Travellers' reviews about Sri Lanka
4.766 reviews
Hello, Sri Lanka!
Sri Lanka
Couple
The northern part of the island was most interesting to us: Lion Rock and Palonnaruwa were the best. We’re enjoying the hikes in Ella to Adam’s Peak and waterfalls. The hotels in Kandy, Ella and Udawalawe were superb.
The best parts:
The itinerary was perfectly balanced to explore the best of Sri Lanka: history, culture, culinary, nature, hikes.
The worst parts:
N/a
Evaneos
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The Jordans
Sri Lanka
Couple
Sigiriya, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Udawalawa, and Hikkaduwa, a brilliant tour to see as much as we could in 8days. All our hotels were perfect, friendly staff, lovely food and fantastic views. We loved the safari and were so privileged to be so close to the animals. Then the train ride to Ella was awesome! Our whale watching day was a fabulous treat too. There are so many experiences we loved we really cannot pick a favourite... our advice to anyone thinking of going would simply be... GO TO SRI LANKA!! You will have a holiday if a lifetime!
The best parts:
Our guide Suranga really proved his dedication to his job and showed us more than we ever could have imagined. His passion for his county and his vast knowledge were infectious, we saw places and tried food and drinks we didn’t even know existed! And we loved it all! The tour was well planned, fascinating, full of amazing experiences and has made it a holiday we will never forget. Suranga really has helped to make a truly precious memory. We will definitely be back!
The worst parts:
Nothing!! What’s not to love!
Evaneos
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ClaraPeds do Sri Lanka!
Sri Lanka
Couple
Sri Lanka is gorgeous.Everywhere we went, the people were so friendly.The organisation of the trip was first class and nothing went wrong.Absolutely brilliant, thank you! We will definitely use Evaneos for our next trip to Costa Rica in Dec 21 and some friends of ours used you for Sri Lanka on our recommendation.
The best parts:
Yasasvi, your local agent, was incredibly helpful and prompt at answering my many questions! 98 Acres at Ella is stunning.The tuk tuk safari in Colombo was fun.The cultural show in Kandy we were dubious about until we saw it and we were blown away! The elephant safari was amazing and Darshana, the manager at Kalu's Hideaway was a fantastic NYE party host.Galle is stunning.Our driver, Shantha Gamlath, was a highlight of our holiday...he was an amazing tour guide and on one occasion he even stopped by a stall and paid with his own money for us to eat curd and honey, wood apple and water melon.
The location of the hotel in Unawatuna was luxurious due to its private beach.
The worst parts:
Whilst the staff and location of Mango Bay in Galle were first class, we felt the hotel was a bit tiny and basic.
Equally the hotel in Negombo, whilst being stunning, due to its remoteness it felt more like a wellness retreat than a hotel and we were forced to eat and drink there.The alcohol choice was limited and expensive and as there was no bar we had to ask for each drink.
These are small negatives in what was a truly memorable, wonderful holiday.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Family
A 10 day tour around the cultural triangle, Safari then onto Galle followed by 5 nights at Centara Ceysands.
The best parts:
Outstanding tour. What an amazing beautiful country. From start to finish we had a fantastic experience. Yasasvi was excellent at organising our trip and very helpful in making the changes that we requested. Yasasvi was also always contactable through out our trip to answer any questions.
Our tour guide Nishan was such a brilliant guide, he really did make our trip adding additional stops on request to ensure that we didn’t miss anything. Nothing was too much trouble. Thank you!
I would have no hesitation in recommending this company. Highlights for us were **************k, Udawalawe **************,****************, ***********************, **********************
We were a family of 4 with 2 children, ages 9 and 7. Travelled at Christmas time.
Thank you, a fantastic holiday that we will remember for a long time! 🇱🇰
The worst parts:
Our airport pick up transfer was 30mins late. Apart from this everything else ran very smoothly. Am amazing trip.
Evaneos
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bp
Sri Lanka
Couple
This was our second trip to Sri Lanka -- the first was in 1982. Back then it was a very peaceful, quiet island and the Tamil insurgency had not started yet. The following years however saw a brutal civil war that killed thousands.
Sri Lanka has now gone back to a very peaceful island again in spite of the Easter Sunday bombings earlier this year. It has plenty of things to see in terms of culture and history and has something for everyone. This trip, after 37 years, brought back memories of another time and another world. Sri Lanka has changed, as has the rest of the world, but the simplicity and friendliness of the people remains the same.
