spaulino7

Hi people! We are a couple visiting Sri Lanka with car with driver in just 5 days… So I am counting with some help from other travelers
I know the itinerary is too ambitious and usually I prefer to visit less but enjoy more. However this time I need to see the most of Sri Lanka highlights for professional reasons.
Can you please help me to have a realistic itinerary with the most of this highlights ?
Questions: Should the second night be in another place than Habarana?
Is this the best order or whould I do different ?
On the 4th day I want to do a train ride. Is it worth it to do all the trip between Kandy and Ella ? Or is beter to do only one section - if yes which one?

24th sep arrive late night. Sleep in Negombo airport hotel
25th sep Negombo / Polonnaruwa / Minneriya National Park / Habarana
26th sep Habarana / Sigiryia (Sunrise) / Dambulla Cave / Spice garden Matale / Kandy
27th sep Kandy / train ride / Ella
28th sep Ella / adams peak + bridge / Yala (sunset safari)
29th sep Yala / Negombo (passing through Mirissa and/or Galle). Sleep in Negombo airoport htoel.
30th sep departure early morning

Thank you all!

MmePerdu

Have you followed the crisis currently in Sri Lanka? It seems the worst time to visit the country in a long time with demonstrations, shortages & disruption.

”Sri Lanka is bankrupt . . . The crisis has led to severe shortages of fuel, cooking gas and medicine and long lines for essential supplies.”

https://apnews.com/article/crime-asi...3c34cd7a4300d2

jacketwatch

You seem to say you are leaving and "visiting Sri Lanka with car with driver in just 5 days" though I see its still two mos.away. The country has been in turmoil now for some time and there was a news story recently about people waiting in line for days to get gas. Who knows what it will be like in late Sept. but for me I would do my best to cancel. i hope you have not sunk a lot of money into this trip that is not recoverable.

Good luck.

Larry

crellston

We did a similar itinerary many years ago. I think that's section of our trip took over two weeks and unusually for us we weren't taking it slow. . There is no way you will do anything more than drive from a to b to c in 5 days. If you "need to see the most of Sri Lanka highlights for professional reasons" be aware that you will get barely a glimpse of those highlights.. You had better have the very best , most resourceful driver in Sri Lanka

We did a couple of train rides. well worth doing but frankly there wasn't a lot of difference. NB Both our trains broke down for hours .Iif that were to happen to you, your schedule would be well and truly screwed.

Other have mentioned the dire problems in Sri Lanka. I have close friends with family still there. The situation on the ground is actually worse than you may read (or in your case apparently haven't read) in the press. Will the situation get improve by September? I doubt it. Could it get worse? Possibly.

I would seriously think twice about this trip or at least defer a decision for a few weeks and use that time investigating guide books , checking google maps and coming up with a more viable plan.
Sorry if this sounds brutal, but better to be open about such things.

annhig

We too did an itinerary similar to this one and like Crellston we spent about 2 weeks on it. Even in normal times trying to do this in 5 days would be impossible - the roads and other infrastructure just won't allow for it.

And you should check whether your government has put out a warning not to travel there. If you travel in defiance of such a warning this will most probably invalidate any travel insurance you have. In any event doing so at the moment seems extremely hazardous and may put your driver at risk too. I agree with others that postponing seems to be the most sensible option. Sri Lanka will wait, when hopefully you have rather longer to enjoy it.

thursdaysd

I have a hard time believing that anyone, aside from perhaps a journalist, would be seriously planning to visit Sri Lanka right now. And an accredited journalist wouldn't need to ask for assistance on Fodors.

In any case, this itinerary is ridiculous, as already pointed out.

jacketwatch

https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...-advisory.html

Here is the latest US Govt. travel advisory.

Good luck.

thursdaysd

Usually the US State Department is more cautious than the British Foreign Office, but not this time. The UK advises against all but "essential" travel: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/sri-lanka

progol

Ditto to everything that was said. We did a similar itinerary in 2 1/2 weeks, but that is a minor quibble with your plans for this trip. The instability in the country right now would make this trip impossible. Please do yourself a favor and cancel your plans. It’s hard to imagine that things would improve dramatically in just over a month.