Sri Lanka Itinerary Check.
 

I’ve put together a basic outline for our upcoming trip to Sri Lanka. I would appreciate any feedback. We like culture, antiquities, wildlife and little adventure. Am I missing anything in the itinerary? We’ll probably do most of it my car and driver but hope to catch a train along the way or maybe a short flight to save time. But we don’t want to rush anything.

FEB 2013

15: Arrive Colombo
16: Negombo - Anuradhapura
17: Anuradhapura
18: Anuradhapura
19: To Habarana (Day trips to Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, Minneriya Park)
20: Habarana
21: Habarana
22: To Kandy
23: Kandy
24: Kandy
25: Kandy
26: Kandy
27: To Nuwara Eliya (Day trips to Horton Plains, World’s End, Uda Walawe, Ella)
28: Nuwara Eliya

MAR 2013

01: Nuwara Eliya
02: Nuwara Eliya
03: Nuwara Eliya
04: To Yala (Chaaya Wild)
05: Yala
06: Yala
07: To - Unawatuna
08: Unawatuna (Day trip to Galle, maybe some snorkeling)
09: Unawatuna
10: Unawatuna - Colombo
11: Colombo - Cochin (Kerala until March 27, itinerary TBD)

What made you decide to spend all of that time in Kandy? We were rather disappointed in Kandy and felt that two days was enough, but perhaps you have particular plans there.

When in the cultural triangle area, do visit the Dambulla Cave temples - they are spectacular. You may want an extra day there. Maybe take one day from Anuradhapura or take a day from Kandy.

Thanks KathIe. A friend of ours who lived a short time in Sri Lanka many years ago said we could easily spend a week in Kandy and take day trips from there. But he's a bit laid back and might have enjoyed just soaking up the atmosphere. Frankly, I haven't seen any itineraries with that much time in Kandy. Maybe I'll take a day away from Kandy.

We spent about the same time in SL in 2011 at the same time of year. A link to that report for some detail http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...-and-curry.cfm

A few thoughts on your itinerary:
1. Anurahadpura is a long way to go and we were not that impressed when we got there ( although to be fair, the place was partially flooded at the time).
2. The cultural triangle is one of the major highlights for us, Sirigiya, Dambulla and Polunurawa were all excellent. The are also a few lesser known places worth visiting in the area, eg ritigila nature reserve and the pik quartz mountain
3. Kandy, I liked but I think we only spent 2 or 3 days there. Some great food in the town and the temple of the tooth ceremony in the evening was very impressive. Don't miss the elephant orphanage. Nearby.
4. If yo want to go to Yala book NOW as we could not get anywhere to stay at all when we left it until th least minute.
5. If you are up for some reasonably strenuous activity then climbing Adams Peak to see dawn break was a magical if exhausting experience.
6. Do try and incorporate some train journeys into your schedule. A great way to travel and you will experience views you would otherwise miss. 2nd class is much more fun than 1st!
7. Unawatuna was too commercialised for my taste. There are nicer places further east. We stayed at Tangalla and Goyanbokka and loved it. We did intend to spend a few days in Unawatuna but when we got there we kept on going to Galle.
8. Galle itself is worth a couple of days. Some great places to stay in the town and some nice beaches round and about.

You have a nice well spaced out itinerary and the routing is logically correct. How much time you actually spend in each place and which hotels etc will depend on your particular favoured interests.

Thanks all for your input! One of the reasons I put extra time in Anrahadpura was to be able to relax after a long flight (5 legs over 3 or 4 days followed by a long drive). But, maybe that's not the place to chill. One thought I had was to reverse the itinerary and head to the Galle area or spend a few nights in Colombo first. Yala is an issue as I was planning to stay at Chaaya Wild. Their reservation system shows them booked on the 21 Feb. That would mean we would have to get there by the 18th or after the 21st. Which might be too short or too long to be along the southern beaches. Since we live a short walk from a beautiful beach, beaches aren't high on the priority. Otherwise, we could go straight to Dambulla/Habarana. Can we do Anuradhapura in a day trip?

Anuradhapura is a very long day trip from Dambulla, but it is do-able.

If you wanted to reverse your itinerary, I'd say go to Galle to rest for a few days rather than Colombo.

Okay, I've revised it and decided to go to Dambulla instead of Anrahadpura. I took a day away from Kandy and split the South between Tangalle and Galle plus a extra day in Colombo. Does it make more sense now?

FEB 2013

15: Arrive Colombo
16: Negombo to Dambulla
17: Dambulla (Dambulla Caves and day trips to Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, Minneriya Park)
18: Dambulla
19: Dambulla
20: Dambulla
21: To Kandy
22: Kandy
23: Kandy
24: Kandy
25: To Nuwara Eliya (Day trips to Horton Plains, World’s End, Uda Walawe, Ella and maybe Adam's Peak)
26: Nuwara Eliya
27: Nuwara Eliya
28: Nuwara Eliya

MAR 2013

01: Nuwara Eliya
02: To Yala (Chaaya Wild)
03: Yala
04: Yala
05: To Tangalla
06: Tangala
07: To Galle
08: Galle
09: Galle - Colombo
10: Colombo
11: Colombo - Cochin (Kerala until March 27, itinerary TBD)

Looks a lot better!