Exploring Sri Lanka: before you go - Life of a Passion

Before exploring Sri Lanka, you should know a few things! The best time to travel, transportation, etc. I’ve listed them all down for you!

When to go exploring?

Sri Lanka has 2 monsoons (rain seasons). The monsoon in the northeast passes from December to March and the monsoon in the southwest passes from May to September. I went to Sri Lanka in June, so it was raining in Galle, Unawatuna, Negombo, and Colombo. So the best time for exploring Sri Lanka, are in the months of February and March. Temperatures are all year around 30°C except for Ella and Nuwara Eliya. Those places are above sea level, so temperatures are much lower there.

Time Fact: There is a time difference (GMT+5.5)

How long exploring?

Sri Lanka can be done in 2 weeks easily, but if you want to take your time, you should take 3 weeks. We’ve seen Sri Lanka in 2.5 weeks and I can say the itinerary was quite full but doable! I just would have loved to stay a bit longer on those white beaches.

Visa Sri Lanka

You must have a visa to enter Sri Lanka. You must do this yourself by clicking on the following website: http://www.eta.gov.lk/slvisa/. The visa will cost you 35€ and you can stay 30 days in Sri Lanka with it.

Important: Passport must be valid for another 6 months.

Warning: There is another site ( https://eta.org.lk/tourist_individual.php ) that is a fake! A visa on this site costs $80 which is way too much! This site looks better than the original one but it’s a fake! You can see it when entering your Passport number: it will not check it, and on the bottom, the “I’m not a robot” box is way too easy.

Currency & Voltage

Sri Lankan Rupee (Rs). €1= Rs194

Only plugs from the UK (3 flat pins) will work in Sri Lanka, it’s type G according to this website (230 V, 50 Hz). But our European chargers could work in them for 70% of the time.

Food

Don’t drink water from the tab, only drink bottled water. Typical Sri Lankan dishes are rice and curry, Hoppers, Roti and more. Drinks and food are cheap in Sri Lanka, except for wine! Find out the 10x Sri Lankan dishes you must try below!

Packing list Sri Lanka

You can find my packing list for Sri Lanka here.

Transportation

You can either travel by bus or train. You can also rent a tuk-tuk now! Or you can just rent a private driver as we did.

Tip: The train ride from Ella to Kandy is a must. You can do shorter routes if you like. We did the tour from Ella to Nuwara Eliya.

Medical

Watch out for leeches when you’re walking in the jungle. They’ll try to find a way through your shoes and socks to find a patch of skin. If you have one, just let them suck blood until they’re full or just flick it (don’t pull!).

It’s also recommended to be vaccinated when you’re visiting Sri Lanka. It’s recommended to have the following vaccinations: Tetanus (lockjaw), Diphtheria, Polio, Typhoid and Hepatitis A, and B.

Sri Lanka has been declared malaria-free since 2014. Dengue fever, however, is still present in the country. Make sure to have mosquito sprays with DEET, wear pants and shirts with long sleeves in the evening and sleep with mosquito nets.