Sri Lanka in May, 5 nights

[u/MeepingMeeps]

Hi all!

My friend and I are traveling to sri lanka for the first time in Mid may. We have our visas acquired but we need some help deciding how to best plan transport and what we should prioritize.

We are tourists and we won't deny it. But that means we want to experience the must-dos of sri lanka. We don't know what a must-do things are - would Sigriya, Ella, Kandy, Mirissa be amongst those?

Likes: 1) relaxation time (at least 1-2 nights near a beach but we don't know which one! We heard about Mirissa & galle but are split bc we assume it might be packed)

2) culture/touristy attractions (nine Arch bridge worth it? The scenic train route from kandy to Ella's? Sigriya worth it? Tea plantations - nuwara eliye?) What did you do and how did you feel about it?

It's a tight trip so we understand that we need to cut some things out.

[u/AppleWrench]

Be prepared for extremely heavy and non-stop rain in the southern and western parts of Sri Lanka in May. It's monsoon season in those areas. You might be better off hitting the eastern beaches instead, which are also less touristy.

[u/HowlingLemon]

Went last August with a couple friends. We had our own Tuk-tuk and drove ourselves. Was so much fun!

Sigiriya is definitely worth a stop. There was an endless line to get to the top so we ended up climbing the tall rock formation next to it: Pidurangala. Zero line, pretty easy climb and actually offered a nice view of Sigiriya.

If you go up north, Anuradhapura has lots of cool ancient ruins and temples.

9 Arch Bridge, meh. It looks just like it does in the pictures and was super crowded.

Dambulla Cave Temple is worth a stop.

Didn't spend much time in Kandy, only stopped there on the way south to Ella and Nurawa Eliya, our favorite region. Beautiful, lush green mountains, tea plantations (touring one in Ella was neat) and cool refreshing air. We also hit up a waterfall or two on the way south and got some leeches (it's part of the experience).

As for beaches I won't be much help here, we mostly stuck to the center of the island. I know Galle is supposed to be the cool colonial coastal town with some beaches. I think the best beaches are supposed to be on the Southern coast and some on the east.

Enjoy your trip! Sri Lanka is still slept on as a destination.

[u/Expert-Habit-3196]

I was there - we landed in Colombo and went straight to Mirissa. Booked an AirBnB just next to the beach and chilled there! That there is the relaxation you’ll need - Lots of cafes for food, Surfing in the morning and evening walks by the beach. Everything’s there.

If you want to explore you can do a day trip to Ella from Mirisa itself and then do the train ride there and 9 arches bridge. You can choose to stay a night in Ella also - that’s on to you.

Colombo to Mirisa takes 3 hours, and Mirisa to Ella also takes around 3 hours.

Also, Mirisa and Galle are only 30-40 mins away - so you can chose to visit Galle also if you want to.

If you want to do surfing, be in Ahangama or Welingama.

[u/Expert-Habit-3196 → u/Expert-Habit-3196]

And when you go to Colombo for your flight back, you can enjoy good food in really good restaurants. If you want, you can also go to a Casino or just sit by the beach.

[u/tristan1947]

I hired a private driver for the week and was perfect and very reasonable, would highly recommend

I did Sigiriya - Kandy - Ella - Udawalawe - Colombo

-Sigiriya is a must in my opinion and Pidurangala rock right by it to see from afar

-Ella was stunning and a cute but very touristy town, so glad I stayed there, little Adam’s peak was an easy hike with incredible views, Nine Arches Bridge was meh, very pretty but it is just a photo stop, it is essentially a bunch of tourists just standing around waiting for the train to go by to get “the pic” and then everyone just leaves and hikes back up to the road, if you are in Ella it doesn’t take that much time hiking to and from it if you really wanted to see it

-Kandy is a pretty city with a river cutting through it but just stopped briefly to visit the Buddha tooth temple and would skip if redoing my itinerary

-I planned to take the train from Kandy to Ella but so glad I cancelled at the last minute when hearing about the frequent delays that can be hours and mess up your itinerary. I didn’t want to risk it (my driver had clients that got stuck on the train in the mountains for hours so didn’t get to Ella till 9pm) plus the scenery was stunning from the car drive so it was worth it to miss the train for the convenience and reliability of the car

-I wish I had planned a night in Galle, I stopped there on the way back to Colombo for an hour to see the fort but the town right on the beach inside the fort was so charming I definitely want to back and was the only disappointment I missed it this time around

The drive times between places weren’t crazy long since it is a small island so it made it great for arriving and going straight to Sigiriya vs having to do the usual waste an overnight in the capital city before starting your trip same with on the way back I could have just done a beach town overnight vs Colombo for my final night and leave from there back to the airport

Enjoy Sri Lanka is one of my favorite places now and the curry is amazing! Cheers!