unexpectedly ended up in Sri Lanka

Yes you can......Hop in the bus or train and head to Galle...Close by is una watuna beach..No reservation needed.....Fort is cool...If you can a trip to sigiriya as well from Kandy.... Action packed but enough time to do all

Yes you can......Hop in the bus or train and head to Galle...Close by is una watuna beach..No reservation needed.....Fort is cool...If you can a trip to sigiriya as well from Kandy.... Action packed but enough time to do all..I would eat your hotel costs in Colombo and stay overnight in a few places...

Don't know your budget though???? Hire a car and driver and head to Kandy early morning...Stop at elephant sanctuary...On to Kandy... Overnight and head to Sigiriya and return to Capitol....

Best thing about is it's always 6 hours to the beach max and easy to cross the country

My husband and I unexpectedly ended up in Sri Lanka for 8 days

Another satisfied Air India customer, I'll expect. Likely booked Mumbai-London ;)

Probably better if you are prepared to spend at least a night away.

As said above, a bit hard to advise without knowing your budget. Also what you like. Ruins, beaches, scenery, etc.

The easiest would be to get a car and driver and see a few sights with an overnight. Your hotel can recommend driver and he will be able to recommend an itinerary.

Hi,

I also have a same kind of answer. It is better if you can spend at least one night away. Otherwise your choises are very limited.

Forget Ella, it needs at least 3 days. The first train from Colombo stops at Ella around 2.30 or 3.00 PM.

But there are some itead for a day trip.

1. You can visit south coast (preffered by train). You can visit Hikkaduwa to watch corals, Mirissa to watch wales (this is the season) and Mirissa or Unawatuna to surf.

2. You can go white water rafting in Kithulgala.

3. You can visit newest botanical park of Sri Lanka 'Seethawaka Botaical garden'.

4. You can visit Kandy also.

Wherever you go, just go as early as possible.

Thank you so much for the help. After two days in colombo we can't wait to get out of this city. Tomorrow we will be going to Ella indeed and stay there for two nights. We'll get back to our hotel here in Colombo in thee days and will hire a driver to bring us to other places for the last couple of days. Not really liking Sri Lanka at the moment. Hope Ella will make me change my mind. :-)

Haha! Actually no. We booked a ticket to destination unknown and only found out at the airport where we we going. Therefor we couldn't do any research in advance. But now you made us curious about your story.

We decided to do as told! We love nature, beaches and culture, tomorrow we are heading to Ella for two nights and after that we'll hire a driver to bring us to other places. We're gonna try to get the most out of this vacation, but we are on a budget as we are travelling for a year.

...Its Colombo that you don't like.... Nobody enjoys Colombo!! If you are on a budget, then no need to do the driver bit...PLENTY of very good cheap busses...... In general, for example when going to Galle, there is a public bus evey 20 minutes so if they one you want to catch is full, just wait a few minutes then you GET a seat... SL busses are very very packed....

Also, the difference between an AC bus and a non AC bus is a matter of a few dollars. Locals all take NON AC so if you want to make sure of a quick ticket, look for an AC bus...