Sri Lanka

Currency: Sri Lankan Ruppee

Visa Requirements: Electronic Travel Authorization eta.gov.lk website

Best time to Visit: South & West coast, December- April. East Coast, May – September. That being said, we had no problems with the weather in the south coast and we were there late August- Early December.

Scams to Avoid in Sri Lanka: On my last day I was informed by a local there is a Tuktuk mafia. You should always agree on a price before reaching your destination or to be extra safe use apps like Uber or PickMe.

1.My Sri Lanka Itinerary
2.Colombo, Day 1-2:
3.Sigiriya, Day 2-4:
4.Kandy, Day 4-6:
5.Kandy – Ella
6.Ella, Day 6 – 8
7.Ella- Arugam Bay
8.Arugam Bay, Day 8-10
9.Hiriketiya, Day 10-12
10.Udawalawe, Day 12-13
11.Weligama, Day 15-17
12.What I would do different next time

I could argue Sri Lanka to be one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited. Their landscapes are packed with an abundance of colour. Their food still makes my mouth water to think about and the wildlife is incomparable to anything I have come across so far on my travels. Sri Lanka is known for its famous surfing scene and its Unesco world heritage sites.

My Sri Lanka Itinerary

Sri Lanka was never on my radar to travel solo, until in Indonesia I met two amazing girls who, after two days of knowing them, invited me to come with them! Your parents will always say never speak to strangers, but meeting these strangers turned out to be one of the best things to ever happen to me.

As always I never know what to expect when I land in a country. I did absolutely zero research into Sri Lanka and had no idea what to expect. It is safe to say this country absolutely blew my socks off!

I spent 2 weeks in Sri Lanka and visited 11 towns. If you can do this at a slower pace I would recommend not rushing through it. I will go through how many days I spent in each place vs how many I would recommend.

Colombo, Day 1-2:

We landed in Colombo late on a Thursday night and arrived at our accommodation slightly after 2.00am. For breakfast our hostel served us these coconut sambol and egg sandwiches which I still think about to this day. We didn’t get the chance to explore Colombo as we had to leave early the next morning for Sigiriya. However, from speaking to other travelers it is recommended you see Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque, Gangaramaya temple and street food street food markets.

Sigiriya, Day 2-4:

Where We stayed: Sigiri Village Vibe Hostel https://www.sigiriyahotels.com/hostel-sigiri-village-vibe.en.html

We took an Uber from Colombo to Sigiriya (there are far cheaper ways such as public transport to get from place to place but we were on limited time and sleep). The journey took just over 4 hours, driving through beautiful forest areas. I couldn’t praise our driver enough. He was so accommodating and would often pull over to get us to try a new fruit. See below the refreshing coconuts he bought for us! He taught us how to use the lid of the coconut as a spoon to get all the meat out once we had drank the liquid! The coconuts were a bright orange colour on the outside and super sweet & refreshing to drink.

That evening we checked into our hostel where we met our lovely host Channa. He brought us into Sigiriya village where we found the most amazing restaurant. This restaurant provided cooking classes as well, unfortunately I never took note of the name:(. Here we were presented with an assortment of dishes such as devilled vegetables, vegetarian curry, chicken curry, lentil dahl, ladies fingers and mango curry.

Day 2 was a busy day for us. We woke up at 5.00am to climb the Pidurangala Rock which is adjacent to the famous Lions Rock. There was a cool breeze as we watched the sunrise over vast amounts of greenery. The climb was relatively easy for the most part with a bit of a sketchy end, climbing over cracks in the wall and scaling up relatively steep rock faces. The climb took us roughly 1/2 an hour, with maybe about 20-30 people on top of the rock.

After a quick nap, Channa cooked us up a lovely breakfast with coconut sambol, toast, avocados, bananas and a lovely cup of coffee. Couldn’t ask for a nicer morning.

Later on in the afternoon we took a spin with Channa in his tuktuk and headed down toward Dambulla. Dambulla is known for its Unesco listed cave temples. The cave is filled with over 150 Buddhist statues and detailed paintings etched into the caves walls. As it is a sacred place, you must dress appropriately, covering both your shoulders and knees. You are also required to remove your shoes at the top before walking around the caves. There is a small hike of about 300 steps to reach the temple.

