MaxVO

Bring insect repellent with you. If you should need it, they may not have the good stuff locally. At higher elevations it's rather cool (70-75°F), so AC is hardly needed.

glennaa11

The sight is pretty cool. When I went we arrived fairly early before it got too hot but it was still rather humid. The climb is pretty taxing...lots of stairs. But the view from the top is great and the garden area around the rock is quite nice and shady. I spent a couple of nights at one of the big hotels in the area so in addition to the rock we did an elephant safari late one day at the nearby national park.

I'd guess Monday is less crowded. Lots of locals go there too. I think I was there on a Sunday morning. There are big signs near the top to beware the wasps. That gave me some pause. I think there was a fairly scary incident in recent years related to that.

essexnyc

OP here to provide post-trip feedback on our itinerary. Mrs. EssexNYC and I just returned from a week in Sri Lanka (after a week elsewhere in Asia). Our itinerary, which we really enjoyed, was as follows:
Day 1: evening arrival CMB - overnight at Wallawwa. We stayed here on a stopover from the Maldives before, and we really like the hotel. 15 minutes from CMB and a quiet oasis with good food, rooms, and service.
Day 2: Cinnamon Air flight to Sigiriya, driver and guide ttook us to Polonnaruwa for the afternoon. Interesting ruins (not on par with Cambodia or Myanmar, but definitely worth an afternoon), then to Kalundewa Retreat for two-night stay. We were mixed-to-positive on this hotel. Very nice people, great guide, and beautiful setting - but the staff struggled with providing service levels that should be delivered at the room rates; with a month or so of true service training it could be great, but I don't get the sense that this was going to happen anytime soon.
Day 3: Dambulla caves, which are an interesting and attractive historical site definitely worth seeing, then bicycled around in the afternoon
Day 4: Sigiriya Rock, which is a must-visit site with interesting history and beautiful views from the top (1,200 steps up), then afternoon at Minneriya park. I recommend getting to the park early in the afternoon (we arrived at 2) and being in the first wave of jeeps to see the elephants, because by about 4 the park has about as much traffic as the Long Island Expressway. Worth a couple of hours to see elephants, but it is kind of a "canned" experience. Driver took us to Kandy in the evening (2-hour drive from Dambulla), to King's Palace for a two-night stay. We loved this hotel (stayed in the King's Suite, which is beautiful) as the service was excellent (GM was incredibly nice and was visibly present and working with staff during our whole stay), and the setting in the hills above Kandy was very pretty.
Day 5: Hired a tuk-tuk driver for the day to go around Kandy to Temple of the Tooth which definitely is worth seeing, and Udawatta Kele Sanctuary, which has pleasant walking paths, and the local markets.
Day 6: Spent the morning at King's Palace, then took a Cinnamon Air seaplane to Koggala, to go to Cape Weligama resort. We really liked this hotel also, which has very nice villas with semi-private pools, a great adult pool, and really good F&B facilities and delivery. Spent the evening checking out the stick fishermen and strolling and shopping in Galle; the old city inside the fort walls is really enjoyable and picturesque.
Day 7: Spent entire day between adult pool and villa at Cape Weligama (this was our relax day after two weeks straight of traveling and sightseeing).
Day 8: Cinammon Air had cancelled the day before our flight from Koggala to Colombo (ooof) so Cape Weligama arranged a car and driver to take us to the airport (2-1/2 hour drive). Business-class check-in for Sri Lankan Airlines was very smooth (separate entrance from main terminal entrance), and airport is OK.
We felt happy with the itinerary, and if we were to do it again, we would probably schedule just the same. The people in Sri Lanka are very friendly and polite, and they (especially the kids) were genuinely interested to talk and interact with us (there were some but not a lot of westerners in the places we were, and since most locals are pretty fluent in English, they seemed happy to chat with English-speaking foreigners). Overall, a really nice experience.

skipaway

Thanks for the report, quite helpful. Sounds like flying a leg or two would be well worth it for time saved.

