http://www.srilanka.com/travel/trave...travel_listing

YMMV
Happy wandering

Fred

I did this a couple of years ago, but just over 2 days:
Day 1
Arrive into CMB, drive to hotel/resort near Sigiriya
Day 2
Climb Sigiriya in the morning, visit some cave/temple, arrive into Kandy
Day 3
Elephant orphanage on the way back to CMB. Shopping in CMB, and then airport for SQ flight to SIN and onwards ;)

You might be able to arrive on day 1, drive out to Sigiriya, overnight. Then on day 2, climb Sigiriya and drive back to CMB.

BTW, here's my full trip report:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=382620

Thanks billiam for your encouraging report.

Unfortunately I have already finalised my plans for Maldives, and the recent events at CMB does not make a stopover a bright move at this point in time. I will certainly make use of the various suggestions from this thread when I make a separate trip to Sri Lanka :)

2 days in Colombo
 

I'm planning on a 2 day layover in Colombo on the way back from the Maldives. Could you tell me what are the must sees in and around the area?

Also, any advice on shopping and dining would be welcome.

thanks!

Some excellent international brands, factory seconds at five bucks or less at House of Fashions. We visited a few other places but this one had quality gear, a large range and was effectively an outlet department store. I picked up some Hugo Boss dress shirts, some Banana Republic casual shirts and a few madras style s/s shirts.

A highlight for fun dining was the beach hut restaurant a few minutes from Mt Lavinia hotel, right on the beach and across the train tracks. ^

great, thanks!

should i follow the earlier suggestion and go straight to Sigiriya and Kandy for the first 2 days and head to CMB for the final day?

also, any good places to stay in Sigiriya and or Kandy?

thanks!

Resurrecting this thread
 

Will be in Sri Lanka for 2 nights in January. Arrive on SQ at noon, day one and depart at 1p.m on day three.

Should I perhaps go directly to Kandy after arrival? Come back to Columbo on day 2 to overnight and more leisurely and with more peace of mind make the flight on day 3?

I'm not into the normal tourist things. Prefer visiting local markets, local restaurants that are somewhat hygenic and interacting with the people.
You will also note that I am also Hilton Diamond so that may be a consideration.

Anyone have thoughts for this brief trip.

Thanks

Given that you have a 1pm flight on day three and you're HH Diamond, I would overnight at the Hilton in Colombo the night of day two

You could make it up to Kandy on day 1 but from what I've heard, Kandy is very much a touristy destination so maybe consider going somewhere else in the hill country or travelling down the coast would be worth considering. There is a nice hotel on the north east coast near a national park (sorry - don't remember the name of it). They arrange boat trips to see the dolphins - might be more in line with what you're looking for (or maybe not...!)

I'm leaving in a couple of weeks and will be there for a week so will have a beeter idea when I return.

I, too, will be visiting Colombo for about 36 hours en route to Maldives. Booked one night at the Hilton.

This thread doesn't talk much about what to do in Colombo itself. Are there a few places with interesting local markets, street food venues, etc. in which to wander around? That's my main interest (in addition to the casinos ^).

Check the Colombo Hilton thread. I believe that's where I posted a lot about shops and restaurants. Honestly, I didn't see street markets or much in the way of street food venues. It's surprisingly different from India in that regard.