Sri Lanka

[trancing]

Anyone been ?

thinking about going there on my honeymoon next year but have heard very mixed reviews

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Nice tea

 

[willow147]

Don't drive in Colombo - it's just manic.

 

[driller]

i loved it

nice beaches and kandy in the centre is nice

some good monuments north of kandy dumbulla etc, but not sure if safe due to war

columbo the capitol is a hole

best beach i found was unawatuna - very south on island.

 

[Blackadder]

We went last year.

Beach was great. People were friendly. The island is about the same size as Ireland but the population is 20 Million

Only downsides. Public transport not great (But very cheap). Colombo is mad. Go once, just to tick it off your list of places visited.

5 star hotels are very reasonably priced.

We liked it (But preferred our tour of Thailand)

 

[dannyboy]

i did a little tour for about a month 5 or so years ago so id imagine it hasnt changed much.

i flew into colombo and booked an internal flight down south so i could miss all the resorts/ all inclusive which dominate the west coast near colombo. unfortunately we were delayed so had to get a cab which took 5 hours . 2 hours of that was getting out of colombo.

our fist stop was unawatuna. lovely place and its very close to galle . we then basically went all along the coast stopping in various quiet beach towns etc and did the whole journey by tuk tuk . we then went to the south west where there is a nature reserve / safari area. skip the safari its shit . from there we went to kandy which was very nice and quite cold actually as its very high up . from there we went to the famous elephant place (cant rememebr the name) then back to colombo to fly back out. our thinking was that there is so much to see in sri lanka that the only way to see it was to tour it so to speak rather than stay in a hotel for 2 weeks.

the people are lovely the food is amazing . it was great .

if youre on your honeymoon i would suggest steering clear of the resorts on the west coast . its quite developed and the beach and sea can be a bit dirty. can be busy with people on the all inclusive piss up . i didnt go but that is what i was told. personally i prefer to get out and about and stay in little hotels off the tourist track but its horses for courses

if you need any more info pm me. got loads photos , hotel names etc.

if you want honeymoon luxury how about the maldives. not as expensive as people think it is

 

[dannyboy]

thiis is the view from our balcony at the guest house in unawatuna



further along the coast at dickwella view from the bar

 

[Gwylan]

One of the loveliest places I've ever been to.

The people are fantastically friendly (with a propensity to talk about cricket), food's good, countryside is beautiful. As others have said, Colombo's not much to write home about but Kandy is lovely and Sigiriya is quite an experience.

If we didn't have kids, we'd have gone back by now and will probably go when they're a bit older.

 

[Shoreham Beach Seagull]

Been twice but was about 5 years ago that I went last. Had a brilliant time both times that I went, the people are one of the most friendly going and love the English. Shame about the trouble over that way as it had put us off going a couple of years back. Can't remember what the place was called that we went to though

 

[oldalbiongirl]

Got married there 8 years ago this month ... split up 5 months ago! (sorry probably shouldnt mention - Im sure it was nothing to do with the country! lol)

The country is nice. People are friendly but beware they can be a bit pushy with trying to get money out of you. (which happens in a lot of places anyway). Food is nice. Lots to see.

 

[oldalbiongirl]

Got married there 8 years ago this month ... split up 5 months ago! (sorry probably shouldnt mention - Im sure it was nothing to do with the country! lol)

The country is nice. People are friendly but beware they can be a bit pushy with trying to get money out of you. (which happens in a lot of places anyway). Food is nice. Lots to see.

Oh yes and we stayed at the Eden hotel in Beruwala which was really nice.

 

[dannyboy]

most of the trouble is in the north and east and army compounds in colombo . they dont target tourist areas as far as im aware . there are some seriously beautiful and very quiet beaches on the east coast but was too far for us to go (just looked it up ... arugam bay). when we went we still saw the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami and heard some horror stries so was very humbling. we even named our daughter after a beach we visited who was born a year later. no , shes not called dickwella ha ha. i would go back there in a shot but there are so many places to see in the world and the little one is too small to appreciate it .

 

[Gritt23]

We honeymooned there back in 1999, and absolutely loved it. As has been said on here already, the people are amazingly friendly and genuine.

 

[Sweetie]

I have just booked to go there next year and can't wait. Been on my wish list for ages and now the troubles seem to have ceased going to give it a try.

 

[Billy the Fish]

I have just booked to go there next year and can't wait. Been on my wish list for ages and now the troubles seem to have ceased going to give it a try.

What's your plans?


I went a few years ago and went to colombo and hikkaduwa. Would like to go again and see Galle and unawatuna, also wouldn't mind going inland to candy. Loved it out there, locals on the whole are very friendly. My advice is to see as much as you can, I can't believe people actually go on all inclusives there and never leave the hotel :

 

[Gazwag]

I have just booked to go there next year and can't wait. Been on my wish list for ages and now the troubles seem to have ceased going to give it a try.

So have we, we are going in April and as luck would have it the same time as the second test match.

Really looking forward to it, thing to watch out for is the flights - it may be more expensive to fly direct but the alternatives of via India or Kuwait are not very appealing

 

[Sweetie]

Not until October for us. Have booked to fly direct with Sri Lankan Airlines as couldn't stand the thought o having to change somewhere...