Guide to traveling to Sri Lanka: don't travel without reading these 10 tips

Sri Lanka It is an impressive country where luckily they have not yet heard of mass tourism.

A place that still keeps its essence and customs alive, but I tell you from my own experience that it is necessary to have a good guide to travel to Sri Lanka so you don't miss anything.

There are fewer and fewer countries that have managed to maintain their essence and that have not been contaminated by mass tourism.

Despite having an enviable geographical location for international maritime trade since colonial times, Sri Lanka has managed to stay away from the focus of world tourism, but perhaps for a short time.

And is that this small country located south of India It is full of amazing places, as you can see in this article in which we summarize the 10 most spectacular places to see in Sri Lanka.

When staying away from tourism, there are several points to keep in mind when touring the island.

Transportation, meals, accommodation, visas, internet, etc…

Guide to traveling to Sri Lanka

In this article as Guide to traveling to Sri Lanka, We are going to teach you what are the essential tips that you need to know about the country based on our experience that you need to know before setting foot in the country.

If at the end you have any questions, do not have a problem asking us through our social networks and we will help you in any way we can,

1 What is the best time to travel to Sri Lanka?

There are destinations that change a lot depending on the time of year you visit, and Sri Lanka is one of them.

To such an extent that tour operators vary the routes and beach areas to which they take tourists depending on the time of year.

Sri Lanka It is an island that, due to the geographical configuration of the country, has different climates, with a large mountain system in the interior that conditions them.

Roughly, The best time to visit Sri Lanka is between the months of January and March, which is when it rains the least.

In April and May the big rains arrive, just as we were able to experience it firsthand, which left tremendous storms every afternoon.

I will tell you that we only saw one sunset on a trip of more than 10 days.

In the summer months in Europe it is very hot on the island and then, in the months from September to December, the weather varies greatly depending on the area of ​​the island.

The climate in Sri Lanka has so many peculiarities that we have made a specific article where we tell you in detail the best areas to see in Sri Lanka depending on the month you are going to visit.

• What is the weather like in Sri Lanka?

2 How many days do I need to visit Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka It is an island that is not very large and that it is possible to visit in a single trip.

And we say in a single trip, as long as it is at least 12 days.

Obviously we are talking about taking a quick route through the most important points of the island and leaving us many things to see.

It must be taken into account that moving from one city to another takes a lot of time.

With fewer days you will have to focus only on some areas of Sri Lanka, discarding others, because due to the state of the roads and how mountainous the island is, it is impossible to see everything.

Lo Ideal for a trip to Sri Lanka it would be 15 days to see the different parts of the island.

3 Is travel insurance needed to travel to Sri Lanka?

In a quick way, the answer is yes, you need travel insurance to visit Sri Lanka.

But you shouldn't need a guide to traveling to Sri Lanka to know that traveling to countries like this without health insurance is reckless.

When traveling through these areas of the world it is simply It is essential to have good travel insurance that covers all the unforeseen events.

The price of top travel insurance that covers all imaginable unforeseen events never exceeds 5 or 7 euros per day and can save you from big problems.

It is important that they have attention in Spanish and that they respond quickly if needed.

Having a doctor sent to you where you are or having them manage the issue of hospitals is something essential when it comes to assessing which insurance to choose.

We always travel with insurance  “Iati Estrella” with which you have a 5% discount hiring it through this link.

4 Where to book excursions in Sri Lanka?

When it comes to knowing which places to visit and where to book the excursions, we recommend that you first read our article where we show you the 10 essential things to see in Sri Lanka.

Once you are clear about the places you want to visit, you have to see how to get there and where to hire everything.

If you are within the cities it will be easier for you to take a Tuk Tuk and get to the points of interest, although honestly there are excursions that we believe are worth doing with a tour, as is the case of the city of Kandy or Colombo.

The good thing about hiring excursions is that it also includes transportation for both the round trip and the arrival, as happens with visits to see elephants in freedom in natural parks.

5 Where to sleep in Sri Lanka?

It's important to know that Sri Lanka is a cheap country compared to Europe and hotels are a clear example.

As happens when we travel to Asia, you can stay in luxury hotels at really cheap prices.

In the big cities there are many options, but unless your travel budget is very low, backpacker type, we recommend looking for good hotels and you will see how the price will surprise you for the better.

There are several hotel chains and of all the ones we tried on our trip, the one that had the best value for money was Jetwing.

And by the way, don't be surprised if when you arrive at the hotels and do the check-in, they are waiting for you to do a welcome ceremony where you have to light a candle.

It is a traditional way of welcoming travelers.

6 What clothes do I need to travel to Sri Lanka?

Keep in mind that In Sri Lanka it is very hot almost all year round, so it is It is essential to wear fresh clothes, as well as a swimsuit.