The best parts:
The trip itinerary was meticulously planned and arranged by Yasasvi. It precisely followed our requirements and was well executed. Everything went according to plan. The driver Kumara was exceptionally good -- knowledgeable, courteous and a very careful driver. Both airport transfers were done efficiently. The hotels and resorts were very comfortable and met what we expected of them from the point of view of facilities.
The worst parts:
The biggest disappointment were the hotels and resorts -- not their comforts, but the locations. These were mostly far from the city. Everyday after the tour ended mid-afternoon, we were left in the hotels where we effectively became prisoners for the rest of the day. There was no opportunity to walk around the cities and explore them on our own and meet local people or visit the shops. The hotels and resorts served exclusively European food. There was no point in travelling to Sri Lanka if we wanted European food. The locations of the hotels took away half the fun of what could have been an outstanding journey.
Yuk Tuk travellers
Sri Lanka
Couple
See best bits
The best parts:
Seeing the real Sri Lanka away from the tourist sites and being welcomed by the locals into their every day life e.g. dancing, pottery, sari making and of course meeting the indigenous people.
Having our own driver was perfect
The worst parts:
It coming to an end!
Evaneos
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Steve
Sri Lanka
Family
We spent 2 weeks touring Sri Lanka. We visited national parks, ancient monuments, went white water rafting then relaxed on the a beautiful beach
The best parts:
We had a fantastic trip and particularly enjoyed the stunning scenery and wildlife. Our guide and driver were helpful, knowledgeable and ensured our trip went smoothly
The worst parts:
Nothing in Sri Lanka
5HappyTravelers
Sri Lanka
Family
We had an amazing 10 day trip during which we were able to see about as much of Sri Lanka as possible! Yasasvi worked diligently to plan a trip that would cover everything we were interested in. We had 3 children with us, ages 13, 11, and 1. The trip was family friendly and we spent time hiking, swimming, exploring, going on safari, seeing historical and cultural activities, and just being amazed at this lovely country. Seeing the Temple of the Tooth was definitely a highlight, as was the experience of going to a traditional village. The food was incredible too, we had no idea so many different curries existed and we loved all of the local fruit stands too. We were told that each area we would see is like an entirely different country, and we were surprised to find that really is true! So much beauty, and we had such a wonderful time in this gem of a place. We love Sri Lanka and this has been our favourite travel destination to date. Truly a memorable experience.
The best parts:
The entire trip was amazing! Our favourite places though were visiting Ella and the tea country, and Kandy was absolutely incredible. The scenery at both locations was beyond compare. The best part of our trip though was our guide, Tilak, he made sure we saw absolutely everything. It would not have been nearly the same without him! Everyone in Sri Lanka is so friendly and happy and it was a wonderful experience all around.
The worst parts:
There wasn't anything that we didn't like, although I'm not sure we realized how much driving would be involved due to all the places on the list to see. I think if we had a better understanding of the time in the car, we would have stayed longer in a few places and not seen some others to be able to spend more timeout and about. Also, we were very worried about mosquito borne disease because there are travel warnings for this, and there was one hotel with a definite bug problem, and we didn't sleep for 2 nights trying to stay up and spray/keep them out. That was worrisome but everything was ok!
Renata Que
Sri Lanka
Couple
We loved Udawalawe national park and getting a close look to elephant in their habitat.
Staying at Ella 98 Acres resor is a must for amazing views and relax time.
The train from Ella to Nuwara Eliya was a beautiful experience I would just say get second class tickets in order to have a window!
The best parts:
Our trip to Sri Lanka was amazing, everything since we began planning with Yasasvi up until the last day; all the details were carefully cared for and we felt like home and totally pampered.
Sri Lanka is an amazing country we would love to go back some day and our local driver and guide was a rockstar, we loved Kumara and the way he was always on time and had the best recommendations!
Arabella 11
Sri Lanka
Couple
Originally found the destination in a travel show we went too.
We did a 17 day round trip of the country.
We had a private car and driver.
The best parts:
The itinerary was good.
The country was so interesting and had amazing scenery.
People were very friendly.
Hotels were lovely.
Our second driver was fab and such a lovely person to have had the pleasure to meet- he showed us plenty of extras.
The worst parts:
We had issues with the first driver who wanted to alter the itinerary that had been agreed on and did cause us to miss a few things in the first two days but thankfully this was resolved and on the fourth day we had a new driver.
