http://www.srilankainstyle.com/prope...0-%20Taprobana



If you want animals then go straight to Yala.