TravelMutt

Thanks for the update. I just booked my flights to Sri Lanka for a 11 night trip at the beginning of June 2019. I'm sure I'll be asking a lot of questions along the way.
Here is my original thoughts...
Arrive Colombo, 6am (2 nights)
Taxi to Dambulla (2 nights for Dambulla cave and Sigiraya)
Taxi to Kandy (3 nights)
Train to Haputale (1 night)
Taxi to Udawalawe (1 night, safari the next morning)
Taxi to Colombo (2 nights)


How does Minneriya compare to Udawalawe for a safari?? I could take the one night in Udawalawe and substitute for another night in Dambulla and go to Minneriya...

bulbmogul

I will leave it up to others that know how to setup a tight scheduled trip to Sri Lanka but just want to interject my thoughts on your first time visitor. I have been going and visiting Sri Lanka since 1976 when I was a young marine working at the American Embassy in Colombo and has been love at first sight ever since then. My wife and I know for the last 20+ years stay in Mount Lavinia, Sri lanka that is just south of Colombo from early November until mid April of the following year every year. I am a cyclist and my passion is to cycle all over the island and just love every single thing about this place. I am sure you will very much enjoy it in every way..

yrs

We are considering a 3-4 day tour of Sri Lanka next year. We are interested in a Ramayana tour, and are willing to extend our stay for a meaningful and satisfying Ramayana tour.

Could someone help construct an itinerary (strting in Colombo) for 3-7 days?

Any help/advice would be much appreciated.

seavisionburma

Just finishing an unexpected last-minute visit to Sri Lanka (first time here) - spent a week in Sigiriya/Kimbisa/Dambulla area to relocate and settle someone there

I have the details for a local driver in this area if anyone wants - We had a Toyota Noah car and local driver provided by the vehicle owner - $30 per day for 8-10 hours use, and a very helpful and knowledgeable driver. Happy to provide these details by PM if anyone wants to contact me.

The very simple hotel we stayed at in Kimbisa - was fantastic if you don't need a hotel reception, pool, many staff etc. The rooms are beautifully built, simple but amazing breakfast each day, and helpful staff (only 2 of them!). Macaques popped in for a visit to my upstairs balcony each morning to try an make off with any spare fruit I had. Delight! Around $45-50 per day. PM me for owner contacts - only 4 rooms there (2 upstairs, 2 downstairs)

Really enjoyed this area, although I didn't get to do much touring!

Stayed in Kanadana for the last few days (1 hour drive north of the main Colombo districts, 30 minutes south of the airport) to knock over some research in Colombo
Was informed about the local Grab/Uber app for Sri Lanka called "Pickme" - tried it and it works great, ended up sticking with the first driver to pick us up
Well worth a look if staying around Colombo/Negombo areas for short trips

From some posts above. Would not recommend a day trip from Colombo/Negombo up to the Dambulla/Sigiriya area and back again. The drive is 4 hours+ each way. Better to stay overnight.

aztimm

Anyone have a suggestion for a good place to get a Raksha (mask) in Colombo?
I don't want cheap, but not ultra-expensive either. Maybe something around USD$50.

xxdboixx

seavisionburma Hey there. I sent you a DM to get some information about the driver you used. Please let me know the driver's contact info! Thank you!

Koen dc

hi there, we are planning our 3 week trip to sri lanka, next august and are finalizing our itinerary. Reading all the above, we feel quite good with the first 3 stops. However, we are not sure about the 2 last tops. (Wild coast tented lodge and Anantara Tangle)
5 days Ulagalla Resort, Thirappane
2 days Kings Pavilion, Kandy
2 days 98 Acres, Ella
3 days Wild Coast, Yala
7 days Anantara Peace Heaven, Tangalle

Can anyone tell me if Wild Coast tented lodge is ok or is the Uga resort just next door better ? (for a family with 2 young children that like to swim)
Is the weather end august ok to spend 7 days in a beach resort like Anantara ?
Is the Aman just next door worth the extra money or is the Anantara Tangelle ok ?

Thanks a lot!

Braniff

Rather than starting a new thread, I am adding my query here.

We will be staying in Colombo during a visit in July - tentatively staying at the Shangri-La. We were planning a day trip to visit a tea plantation. People have recommended us going to Haputale due to its Lipton background - but it seems an awfully long way to go. Any advice on other tea plantations ?

npsomaratna

There are numerous tea plantations in Galle - these should be around 1.5 to 2 hours drive from the Shangri-La, one-way (thanks to Colombo traffic!). On the other hand, that's definitely preferable over the 4-hour drive to Haputale!

Braniff

Thank you so much for your quick reply, npsomaratna. Could you please recommend a specific one to visit in the Galle area. Thank you!

npsomaratna

That's tricky - being a local, I've never bothered to visit any estates in Galle (in fact, I own an estate there myself - although it's not open for tours!).

Here is a link I found online - seems to popup again and again in the "tea estate experience" lists provided by various agencies: https://hermanteas.com/tea-appreciation/

Please bear in mind again that I can't really attest to the quality of the experience!