Route planning for 1 month in Sri Lanka

South: Colombo - Galle - Unawatuna - Mirissa - Talalla - Yala NP (?) - Uda Walawe NP - Ella - Horton Plains NP - Nuwara Eliya - Colombo

I should mention that I also want to do Adam's Peak in here, since it looks like a side trip with the need to stay a night in Dalhousie.

Hi, your tour route seems reasonable. It looks like you will be soending one day at one location. You might get tired though. Best for your budget will be to travell by the public transport. Best for your health will be to reserve a vehicle. You can get an intercity express train and ..travel. you can follow the google map and save the tour guides fee. But you would have to ask for directions from locals, and that would be fun too. On your south of colombo route i would say you must visit yala. And it eould be a nixe adventure to spend a night camping if you can afford. Better stick to the foods that you are familiar with and know the price. You can save some money on that too.

you need to plan around the 2 monsoon seasons that hit Sri Lanka, you dont say what time of year you trip is planned for so i cant advise on your planned route. November to April is best time for good weather in the south, south west and hill country with April to October the best for Cultural Triangle, North and East. Knowing the monsoon seasons is espcially important if you want good weather for your planned beach time in the South. as already said the best way to travel around if your budget allows is by hiring a car and driver for parts of your trip, this costs approx $50 a day. we wife and i found this handy around the cultural triangle as the ruined sites are quite a distance apart. we also travelled by train and public bus which was very very cheap. just be aware that entrance fees into the sites in the Cultural Triangle is expensive we paid $25 pp at each site a years ago.

Thank you for the advice - I would definitely like to stay in some places more than 1 night, so will have to do some research to narrow down my choices. I'll probably do a mix of public transport and car+driver.

Thank you! I will be travelling in January, hence why I am going to give the East Coast a miss.

@solotraveller22

North: Airport - Negombo - Kegalle - Kandy - Dambulla - Matale - Sigiriya - Polonnaruwa - Anuradhapura - Wilpattu NP (?) - Kalpitiya (?) - Yapahuwa - Colombo

I would spend less time in the ancient cities and add Jaffna. There's a direct train and direct bus from Colombo with beautiful coastal view. For the ancient cities, to avoid too much transport you can stay in Habarana and visit Sigiriya, Dambulla, Minneria from there. So I guess I would suggest Colombo - Jaffna - Hanarana - Kandy - Colombo

South: Colombo - Galle - Unawatuna - Mirissa - Talalla - Yala NP (?) - Uda Walawe NP - Ella - Horton Plains NP - Nuwara Eliya - Colombo

I'd say if you go to Uda Walawe, you don't need to go to Yala. Chances of seeing leopards are quite low, and you'll see much more elephants in UW. I would also choose between Horton Plains and Adam's Peak. We chose the later and were extremely happy with it (and we were sore for like 4 days so not really interested with doing another trek so soon!). Horton's Plain is also more expensive, it's $25 US per person while Adam's Peak is free. However, you must stay in Delhouse to trek for sunrise.
Colombo - Galle - Unawatuna - Mirissa - Talalla - Uda Walawe NP - Delhouse - Ella - Nuwara Eliya - Colombo

Might be a little crowded for the last 2 weeks. I'm not sure what you want to see in Unawatuna or Talalla, I would remove them.

Hi all
I have a proposed itinerary as, Colombo to Kandy,- Dambulla,Polonnaruwa-Anuradhpura, then should I go Trincomalee or straight up to Jaffna?

From Jaffna back down to Colombo to visit Galle, and is that where I head to Uda Walla national park,( although I have done a couple of east african safaris & elsewhere will I see anything that will take my breath away?)

I also read that many people visit Nuwara Eliya & Badulla? I have 15 days in Sri Lanka , will I have enough time to take in this proposal?
Regards
bernie

Hi
Its dipend what kind of transport you wish to use?

Train, & bus I like