10 Day Travel Guide Sri Lanka

This 10 day itinerary through Sri Lanka, will give you rough guide trough one of the most beautiful countries in the world. My experience of traveling through Sri Lanka, and tips, tricks, places to see, food to eat and where to stay.

Probably you have already seen in some of my pictures that Sri Lanka is a beautiful island and isn’t too big as a country to discover. While 10 days can be short to travel through this country, it is definitely possible, and you are able to see a lot in this time.

When you travel through Sri Lanka you will discover that this country has a lot to offer you. From beaches, to mountains. And from temples to elephants. All within this relatively tiny place in Asia with some delicious food.

Public transport in Sri Lanka

The most efficient way to travel around in Sri Lanka would be by bus. The bus is the cheapest and one of the fastest way to get around. The bus network is well covered in Sri Lanka, and locals are really friendly, and willing to help you to find the right bus.

Another option for longer distances would be, train or taxi / private car with driver. Trains in Sri Lanka are great, and one of our best journeys in this country was by train. Trains are cheap as well; however, they are going less frequent than buses, don’t have a great coverage and are slower as buses. In return you will get an amazing journey where you can enjoy the view better than from a bus.

In terms of taxi or private car with driver. This is a more expensive option. But it can help you a lot in some areas. Our day trip from Kandy to Sigiriya and the botanical garden, wouldn’t have been possible without our own driver. Also, to be able to do the train journey from Nuwariya Eliya instead of Kandy, and being able to visit a tea factory. Wouldn’t have been possible without our own driver. Be aware that for Sri Lankan perspective your costs will increase dramatically by using this mode of transport.

For shorter journeys sometimes it makes sense to take a tuktuk. Tuktuk are great however be prepared that they try to charge you way more than normal. This should change because of new government regulation where every tuktuk should drive you around by meter. However if you want to make sure that you have the lowest price use Pickme. Pickme is an App that you can use on your phone. It basically works as Uber and it contains different mode of transport including tuktuk. Be aware that this isn’t available in all areas. Another good way to check prices for different modes of transport is to use the Rome2Rio App.

Finally see below the costs I have made on different transport modes.

Sri Lankan food

Everyone who is following me for a while now, knows that I love food. I especially love to try some new weird stuff. While Sri Lanka didn’t fulfill me in the last category. There is loads of good food to eat in Sri Lanka.

The thing that is easiest to find, and cheapest to eat are all the different type of curries. Also hoppers and kottu are really popular as a street food snack. For more information check out my article of the best 14 Sri Lankan Food to try. See also in the picture below our average food prices.

Costs

At the moment you reach Sri Lanka, the costs are relatively low. You are able to get a meal for less than $3.-, a bus ride between $0.30 and $1.75 depending on the distance, and a hotel or guesthouse for $20.- a night.

Most of the activities that you will do are very cheap. However, be prepared for activities such as whale watching and Sigiriya Rock which are around $30.-. So, in general it is easy to go on a budget trip to Sri Lanka. But even if you make it more luxury it is difficult to spend more on average than $75.- per day.

I hope you guys find this itinerary useful. Don’t forget to check out my other blog and vlog posts about Sri Lanka. And let me know if you have any suggestions or questions about this itinerary.