After spending a couple of hours in Dambulla we headed straight back to Sigiriya to hike the Unesco world heritage site – Sigiriya rock aka, the Lions Rock. It is a massive rock fortress surrounded by jungle. The whole trek up the rock is breathtaking. You are immersed in both nature and history. The base of the rock is surrounded by beautiful gardens and ancient red brick walls. The fortress was built in the 5th century by King Kashyapa, supposedly he built this fortress as a safeguard against enemies. He built it in the shape of a lion and on the trek up to the top you can still see the paws of the lion. Locals told us you can see an elephants face in the face of the rock when you look at it from a distance- honestly I could see what they meant!

That evening, we ate Kottu from Picasso Restaurant and ended the evening with some drinks in Rastarant Sigiriya.

Day 3 we were on track to head toward Kandy. We hired a driver to take us on the 5 hour commute. Before heading to Kandy we took a trip to the first capital or Sri Lanka – Anuradhapura. The city is filled with ancient ruins, stupas and culture. We visited Ruwanwelisaya, the third biggest stupa in Anuradhapura. It is a spectacular piece of architecture which is still a major place of worship. Standing at 103 metres tall and over 2000 years old it carries a huge amount of history. On entry to the Stupa, we had to remove our shoes. I found a new found appreciation for people who do this on a regular basis as walking on the ground in 40 degree heat was extremely harsh on the soles of my feet. I found I could only walk a couple of steps before having to find the closest point of shade!

We also visited Sri Maha Bodhi, widely known as the oldest living tree planted by humans. It is an active place of worship and is known to be one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in history., under which Buddha attained enlightenment. While you are here you will see people present flowers, water and prayer.

Once we were finished exploring, we headed to eat at a restaurant called Sorisso, which supplied a fusion of Chinese, Sri Lankan, Indian, and Italian food. It was a self-serve setting where you could pick as many different types of food to pile up on your plate for a relatively low price. The restaurant was packed with both locals and tourists. When one spot on the buffet would finish, the chefs would cook up a brand new meal to replace it. Whilst we were there, there were options of dhaal, fish curries, vegetable curries, rice, ladyfingers, beef dishes, and so much more! They also provided a complimentary dessert to finish the meal! I believe my meal came out to 1200 LKR(€3.27) including a drink!

The rest of the drive from Anuradhapura was interesting to say the least. Our driver stopped off and got us fruit from different stalls. He told me he could take us somewhere for a free massage. I was skeptical- but also who could say no.

He pulled over on the side of the road where we were greeted by a man dressed in all white. He brought us down into the wooded land and showed us all the different herbs he grew for his special remedies(a spice garden). He made concoctions for hair removal, perfumes and massage oils. The whole thing honestly felt like a fever dream. My friend had oil massaged into her forehead in the middle of this wooded area, whilst I had hair removal cream used on my arm. We were then lead down to this cabin where three men came over and massaged our shoulders, arms and legs. At the end we were asked to give an “optional donation.”

After that funky experience we continued on our journey to Kandy. The journey took a lot longer than we anticipated. Our driver announced to us he was taking us to his house and he would not take no for an answer! We were quite nervous at this point, but in the end he did just want to introduce us to his family. In his home house his wife presented us with tea and cake and after maybe 45 minutes we completed the rest of the journey to Kandy.

Kandy, Day 4-6:

Where we stayed: Tribe Hostel, Kandy https://www.hostelworld.com/hostels/p/333056/tribe-hostel/

We arrived in Kandy at about 10.00pm that night. Our hostel was lovely and quiet. At the back of our room we had access to a living room with a flat screen TV.

Day 5- In the morning we ate in a bakery about a 5 minute walk from the hostel called Devon. It is a hotel with a bakery out the front. We spoke with the owner who was lovely. We just had some baked treats displayed in their counter.

At about 11.00am we arranged for a tuktuk tour around Kandy with our hostel. The tour cost us 7 USD for the full day. They had a list of places we could visit or we could tailor the tour to what we wanted to see. We opted to see the spice gardens, gem museum, tea factory, Kandy viewpoint and a cultural dance show. The cultural dance was amazing, the highlight being the fire dance at the end of the show.

We asked our driver to bring us somewhere he recommended for food and he brought us to a restaurant called Red Spice. We asked them to pick what food we would have to eat. They gave us Sri Lankan hoppers, fried chicken, naan bread and an assortment of dips. It was such delicious food!

