Sri Lanka, how many days, where to go, what to do?

[Anonymous]

Hi, we are starting to look into a trip to Sri Lanka for Dec-Jan. We have 2 kids who will be 12 and 9. If you've been, especially with kids, would love to hear your recommendations and what you loved there. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I’d be curious to know how you landed on Sri Lanka, especially with kids those ages.

[Anonymous]

I’m Sri Lankan by heritage and just as curious as the 10:05 poster …

[Anonymous]

Why are people so skeptical of OP's trip idea? Sounds amazing to me. I am Indian-American and Sri Lanka seems like a a good way to get a similar experience but more manageable. Everyone I know who's been has loved it.

[Anonymous]

lol op here. I’m south Asian American and will be in the region at that time. We also travel a lot with our kids. It seems like it’s a manageable size to get a feel for in 7ish days and a direct flight from where we will be.

[Anonymous]

We took our kids to Sri Lanka when they were younger than OP’s. It was a great trip. OP, I’ll have to dig out our itinerary but we all enjoyed it.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. Sri Lanka is beautiful and a great place to visit, especially if you're already in that part of the world. We traveled there from Bangalore last New Year's Eve which was only about an hour and a half flight (we go to Bangalore annually to visit family). We were only there for about four-five days and I wish we had spent more time. We absolutely loved it and will return. Here is where we went:

Colombo: spend at least a day/night here. The city is clean and has some great food and shopping. If you eat seafood, definitely eat at the famous Ministry of Crab. My college-aged DD is still talking about it being the best crab she ever ate - and she grew up in Maryland! Even the non-seafood eaters will love their many other offerings.

Galle: We hired a car and driver and drove down the coast to Galle, which is a lovely coastal town with a fort. We stayed outside of Galle at a boutique hotel on the beach called The Owl and the Pussycat. It's a great place for families as they have two bedroom suites with a kitchen/living area and large terrace overlooking the sea. The breakfasts were amazing. The only negative is the sea is too rough to swim right in front of the hotel, however, a cheap tuk tuk ride down the road there are many other great swimmable beaches. They also have a pool. I was amazed at how clean the beaches were and pretty much empty. We spend a lot of time in India and I'm always appalled at all the trash everyone throws on the beaches there. That was not the case in Sri Lanka.

We took a long drive south down the coast from Galle, stopping in a few places and finding wonderful places to eat. We definitely want to return to visit other parts of the country - it's really green, lush and beautiful and the people are super welcoming and friendly.

Enjoy OP - I encourage anyone to go to Sri Lanka - it's a great place to visit!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. Sri Lanka is beautiful and a great place to visit, especially if you're already in that part of the world. We traveled there from Bangalore last New Year's Eve which was only about an hour and a half flight (we go to Bangalore annually to visit family). We were only there for about four-five days and I wish we had spent more time. We absolutely loved it and will return. Here is where we went:

Colombo: spend at least a day/night here. The city is clean and has some great food and shopping. If you eat seafood, definitely eat at the famous Ministry of Crab. My college-aged DD is still talking about it being the best crab she ever ate - and she grew up in Maryland! Even the non-seafood eaters will love their many other offerings.

Galle: We hired a car and driver and drove down the coast to Galle, which is a lovely coastal town with a fort. We stayed outside of Galle at a boutique hotel on the beach called The Owl and the Pussycat. It's a great place for families as they have two bedroom suites with a kitchen/living area and large terrace overlooking the sea. The breakfasts were amazing. The only negative is the sea is too rough to swim right in front of the hotel, however, a cheap tuk tuk ride down the road there are many other great swimmable beaches. They also have a pool. I was amazed at how clean the beaches were and pretty much empty. We spend a lot of time in India and I'm always appalled at all the trash everyone throws on the beaches there. That was not the case in Sri Lanka.

We took a long drive south down the coast from Galle, stopping in a few places and finding wonderful places to eat. We definitely want to return to visit other parts of the country - it's really green, lush and beautiful and the people are super welcoming and friendly.

Enjoy OP - I encourage anyone to go to Sri Lanka - it's a great place to visit!

NP. I would also go to Kandy, Anuradhapura, and Sigiriya.

[Anonymous]

If you do go, please consider hiring Jagath [phone] as a driver. He has driven multiple members of our family all over the country, is safe, reliable, and very kind.

Happy travels!

[Anonymous]

Hopefully you have consent from the driver to post his number here, PP and hopefully that's not his personal number.

[Anonymous]

10 day trip. ChatGPT the itinary. Write detailed requirements - hotel, diet, what to see, climate, terrain, safety, mode of transportation.

Else, you can check out the itinary of many tour groups companies like Gate1Travel in USA or others from India.

[Anonymous]

I went in November and +1 to getting a driver, Sigiriya (get a tour guide to tell you all the stories!), Minneriya (we saw over 40 elephants and lots of amazing birds and mammals), Kandy (botanical gardens, Temple of the Tooth) and Colombo. The people are so friendly! Enjoy. I’m bringing my 9yo next time I go.

[Anonymous]

No advice but so good to see Sri Lanka pop up here. Please report back OP. I’m sorry Asian and always want to go but we are today there in August during the monsoon so rule it out.

[Anonymous]

Not less than a week. 2 weeks ideal, divide between the beach for a week, Colombo, Kandy, do elephant refuge, tea farm, sigiriya, galle. There are moonstone mines to explore. Traditional dance shows. Explore the over 50 types of bananas. The fruits are amazing. Can’t help more with kids activities cause went with dh pre kids. Would love to be back. Did also Ayurveda massages. The distances seem slow, but so is traffic, so you’d need to move hotels. We had fabulous time, really loved it.

[Anonymous]

Also, visit the noritake factory. And the gems silver / gold are just beautiful.