Ten days in Sri Lanka
 

Hi folks - a bit of an open-ended question but grateful for help all the same.

We're planning to spend ten days in Sri Lanka in mid-June and would be grateful for any itinerary suggestions.

We aren't looking to spend too-too much money on lodging - around $100-$150 US per night.

We would like a couple of days on a beach and are also interested in culture and sightseeing.

Any advice, or links to external websites, is much appreciated.

Many thanks!

I recently returned from a trip to Sri Lanka, where I spent a little over three weeks wandering around the island. Prior to the trip, I read through all of the material I could and strongly recommend the Rough Guide to Sri Lanka as the most authoritative guide on the subject. I also perused the relevant TripAdvisor forums and contacted several "Destination Experts" directly to solicit their advice regarding a private driver and guide.

On that basis, I worked out my itinerary which concentrated on sights of interest to me, which was primarily culture and scenery. These sights included Ella, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, Anuradhapura, Mihintale, Trinco, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, Dambulla, Tissa, Kataragama and the South Coast. Polonnaruwa and Dambulla can be accessed fairly easily from Sigiriya and Mihintale is located very close to Anuradhapura. I would advise skipping Nuwara Eliya and Trinco altogether.

The fellow I hired picked me up in Colombo after I spent several days there on my own and we then set forth on a tour of the island. He turned out to be an excellent and safe driver but quite a poor tour guide so I will not recommend him but there really are many excellent guides available, if that is what you want.

During my travels, I tend to like to immerse myself in local life and culture and avoid living in pampered western enclaves so I also let my Sri Lankan contact make all of the hotel arrangements for me, instructing him that I wanted something that was clean with a private bath, A/C and hot water. The average price for the hotels wound up being $32/day, including breakfast for two people plus free food and accommodations for the driver, which is the custom there. That all being said, I was not overly thrilled with some of the places I stayed but I did so with reasonable comfort and did not get sick.

While I was in Sri Lanka, I took about 5000 photos and quite a few videos, which I am sorting through right now. I am planning to write a very extensive report about the trip, some portion of which might be complete by the time you take your trip in mid June. In the interim, I would be happy to answer any specific questions you may have about overall logistics or any specific venues.