Hi all
I am getting married on New Year and plan to go honeymoon abroad. Maldives is too expensive as i am on tight budget...
I know Sri Lanka is not that expensive. So i was wondering is it possible to spend a week in Sri Lanka on say US$500.
I would like to stay at some nice beach resort, also visit Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and any other places recommended by you guys keeping in mind that it would be for honeymoon.
I am waiting for your replies. Thanks
It's just about do-able, but do you really want to be penny-pinching throughout your honeymoon?
There are B&B's all over that you can spend about 1000rupees a night, but there will be no air-con, and no Bridal Suite, that's for sure!!
If you are talking about backpacking, then it's a budget you can stick to. Hikkaduwa is cheap - we stayed at the International Beach Hotel (aka The Drunken Monkey), where I spent 1000r for a double room B&B, cold water shower and breakfast thrown in. I was very comfortable in there.
Look to the West coast for cheap resorts, but be aware that the entrance fees are not cheap for your budget. Kandy is fab, other people can recommend somewhere affordable to stay.
If you read back on this forum to Rod_B's posts, you'll find he's recommended cost-efective routes for people time and time again.
Hi,
Yes you can manage very well on $500 a week but you can easily run way over that as well.
So, it comes down to how you're willing to travel around and the type of places you'd like to eat and stay.
As Allison has said,lots of good guest houses for around 1000 rupees a night including breakfasts. Eating in little local cafes, a plate of short eats for lunch along with a soft drink will cost around 200 rupees. Early evening rice and curry in the same little local place for about 400 rupees.
That means you can take care of the basics for about 2000 rupees a day. Roughly about $18 ( US.dollars ) per day.
Eating in guest houses , budget hotels or local restaurants... a western type lunch would cost you about 400 to 500 each and an evening meal , anything from about 400 each for a rice and curry, ``and upward from that depending on your tastes and appetites.
Travelling around,. Again it depends,,,, If you are happy to travel around on buses, then it's very cheap but carrying more than a back pack on a bus can be very dificult.
Trains are better for the luggage and usually more comfortable. Still cheap but not as cheap as the buses and more restricted in where you can get to.
IN a week.
Get a bus from Negombo, ( near the airport ) to Kandy. A great cheap place to stay there,
The Old Empire Inn,
21 Temple Street,
Kandy......................Tel; +94-(0)-81-2224284
This is a really old colonial place right next to the Temple in Kandy.
Not luxurious but they have two en-suite rooms at the front up stairs which over look the garden approach to the Temple of the Tooth.
They are clean and comfortable and in the best spot in Kandy. They have other shared bathroom , rooms for about 600 a night but the en-suite are about 1300.
I'd recommend, while you;'re in Kandy, that you get on the bus and visit Sigirya and on the way back to Kandy, visit the Budhist cave temples at Dambulla.
Entry fees are Sigirya 2700 each and Dambulla 1100 each.
I know thats a chunk of cash but well worth it.
From Kandy Get the train south through the hill country.; Personally I wouldn't worry about Newara Eliya.... Very over rated and usually cold , wet and windy.
I'd stay on the train from Kandy to Ella.
Ella is a little sleepy mountain village surrounded by tea plantations, and mountains.
Place to stay,
The Sun Top Inn,
18 Police Station Road,
Ella.
Tel;............+94-(0)-57-2228673
email......suntopinn@sltnet.lk.................cost here is 1300 a night plus breakfasts which I think were about 150 each.
lovely rooms , very friendly helpful family run place and excellent food.
While in Ella, take the walk , along the lanes, through the tea plantation and up to Little Adams peak. Theres another peak you can also walk to , Ella Rock.. That takes a bit longer and requires more energy.
From the junction of Police Station Road and the main village street, you can get a bus direct down to Matara on the south coast.
Up to you to choose the beach area that you want but from Matara you can get to anywhere along the coast. Mirissa is good. Quiet but lovely beach and plenty of choice for accomodation.
I like
Mirissa beach Inn,
Galle Road,
Mirissa...............Tel; +94-(0)-41-2250410
They like to operate on a half board basis and last time there I payed 2600 for a double room including two breakfasts and two evening meals each day.
really great rooms, all brand new . Run by a lovely family and set about central on the beach.
If you want somewhere a bit more lively, Like Allison, I prefer Hikkaduwa.
Two completely different beaches. The main beach running south out of town.. Best place to stay is in Narigama, a sort of southern suburb of Hikkaduwa. Plenty of guest houses there including the one Allison mentioned.
Or
The reef enclosed beach which is excellent for snorkelling around the coral reef.Accomodation on this beach is a bit more expensive but if you choose Hukkaduwa for your last couple of days, you'll know by then how your budget is holding up and how much you can afford there.
From Hikkaduwa you can get the train back to Colombo and a bus or taxi from Colombo to the airport.
They are all suggestions, but might give you an idea.
Rod.
Because of the bad tourism situ, Sri Lanka is full of places that are only slightly more expensive than guest houses but really much, much nicer. This is important if you're going on a honeymoon. All of the following places also have beautiful gardens - most resthouses don't - which are a sine qua non for romance.
Halketha is a beautiful, romantic place with nice rooms and bathrooms set in a rubber estate about 1.5 hours from Colombo.
The French House - which I really liked - is staffed by a French couple and is walking distance from the Unawatuna beach.
Ice Bear in Negombo, German owned, is a place I am dying to visit but haven't yet. Time magazine and all, however, have given it rave reviews. The website is ugly as sin but the rooms seem nice - see http://www.pixum.de/viewalbum/id/2100404.
Some of the rest houses run by the Ceylon Hotels Corporation such as Polonnaruwa - right on the biggest lake in Sri Lanka - and Belihuloya - overlooking the river - have basic rooms but beautiful settings. They also have Hotel Suisse in Kandy, which is in a beautiful colonial building.
In Nuwara Eliya, the Golf Club has accomodation which is quite nice and you get to use the colonial clubhouse to eat.
Edited by: jaliyaj