Who would have known we were embarking on 26 days of adventures in Sri Lanka when we left the UK?!

Stepping out of the plane, into the balmy Colombo air – we had made it. Leaving our corporate 9 to 5 lifestyles had led us to this moment. Our desire was to explore this beautiful planet of ours, starting with that great old continent of Asia. And where better to start than Sri Lanka?

We disembarked the plane with only 2 nights’ accommodation booked, no real knowledge of Sri Lanka and a nervousness about the journey ahead.

As somebody who loves to plan for travel, I (Alisha) had a crib sheet of ideas but no actual plans. For the first time ever, we would go wherever the wind took us. The adventure had begun! 26 days of adventure in Sri Lanka, in fact!

Duration: 26 days, 27 nights

Country: Sri Lanka

Budget: £2,700 / $3,600

Spend: £2,800 / $3,750 (oops!)

Miles Travelled: 655

*N.B. Figures have been rounded and include inbound flights from the UK to Colombo.

Note: The above spend included £640 of long-haul flights from London Heathrow to Colombo which hugely pushed up our spend! If we were to exclude this flight, we averaged £84/day between the 2 of us and spent a total of £2,185.

Use our interactive map below to see which areas we visited in order! Plus, a few extra gems which were our favourite half or full day trips.

Sri Lanka was our first destination, and we quickly learnt that just because we had set a budget of £50 per night for accommodation – it was a budget and not a target!

Looking back, the price of accommodation in Sri Lanka is not actually reflective of the quality. Some of our cheapest accommodations were actually the best 1s!

We would definitely advise looking around and taking into account (real!) reviews when searching for accommodations. Maybe even look off the beaten track a bit – you never know what you might find!

The accommodation to the right was £36/night in Ella and had the most stunning views of Ella Rock too!

Our 26-day adventure in Sri Lanka led us to use – well all of the transport types! Sri Lanka is quite well-connected which makes it pretty easy to navigate, with so many transport options to choose from.

That having been said, some of the trains can book up quite quickly, so if you are there during peak seasons it is much better to book in advance.

Trains

Sri Lanka has quite a well-connected train system.

We took a number of trains:

• Colombo to Galle
• Unawatuna to Mirissa – We wouldn’t advise this train route as the train station is located quite far out. It is much easier to get a bus or tuk tuk.
• Ella to Nuwara Eliya
• Nuwara Eliya to Kandy

Trains were generally very well priced, although naturally the infamous Ella to Kandy route was a little pricier dependent on which class you choose. We opted for first class as we didn’t book far enough in advance and the other classes were already booked up.

Well – it basically means they race each other to bus stops to try and pick up the most amount of people to generate the most revenue.

This can be an adrenaline pumping and hair-raising experience. A local even told us that they have opted to sit in the central seat on the left-hand side of the bus as their experience has taught them that this is the safest spot during heavy braking! Yikes!

Tuk Tuks

PickMe and Uber were ride hailing apps which we used during our time in Sri Lanka. We honestly struggled with Uber and found that most drivers would cancel on us.

PickMe charges based on the route taken by the driver. A scam we came across was drivers taking a scenic route to try and charge a higher rate.

Top tip: Keep an eye on offline or online maps to make sure you are happy with the route being taken – and don’t be afraid to challenge!

Taxis

Taxis were an entirely unplanned expense on our part.
The presidential elections were happening in Sri Lanka whilst we were there. On election days there was no public transport and a curfew in place which meant taxi was our only option!

2. Hoppers

Hoppers, also known as appam or aappa, sort of look like pancakes, but in the shape of a bowl. Hoppers are quite crispy around the edges, but have a lovely soft centre. They are made from fermented rice flour and coconut milk batter and make an excellent breakfast staple, topped with anything you like, from eggs to fruit! 

Temples of Anuradhapura

The ancient former Capital of Sri Lanka, Anuradhapura, is host to so many temples and shrines. It was magnificent to see stargates and moongates, ancient trees and well-maintained temples. Intricate carvings opened up our imaginations to life in a different era, a different millennium.

We hiked rocks, got rained on – A LOT, enjoyed gardens and parks and national parks, and then got rained on some more! There was even some sunshine in the mix. Some lighthouses, forts, temples and stupas. A few leopards, elephants, crocodiles, slender grey lorises and more. There might even have been a palm squirrel here, palm squirrel there, everywhere a palm squirrel squeaking at dawn. Oh and viewpoints for days, sunsets for miles and the odd sunrise surprise.

In summary, Sri Lanka offered so much adventure in those 26 days – maybe you should give it a try too!