Kandy – Ella

Day 6- After a lovely day in Kandy, it was time to move onto Ella. Of course we had to get the famous train journey. We didn’t prebook tickets. In the morning we went down to the station at around 7.30/8.00am and bought 3rd class tickets from the ticket office, which cost us about 200 LKR(54 cent!). We bought food from one of the vendors at the station, stocking up on samosas and pastries!

The train journey was as beautiful as everybody says. We were sat with locals who were happy to talk. We were able to sit near a window and observe the views from there. Trying to get pictures from the doorways was a challenge and we were pretty much unsuccessful on that front as the train was fully booked!

The journey is truly a jawdropping experience as you pass through emerald green tea plantations, misty hills and amazing waterfalls littered throughout. Blink and you could miss some amazing views!

Ella, Day 6 – 8

Where we stayed: The Hangover Hostel, Ella https://www.hostelworld.com/hostels/p/282294/hangover-hostels-ella/

Day 7 – On arrival to Ella, I felt the place seemed a lot more lively than the other places we stayed. The town is surrounded by mountains, with mist pouring over the top, giving a Jurassic park feel to the town.

After check in we ate some food in a local nearby restaurant, recommended by the hostel staff, before endeavouring a night out in Ella with some friends we made in the hostel.

The next morning we woke up early, enjoyed our free breakfast and all hired bikes to do a waterfall tour around Ella. Our first stop was Ella Secret fall. It was a beautiful little waterfall at the bottom of some treacherous steps that took us an age to find.

Unfortunately it ended up being the only waterfall I went to as when I went to take some water from my bike seat my bike key snapped in half. I told the others to head off while I waited for the hostel to give me further instructions. I ended up having to leave my bike where it was, asked the lady running the stall if she knew anyone who could give me a lift back to the hostel. She kindly organised a lift for me, however I did get scammed. I was desperate though and it was my only option. The 10 minute journey ended up costing me 4,000IKR (12€). It obviously isn’t that bad of a price on reflection, but my budget backpacking mind felt like I paid a fortune!

Luckily the hostel didn’t charge me for the bike hire and only charged me to replace the key which was very kind of them!

Day 8- We woke up around 5.00am to catch sunrise at the top of Little Adams Peak. It was again a relatively simple hike and was only a 5 minute drive from the hostel. The views were beautiful from the top looking again into a vast amount of greenery and mountains. There are options to take a zipline across.

Once made the journey, we headed across to the Nine Arch bridge. We parked up nearby and walked along the train tracks before taking in the view from the bridge. The bridge is an amazing architectural piece to look at. The views from the bridge are equally insane and jaw dropping. When we were here the bridge was relatively quiet.

Ella- Arugam Bay

In the afternoon, we again hired a driver to take us to Arugam Bay. The drive was absolutely INSANE! We were just driving along when we spotted a WILD ELEPHANT walking on the side of the road. Our driver pulled over and let us get out and take photos. It was truly one of the most magical experiences I could have asked for!

After about an hour our driver pulled over again at a swamp and showed us some massive crocodiles. One was just asleep on the bank next to the water. We walked along side the waterfront where we could see bubbles of where crocs were hiding underneath the water surface! Again this was such a bucket list experience.

Arugam Bay, Day 8-10

Where we stayed: Arugam Waves Hostel https://www.hostelworld.com/hostels/p/332235/arugam-waves-hostel/

Our goal in Arugam Bay was genuinely just to relax. We were all exhausted after the full on days we just had.

This night we went to a place recommended by our hostel called Buffet Arugam Bay. You could either eat from the buffet or order off the menu. The food was delicious but the buffet cost a lot more than it was advertised for so we were a little disappointed with that. The buffet consisted of tuna, vegetables and curry.

Our hostel had a big sports bar above it with a karaoke setup. We were the only people at the karaoke section and we sang to our hearts content. We ended the night out at the Secret Jungle Party. Which played trance music. It wasn’t our kind of scene so we headed home pretty sharpish after, collecting some tasty samosas from a stall outside the corner shop.

Day 9- We spent the day just relaxing on the beach and partied again that night at Funky de Bar. It is important to know it is free entrance to this bar on a Thursday until 10.00pm, otherwise it will cost you 3000 Sri Lankan Rupee.

There are other things to see in Arugam Bay that I missed out on such as the Elephant rock for sunset or surfing on Arugam Beach. You can also watch sunsets from the bridge into Arugam Bay where you may be lucky enough to see elephants!

