2 week itinerary to Sri Lanka
2 week itinerary to Sri Lanka
Hi! My name is Lara and I’m a travel passionate. I have been traveling since I can remember. There is so much to see, so much to discover… I have traveled up to more than 25 countries and keep adding new ones to my bucket list! I have created a travel tips and guide website to help and inspire people to travel around the globe.
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short intro
Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with loving people and incredible food and views. I have to say my experience was better than expected, surpassed all my expectations. If you’d like to explore the country, we recommend at least two weeks so you have enough time to enjoy and discover as much as you can.
MY TOTAL BUDGET FOR 2 WEEK ITINERARY: includes flights, meals, hotels, transfers and activities visiting most of the country except the north area.
1000 EUR
Our flights were 550 EUR return per person with one stop. I always find good deals in Skyscanner. If you have flexibility with your holiday, play with different dates and flight prices may differ a lot. As you can see, the expenses in the country are very accesible. The other 450EUR of expenses were in total for two people (hotel, food, activities, transfers, etc).
We set up a budget of maximum 30 EUR a night for two as we were completely backpacking and looking for many places to visit, and, let’s be honest, I was barely going to be in the room to even think of spending much more for a night. For our surprise, I must say we stayed at hotels for 10-15EUR and even a 5EUR hotel for two people in a double room with breakfast included! Not kidding. It has been the cheapest country in accommodation I’ve ever visited. We had no problem in sticking to that hotel night budget and we slept in gorgeous places.
Also, move around in local buses. Apart from being a crazy experience you must not miss (you’ll see what I mean), everyone uses buses to travel around and are way faster than taking the train. Local buses are the king of the jungle. Honestly, they drive like crazy and everyone step aside when they see a bus coming behind them. It’s quite funny to experience this, not to mention the outlandish and bizarre decoration they all have.
Keep reading!
Here is my 2-week itinerary to Sri Lanka
short intro
Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with loving people and incredible food and views. I have to say my experience was better than expected, surpassed all my expectations. If you’d like to explore the country, we recommend at least two weeks so you have enough time to enjoy and discover as much as you can.
MY TOTAL BUDGET FOR 2 WEEK ITINERARY: includes flights, meals, hotels, transfers and activities visiting most of the country except the north area.
1000 EUR
Our flights were 550 EUR return per person with one stop. I always find good deals in Skyscanner. If you have flexibility with your holiday, play with different dates and flight prices may differ a lot. As you can see, the expenses in the country aren’t expensive at all. The other 450EUR of expenses were in total for two people (hotel, food, activities, transfers, etc) for two weeks.
We set up a budget of maximum 30 EUR a night for two as we were completely backpacking and looking for many places to visit, and, let’s be honest, I was barely going to be in the room to even think of spending much more for a night. For our surprise, I must say we stayed in hotels for 10-15EUR and even a 5EUR hotel for two people in a double room with breakfast included! Not kidding. It has been the cheapest country in accommodation I’ve ever visited. We had no problem in sticking to that hotel night budget and we slept in gorgeous places.
Also, move around in local buses. Apart from being a crazy experience you must not miss (you’ll see what I mean), everyone uses buses to travel around and are way faster than taking the train. Local buses are the kings of the jungle. Honestly, they drive like crazy and everyone step aside when they see a bus coming behind them. It’s quite funny to experience this, not to mention the outlandish and bizarre decoration they all have.
Keep reading!
Here is my 2-week itinerary to Sri Lanka
Day 1 & 11. Arriving to Colombo
& spend 1 day max.
As soon as arriving to Colombo, we went straight to the C1 Colombo Fort and we spend 30EUR for one night. Bare in mind that if you are traveling from Europe, you will miss one day for the flight.
I recommend staying maximum one day or two in Colombo. It’s a crazy city and it’s nice to walk around, but has nothing too special to even considering staying longer compared to what’s waiting for you all around Sri Lanka.
PLACES YOU MUST NOT MISS IN COLOMBO:
1. Viharamahadevi Park: Colombo’s Central Park with large green areas, a giant buddha statue, the national library, a small zoo, etc.
2. Gangaramaya Temple
3. Pettah Floating Market
4. Jami Ul-Alfar Red Mosque: the oldest mosque in the city from 1909 with indo-Islamic, Gothic, and Neoclassical elements
5. Independence Memorial Hall: commemorative area to the country’s independence from Britain in 1948
6. Seema Malakaya Temple (the one in the photo, just in front of the Beira Lake)
7. Gangaramaya Temple
Day 111 & 1V. Galle
You can either get the train or bus
We decided to go south straight to the beach and leave the jungle area for the last thing on our trip. As it is a round route, you can either do it this way or the way around if you prefer to leave the beach relaxation for the end.