Emma
Sri Lanka
Family
I had researched Sri Lanka and found all the places I most wanted to visit and thing we wanted to do as a family. We also wanted some time just to relax and enjoy the beautiful beaches, and I think we managed to get the best combination of sightseeing and relaxing. The local agent in Sri Lanka - Ruchini - was very helpful in arranging my itinerary and tailoring it to our requirements. I made lots of changes and she was always very helpful and willing. The beaches of Negombo and Mirissa were beautiful (particularly Marissa) and we thoroughly enjoyed climbing up Sigiriya Rock Fortress (although it was hard work in the heat!). But my favourite part was seeing the elephants in the National Parks - amazing.
Beautiful scenery, temples and remains of ancient cities, spectacular beaches and more trees and palm trees than you can ever imagine! Plus welcoming people and yummy food. It was a perfect family adventure.
The best parts:
Sri Lanka was amazing, we had a fantastic family holiday visiting the beaches, National Parks, the cultural triangle and lots more. The food was fabulous and the hotels were all very welcoming.
The worst parts:
It was very hot and sweaty and we are not used to it!! But otherwise none.
Micko
Sri Lanka
Couple
We found Sri Lanka a wonderful destination with good food and very friendly people. Our driver certainly helped make our trip memorable. He brought us to places we were interested in that were not on our itinerary.
The best parts:
Lovely Country. Really nice people. Wonderful historic monuments. Our driver Darshana was exceptional in his attention and his desire to help us get the most from our holiday.
Generally speaking the hotels were really good with one exception which was The W**** E*** at Adam's Peak which was dirty and the toilet cistern was cracked.
We enjoyed the local food.
The worst parts:
There were a few hiccups and disappointments on the organisational front. It turned out the itinerary we were given was not in chronological order but carelessly cut and pasted which resulted in us having to retrace our journey by over two hours to visit Sigiriya. In fact Sigiriya was not on ours or the drivers 'itinerary at a glance'. We had organised to have a walking tour of Colombo, details of which were emailed to me, but it never happened. Also we were 'to spend the day with a celebrated local artist from Ambalangoda' but that didn't happen either. All this can be verified from our original quote and subsequent emails. It is difficult to understand why our driver was changed for our last day. That driver collected us an hour later than arranged and had no itinerary for that day. As far as he was concerned he was just bringing us to the airport despite the fact we were supposed to be doing a walking tour of Colombo..
Glenbow
Sri Lanka
Couple
Colombo to Jaffna, three nights with day trips, then three nights at Big Game Safari Wilpattu, with a final day in Colombo with an invitation dinner and a customized city tour. Big Game in a heat wave is unbearable but the staff pitched in as best they could to find distracting daytime activities. And the meals were uniformly superlative.
The best parts:
The local agency and Natasha remained flexible and creative throughout the long process. She provided us special offers and adjustments and was responsive 7/24 it seemed. When our driver fell ill, a replacement was assigned within hours and took over the next morning at no extra cost to us. Hotels were excellent with helpful staff and dining.
The worst parts:
I would have preferred more official documentation in my hands eg to present to hotels or pre paid vouchers for site admissions. There were occasions of confusion with the driver where documentation on what’s to happen or what can and cannot be done would have given a source reference. Everything worked out but with a lot of trust and patience.
Satisfied customer
Sri Lanka
Family
Sri Lanka was even more beautiful than I imagined with a diversity of landscapes and the friendliest people. Kumara our guide and driver was exceptional and went out of his way to make our holiday everything and more than we had hoped. All the hotels we stayed in were lovely especially the one in Kandy which was superb. It is difficult to choose the best bits as it was all good but the tented safari was great. Seeing all the animals we had hoped including leopards and even bear and then the icing on the cake seeing blue whales when we stayed at the beach for a few days at the end of the holiday. The down sides for me were the humidity as the heat made the hiking more difficult and I couldn't do Sigiria as I would have melted away. The last hotel we stayed in was lovely but there wasn't much around within walking distance and with hindsight it might have been better to stay in Galle itself. Altogether we have had a phenomenal holiday which was well organised and ran like clockwork. I would highly recommend using Evaneos and local tour operators.
The best parts:
Everything was wonderful but the highlights were the safaris and the whale watching.
The worst parts:
Not having air conditioning at the hotel in Nuwara Eliya
NRT
Sri Lanka
Couple
Sri Lanka as a country to tour was great with the primarily buddhist ethos making people generally friendly. Bets places were hill country - tea plantations, Ella - and national parks - elephants and wildlife
The best parts:
Sri Lankan countryside, people and food
The worst parts:
Bustling and smelly cities with crazy drivers