Hiriketiya, Day 10-12

Where we stayed: Hide Hiriketiya Villa https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/1344523229901013692?check_in=2026-02-25&check_out=2026-03-02&guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=95da21a8-818d-4079-b7a8-e6d48e1fc35c

Day 10- As we now had a big group, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice villa for 2 nights in Hiriketiya. We checked in late afternoon, hired some motorbikes and explored the town a bit. We ended up going on a night out to a place called Dots.

Day 11- Again we were exhausted after our full on schedule so we took this day easy, got some laundry done, went for some breakfast in a small cafe nearby. In the evening we went to a beautiful beach for sunset which basically had the mainland connected to an island via a sandbank called Blue Beach. There were locals taking dips in the evening, streetdogs roaming and honestly just a peaceful ambience to end the day. Here is where I seen the most incredible sunset on my travels.

Udawalawe, Day 12-13

Where we stayed: Kottawatta Village https://www.booking.com/Share-Xo2CjXF

Day 12- After careful consideration we opted to skip Yala National Park and head to Udawalawe instead for a safari tour. The town was a lovely quiet place, withour accommodation exceeding our expectations. For a low price, we were staying in luxury. We had pools on site, cheap evening meals and we could even get massages if we wanted. We also booked our safari tour via the hostel, which I believe came out to 8,000 Sri Lankan rupee each, for our own private vehicle. I believe this included the 2,500 national park fee.

Day 13- The day of the safari. We woke up at 5.00am to head for sunrise tour. It took about 20 minutes to arrive at the national park. The tour was about 4 hours total. We saw elephant families walking around and bathing, crocodiles lurking in the water, peacocks and buffalo. It was honestly such an amazing experience.

In the afternoon we headed on our final car journey together as a trio to Unawatuna. This journey was a lot shorter than our other journeys taking just under 2 hours. We checked into our Air Bnb and headed to Galle to explore Galle Fort. Galle Fort is known for its architectural fusion of European and Asian style. It is filled with beautiful boutiques, cafes and restaurants. It is a gorgeous place to watch the sunset as it is built along a cliff edge facing out into the Ocean.

Day 14- My final day with the two girls :(. We decided to grab a bit of breakfast together and shopped around some boutiques. Unawatuna was really in its off season at the time we were there (late August, Early September). A lot of the shops were closed, there was little to no tourists around and very little in the way of nightlife. However I know from speaking to people who go during peak season it really does pop off! We ate in a little beach restaurant across the road from our accommodation and had some final night chats over a glass of wine. It was hard to believe I had made two best friends a girl could ask for over such a short space of time.

Weligama, Day 15-17

Day 15 – After a quick morning trip to the beach, the girls were on route to Colombo airport to catch their flight home. I decided to catch a taxi down to Weligama to meet two of the boys I travelled with for a while. We went surfing in the evening, which I failed desperately at. The guy we hired the surfboard said it was the funniest thing he had seen that month watching me try to surf :(. I had kids trying to help me get on the board and I just couldn’t do it.

Day 16- My final full day in Sri Lanka. The hostel was hosting some drinks before organising tuk tuks into Hiriketiya to a Jungle rave. Honestly this was one of the most fun nights out I had in a long time. We partied til 3/4 in the morning before I went back to the hostel. I had a flight at 2pm to The Philippines…. Or so I thought.

Day 17- I got up bright and early at 7.00am, still a little bit drunk from the night before. I was waiting to catch my taxi to the airport which was a 2.5hour long journey. I sat in the taxi and slept peacefully knowing I would have plenty of time to catch my 2.00pm flight. When I arrived at the airport I looked down at my phone and saw a message from Trip.com saying my flight was boarding. Huh??? I was so confused. I pulled out my ticket and …. Oh sh** my flight was actually leaving at 10.30. It was now 10.00am. Luckily the airport was dead. I asked the immigration officer if I would make it and he said “probably just go now”. I walked briskly through the airport with all my luggage in my hand and they scanned my bags quickly and let me on the flight. Still to this day I don’t know how I screwed the timing so bad!

What I would do different next time

1. Next time I travel Sri Lanka, I would 100% at least give myself 3 weeks to travel- I burnt myself out doing this all in 2 weeks. I had the most amazing time but would 100% recommend to allow more time if you can!
2. Research public transport- I would travel between towns by either bus or trains to significantly lower my spending on transport or..
3. I would rent a tuktuk from a tuktuk rental and travel that way at my own speed.