The south coast is amazing and I highly recommend spending one day or two in each town (moving to the east side so you get closer and closer every day). We stayed in Bara Beach Home for 5EUR a night, double bed cabin with breakfast included for two. The place, the beach, the people… we loved it so much we decided to stay for another night. It was definitely our favourite stay in Sri Lanka.
PLACES YOU MUST VISIT IN GALLE:
1. Galle Fort & town
2. Galle Fort Lighthouse
3. Boossa & Pitiwella Beach
For our second day we rent a motorbike (4EUR/day) to explore around and see what we could discover. In the afternoon, we returned the motorbike and head to Mirissa by bus.
Day V - V1. Mirissa
Rent a motorbike and move around
We totally loved the idea of the motorbike as you have freedom to get lost and discover many things which you wouldn’t discover in any other way. All towns are very close to each other along the coast, so even if you fancy going back and see a spot you didn’t had the chance to see it’s a great option.
We stayed for one night in HappyShack and we paid 14EUR for a double room with breakfast included.
Also, don’t miss doing some surfing! Sri Lanka is one of the best places to do so.
PLACES TO NOT MISS:
1. Coconut Treehill
2. Secret Beach
3. Ahangama Beach: walk/drive along the coast and if you are lucky you’ll spot fisherman doing their thing. Buy some beers and spend a while with them learning how to fish and enjoying the time on top of the sticks in the water.
4. Jungle Beach
V1 - V111. Yala National Park
Get the bus to Kataragama and then tuktuk to Yala
We decided to go straight to Yala as we were worried that we wouldn’t have time to see the jungle side enough. However, if you have more days than we had, definitely consider visiting Hiriketiya Beach, Tangalle and Marakkaladoga.
We stayed in Humbhaha Jungle Hostel and completely loved it. Bare in mind this is more of a hippie place to stay and some people may not like it. We completely fell in love: full of animals walking around, the cabins are amazing, monkeys climbing on the trees and everyone getting together at night playing drums next to a bonfire.
We booked the safari tour directly with them as there were not many options to book in advance. It’s pretty expensive considering Sri Lanka prices (around 50EUR per person) but totally worth it. You’ll get to see many animals in the jeep just right in front of you. If you are lucky, you might get the chance to spot a leopard.
As we completely fell in love with the vibe, we decided to stay for one more night to relax from the safari (which starts at 6am-3pm), rent a motorbike and explore Kataragama and the surroundings looking for elephants and other animals. It’s crazy to cross by a wild elephant in the middle of the street. However, if you see more than one or a mummy with her baby, don’t forget to be prepared to run away as they may run after you! Kataragama is also amazing to visit. Think of it like this: most tourist go to Yala to do the safari and leave the next day, so locals are not really used to see tourists around in the town. It’s amazing how they wave at you and really try to talk to you and be friendly.
V111 & X. Train to Ella
and explore Haputale
Honestly… this train ride is breath-taking! Even if the train goes quite slow and takes a while to arrive, you can’t travel to Sri Lanka and not jumping into a train and see probably one of the best views by train you’ll ever see. For us, the Ella to Kandy train journey is the prettiest.
Have you spotted our photos? You can get out of the train while moving and feel the goosebumps.
We stayed one night in Ella in the Mount Wood Star for 14EUR/night in a double room with breakfast included. We loved it so much that we decided to stay for another night.
Ella itself is too tourist-focused and overrated. Have a walk around but don’t spend too long in the town as it’s just not worth it. We rented a motorbike and explored around.
PLACES IN ELLA TO NOT MISS:
1. Nine Arches Bridge: we went at 12pm as we knew the train was crossing by at that time
2. Nuwara Eliya – Haputale: Do not miss Haputale please! The town itself has nothing very special, but we had a local experience we will never forget. Go to the Kelliebedde Tea Factory and you can pay to see how they make tea but we didn’t bother and went straight to the tea plantations with the motorbike (that’s completely free). We were able to see all the women working in the plantation and they even showed us how they selected the good leafs for the tea. We also found a tiny village and EVERYONE wrapped up with us, showing us their houses, their families and holding their kids. HONESTLY THE BEST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE. They gave all the love and kindness they had to us. I will never forget them.
X1 - X1V Pinnawala
We decided to stay in Pinawalla for two days and rest in the Hotel Elephant Bay before heading to Maldives. It’s incredible to be sunbathing in the swimming pool while watching the elephants taking a bath in the river.
The elephants come from the Elephant Orphanage at least two times a day so they can bath and chill around in the river.
By the way, really consider traveling to Maldives for a week as it’s an hour flight from Colombo and the flights are quite cheap. You can find all the information for 1-week itinerary to Maldives in this post
We didn’t had time for more, but if you can, don’t miss these places:
1. Arugam Bay (east side)
2. Sigiriya
3. Bundala National Park
4. Mahiyanganaya Sorabora Lake, Uva Province
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