Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian Ocean off the southeast tip of India, with tropical and warm climate. It`s a country packed with beautiful beaches, high mountains (over 2000 m), tropical forest and lots of wild animals like elephants, leopards, sea turtles (see the video from our sea turtle rescue mission!), dolphins and whales.
The island is encircled by beaches, and from space, it actually looks outlined in white! Pretty cool! You can rarely travel anywhere along the coast without bumping upon a stunning stretch of sand, and many of them deserted! Sri Lanka is great for water sport like diving, snorkeling, kiting and surfing. Inland you can stretch your legs taking hikes among tea plantations high up in the mountains above 2000 m.
Sri Lanka`s culture is influenced by India, Portuguese, the Netherlands and of course United Kingdom (it was a British colony until 1948). Unesco has recognized eight World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka, pretty impressive for a relatively small island!
When To Visit Sri Lanka
High season for visiting Sri Lanka is December – March (dry season in at the west coast). Shoulder season is April and September – November, while low season is May – August.
Our Journey Through Sri Lanka
We have been to Sri Lanka several times over the years, and have visited these places:
1. Colombo – 2. Bentota – 3. Galle – 4. Unawatuna – 5. Mirissa – 6. Tangalla – 7. Yala National Park – 8. Ella: Ella Town – Hiking In Ella – Hiking Little Adam`s Peak – 9. Nuwara Eliya – 10. Kandy: Train Trip Ella To Kandy – Kandy – 11. Sigiriya – 12. Polonnaruwa – 13. Kalpitiya – 14. Negombo
Check out our recommended Sri Lanka Itinerary
Travel Guides
We used the Lonely Planet`s Sri Lanka travel guide on our trip, which we love. You can get that and other great books by clicking on the pictures below:
Our Ultimate Guide To Sri Lanka
If you are interested in going to Sri Lanka, please read our Ultimate Travel Guide to Sri Lanka:
Blog posts from Sri Lanka
Bentota is the perfect picture of what almost everyone come to Sri Lanka for, the three S`s - Sun, Sea & Sand. It has one of the most beautiful beaches in the whole of Sri Lanka, and it` s surprisingly uncrowded.
Facts:
- Population: 20 million (2012)
- Capital: Colombo (commercial)
- Land Area: 65 610 km²
- Language: Sinhalese Tamil / English
- Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam
- Currency: Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)
- Time zone: UTC+5:30
- Drives on: Left (sometimes it’s hard to tell)
Recent Comments On Sri Lanka
XQ on 10 Must-See Things in The Ancient City PolonnaruwaHi Maria, great write up! Just wondering are dress/ skirts below knee length allowed to go into temples? - XQ on Journey to the Lion Rock – SigiriyaHi Maria, thanks for your awesome blog. So much useful information. I'm a solo traveler was thinking to hire a...
- Stacey on Sri Lanka Itinerary – The Best Of Sri Lanka In Two WeeksJust wanted to say I absolutely LOVE the interface of your website! What an amazing post! There is so much...
XQ on 10 Must-See Things in The Ancient City PolonnaruwaHi Maria, great write up! Just wondering are dress/ skirts below knee length allowed to go into temples? 
Nuwara Eliya, the tea capital of Sri Lanka located high up in the hill country, has an English country village feel to it with its colonial style houses and tea plantations.
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Our recommended detailed day-by-day itinerary of how to get the most out of your Sri Lanka trip. These 11 places are the best of Sri Lanka, and a must-visit in our opinion.
After spending weeks along the coast of Sri Lanka, enjoying some of the best beaches the country has to offer, we decided to escape the heat and head inland up to the mountains of Sri Lanka, to the Hill Country....
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We had a flight back to Bangkok really late in the evening (actually after midnight), so we decided to spend our last day in Sri Lanka in Negombo. Negombo is a small beach town located near Bandaranaike International Airport. It...
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After two days at Unawatuna Beach, we headed into the Jungle to check out Jungle Beach! And wow, what a beautiful and isolated little beach!
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During our travels in Sri Lanka, we had heard so much about Kandy, everybody said we HAD to go to the beautiful city Kandy. So we eventually decided to check out this famous city Kandy on our way from Ella....
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From Kandy we went on a day trip with tuk-tuk to the Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka. The orphanage is government run, and was initially created to protect abandoned or orphaned elephants. Today it is one of Sri Lankas most...
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Our second hike in Ella was to Little Adam`s Peak, which we did without a guide. It is a fairly easy hike and very popular! At top of the 1141 m high mountain, the views were spectacular!
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We had plans of staying at Serein Beach Hotel for only three days, but as soon as we stepped into the lovely lobby lounge/ restaurant at the hotel we knew that we wanted to stay longer. It is such a...
