Could you please review this Sri Lanka itinerary? Many thanks.

Shoud I maybe skip Nilaveli and travel directly from Kandy down to Ella and then spend more time at Mirissa? Or allocate more time at Kandy for the festival? So hard to judge!

Hi joostay,

this sounds like a nice and relaxed trip to me. I haven't been to Nilaveli but considering the season it's probably quite good to go there. I recommend you to think over Mirissa though. It depends what you want but Mirissa did get somewhat crowed, packed and night life orientated. I recommend the Marakolliya Beach in Tangalle. Very natural and relaxing beach. Sea turtles, fishermen, lagoon, not to much tourists and great Udawalawe national park nearby. We stayed at www.shivasbeach.com which was a great choice after traveling for 3 weeks. We only stayed for 2 nights but would have loved to stay longer.

Thanks so much for your reply! The only reason I mentioned Mirissa was because I had heard it was nice and looking on booking.com it seems I can get some very cheap room options (as little as £6 a night for a decent enough place). However, I don't want a party beach as I'm kinda past all that now. Marakolliya looks very nice :)Maybe more expensive?
Hard to know exactly where to go until I arrive I guess but do you think 3 weeks is an OK amount of time?

3 weeks is fine. Once you get to beaches and start relaxing you will want to stay longer of course.

I would say spend more time around Nilaveli personally I think it's a better beach over there and they are having the season there right now. So i would put more days there and reduce the days at southern beaches. At the start also if you have no intention of relaxing no point of staying that many days in Negombo. You can go somewhere else and see more things about Sri Lanka.

Thank you :) I was hoping to relax for a few days on the beach when I arrive after a long flight. I know there are not many options to do this near Colombo though. I've heard Negombo isn't the nicest beach but if I could find a secluded spot and there was sun, somewhere to eat I'd be happy.

Negombo really doesn't have a nice beach in Srilanka. Your Itinerary seems good enough and doable. Hope you have fun here in Srilanka :) If you want to explore the culture a bit. then Gangarama Temple in colombo is a nice place to go.

Thanks everyone so far. I guess if my itinerary is OK then what I really need to think about is where to stay when I first arrive. I have a hotel booked in Kandy on the 24th for 3 nights but I guess I could always go up there a bit early. I was hoping to relax on beach when I arrive but if the beach is crap maybe I should just save it and look forward to beach time at Nilaveli. (I was in the earthquake in Nepal in April and this is my first time back in Asia since then... was hoping for a stress-free introduction.)

So I guess it's a choice between Negombo, staying in Colombo or going up to Kandy early.

Since your travelling to Nilaveli try Marble beach in Trincomalee also. Staying in Colombo would be cheaper but since its the city it'll be busy.