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!