If you are going to stay for many days and you are going to visit the center of the island, you should wear a long-sleeved garment or long pants, but only for the area of Nuwara Eliya.

It is also essential to bring two opposite but essential things: sunscreen, because the sun is strong, and a raincoat since it always tends to rain quite heavily at some point during the day.

If you are going to visit temples, which is most normal, it is essential to wear clothing that covers both the shoulders and the knees.

An also very useful option is to carry some type of garment such as a sarong that can be used to put on only when you enter the temples.

There is some area, like Kandy, in which it is advisable to wear white clothes to enter the temple of the Buddha's tooth. Although it is not essential, it is always a good deference to the people of Sri Lanka.

It is important to wear closed shoes for possible trekking that you can do on the island, especially if you go inland, to the area of She see the bridge of 9 arches where there are usually leeches.

7 How to have Internet on your mobile in Sri Lanka?

When it comes to making our guide to traveling to Sri Lanka, we were clear that the issue of the internet is key.

There are several ways have internet in Sri Lanka, especially if we need unlimited data, which is very useful to be able to use Google Maps.

Hay eSim cards that you can pre-purchase, Such as Holafly, are easy to use since they are not physical, they are configured before traveling, and you activate them as soon as you step on land.

Furthermore, the instructions to configure them are very well explained, with videos that they send you when you hire them.

And by buying them before traveling you avoid possible problems later.

They are a little more expensive than buying them there, but it has the great advantage that you land and you already have internet.

The other option is buy them at the airport or around the cities, with unlimited data for social networks throughout the trip.

They are purchased by data volume and number of days, and the prices are quite cheap.

As soon as you pick up your suitcase and head towards the exit you will find all the stalls selling internet data and currency exchange together, you can't miss it.

We took one of each to try them, one of Holafly before leaving Spain, and another at the airport, and in practice they both work very well.

8 Money What currency do they use? Is it expensive to travel to Sri Lanka?

La Sri Lanka's currency is the Sri Lankan Rupee..

The exchange rate with the euro is not very easy to calculate mentally because 1 euro is equivalent to 340 rupees more or less, since the price varies.

But what you have to be clear about is that if you travel with euros the country is quite cheap.

A bottle of water (you will buy many throughout the trip) costs less than 150 rupees per liter, less than 50 euro cents.

A 0,5 L beer in a bar or restaurant, which is the standard size, does not usually cost 500 rupees (2 euros)

Prices in tourist areas or large hotels may vary slightly upwards, but in no case do they go much further.

And it must be taken into account that the base salary does not usually reach 300 euros per month, so prices in general are usually between 3 and 4 times cheaper than in Spain.

9 What to eat in Sri Lanka?

The topic of food is fundamental, which is sure you are waiting to hear from a good guide for traveling to Sri Lanka.

We have to admit that it is one of the points that we were able to enjoy the most during the trip.

Although it is true that you have to keep in mind that all food is spicy, and it is very rare to find something that is not spicy.

Even when you ask for non-spicy food, it usually stings a little, and there is an explanation for this.

In Sri Lanka they do not usually season food with salt, since what they use to give flavor is the pepper.

This means that almost all dishes contain pepper and that is why they tend to be spicy.

When they tell you they don't bite, they refer to that They have not added any chili or special spice, yes, without considering the pepper.

Most of the dishes are curries very varied, which always go accompanied by rice.

It is a food very similar to Indian, since being so close to India, the influence is evident.

They are widely used vegetablesThere many options of vegan dishes and what really surprised us were the soups.

It is something very common despite the heat, whether soups or creams of various vegetables.

There are some dishes that we want to highlight so that you can try them if you have the possibility:

The samosas (it doesn't matter if they are meat or vegetables), Kukul (chicken curry), dhal curry (a very typical curry with lentils), Fish Ambul Thiyal (fish is essential on an island), Wheels (Bread,) kottu (indescribable but typical), Egg Hopper (for breakfast), and my favorite, Seeni Sambol (caramelized onion).

10 Transport: how to get around in Sri Lanka

Transportation is not the best thing the country has, let's not fool ourselves.

Maybe for that 90% of Spaniards who travel to Sri Lanka do so on a trip organized by an agency.

But even if this is your case, it is likely that at some point you will have to use a vehicle for a small transfer.

In this case, what you are sure to try are the tuk tuks.

It is the main transportation method on the island. You see them everywhere. Each family has their own tuk tuks.

It is an economical transport, easy to use and the only thing you need to know is that the price must be haggled, taking into account that it is very cheap.

Don't go crazy when haggling, because there are times when if you change what they ask for, you will see that the difference is insignificant and you will help them a lot by not haggling to the limit.