Sri Lanka – quick travel guide

Island country off India’s southern coast, and very similar to in culture and geography to south India.

Known as one of the cheapest and most convenient travel destinations. Because it’s a small country, easy to get around (since everything all in one island), very inexpensive. Lots of transportation…cheap trains and buses, taxis are cheap enough for foreigners to take 2-hr rides. The locals are friendly and many speak enough English. Internet is good enough. Everywhere feels very safe and accessible.

As a foreigner, you’ll find Sri Lanka to be very undeveloped and wild. Wild beaches, train-tracks running all over the country (past beaches, through jungles, around mountains), people walking on train tracks, people hanging out of train cars, very local vibe in many places and not overly touristy as other countries. Nature everywhere and you feel like you’re living in it (whether for good or for worse), rather than looking at it.

The default VISA period is one month and that’s a good amount of time to comprehensively immerse yourself on the Sri Lankan island. If you need to extend, you can do it easily enough online or through the tourist office.

Sri Lanka has a long history with many influences from India. But despite those influences and similarities, it is still very distinctly NOT India. You won’t find so much Indian food options or yoga culture until you reach the northern district of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has been colonized numerous times and also had control shifted between numerous groups over its history. Today…the most Sinhalese culture is in the south and center. And then north has more Indian and Tamil culture.

General tips for traveling in Sri Lanka:

• Mobile carrier:
  • The big 2 are Dialog and Mobitel. Dialog was long known as the bigger name and cheaper priced (2000rs for 50gb). Mobitel is more recently known as having better coverage and connection but a little more expensive (3000-3800rs for 60gb for 30 days). But 4800rs is still just $12, not bad at all. Price is more expensive at the airport and 3rd party, and cheaper if you go to an official store in the city.
  • Get Mobitel. I had it and was definitely in a better place than my friends who had Dialog.
  • If you’re planning to be in Sri Lanka for a whole 30-days, I highly recommend getting the unlimited 4mbps plan. It’s just a little bit more but truly unlimited and fast speed. If you’re doing a lot of streaming or uploading photos/videos to your iCloud, and hotspotting your phone in places with bad internet…you’ll easily go over the 30gb or 60gb plan limits.
  • You might also want to ask for extended option of 3months or 6months to use your data rather than just 30 days. A lot of times, it’s the same price. This is useful so that you can data in case you do extend your stay.
• Transportation:
  • Trains
    • The nicest way to travel long distances. Lots of space for your legs and storage. Can get up and walk around, look out the open doors (the classic Sri Lanka tourist photo), use the bathroom, rotate your chairs around to face your friends (for groups of 4).
    • You can buy reserved tickets online via the government site or 12Asia. Or you can go in person to any train station. I believe you can also use Mobitel or Dialog phone carrier to do it, but I didn’t bother trying that way.
    • Always try to get 1st class reserved seats. They are cheap enough anyway and will have more space and comfort. 2nd class non-reserved might me that you are standing the whole time…which is awful for 4-8hr trips, totally not comfortable, and you won’t have much view anyway.
    • Make sure you always book the BLUE tourist trains, not the slow red trains.
    • Black market tickets – in some places, the train mafia sells unused seats to you at a special price. You have to go to the train station to buy them.
    • The famous scenic mountain train is the route between Kandy and Ella. If your lucky, a train staff can make you a private deal to take you up to the engine car where the conductor is. Should be some fun tourist photo ops for you.
  • Bus
    • Some towns don’t have a train route to your next destination, and so the bus is the only other cheap option. It actually became very fun to ride with locals, listening to local music, and seeing the countryside from a different viewpoint (street roads vs train tracks). And you save a lot of money compared to private transfer.
    • The idea seemed scary or daunting at first but it’s actually very easy. You can ask anybody where the local bus station, then go there in the morning or day before to see the times. Popular locations go every hour, less popular locations might go only once or twice a day. Sometimes there are convenient pickup stops right by your accommodation, so you don’t even need to go to the bus station.
    • They have space in the back of the bus for your luggage.
    • During stops or slow traffic, vendors jump on to sell you food.
  • Tuktuk
    • Easy and fun way to ride around town. It’s cheap and the little car goes slow enough for you to take nice photos.
    • They can carry usually up to only 3 people, and some luggage space in the back. In the bigger touristy towns like Colombo or Negombo, you can find tuktuks which can carry up to 4 people and have more luggage space.
    • Although tuktuk drivers will offer to take you in between far towns for a cheaper price than cars, I don’t recommend it. I think it’s too slow, too noisy, and less comfortable (especially in the rain).
    • We did scheme numerous times to rent a tuktuk but it never happened. Ultimately, it was just cheaper and less hassle to call one whenever we needed. This makes sense especially when you want to get dropped off at one place, and then walk to another place without having to return to your original location. Such as in beach towns (walking one end to the other), or also mountain towns (doing hikes from one side of the forest to the other).
  • Motorbike
    • Motorbikes can be easily rented usually from your place of accommodation. And your price may depend on how well you get along with the owner.
    • If you need a cheaper price, you can ask to rent by the hour rather than for the whole day.
    • Be careful to refill when you see petrol stations. In some towns (even bigger ones), you might not see petrol stations so often and sometimes they are out of fuel. 1 liter is usually about 1/4th or 1/3rd of the meter for the bikes that I rented.
  • Car
    • Another great option to go long distances between cities when train or bus are not available. Allows you to stop anywhere and take photos or quickly pass through tourist sites (instead of wasting a day trip). It doesn’t cost much to pay drivers to wait and they usually have a special price that accounts for all that. Acoustics are also much nicer in a car to talk to your friends or the driver as he may give you good tips about Sri Lanka and things you pass.
    • Taxis and private car transfer between cities can be very reasonably priced (especially if shared with others). If you find the right person, or someone gives you a good connection. You should always ask around as soon as you arrive in a city. So that when it’s time to leave, you already know prices and options.
    • I would not rent a car in Sri Lanka. Most of the roads seem bad, poorly maintained, poorly lit, and the locals don’t drive in a safe standard.
  • Bicycle
    • Some cities in Sri Lanka are great for biking around (usually beach towns…but also Anuradhapura), very flat and lots of things to see. Just be careful to check your tires, brakes, and chain for proper functioning as many bikes are very poorly maintained.
• Rideshare:
  • PickMe or Uber, usually PickMe. Or you can take your chance haggling with drivers on the side of the road.
  • Just know that some cities are really difficult to find drivers through the app. This is because they have the “tuktuk mafia” where drivers band together at popular pickup places (such as train station) and collectively set higher prices while bullying any rideshare drivers that try to pick you up. In places like that, just walk down to a quieter road with fewer people (preferably one where other tuktuks are not around) and call your PickMe driver there.
• Weather:
  • best time is out of monsoon season. north, central, and south all have different weather.
  • I will say that the weather reports aren’t always accurate. Sometimes it forecasts a lot more rain than you’ll actually get. It’ll make it look like the entire day or entire week will be nonstop rain…but actually you still get plenty hours of sun.
• Internet:
  • It’s often horrible everywhere you go. Weak router signal which slows down or cuts out entirely when it rains.
  • Beware! Sri Lanka is very difficult to work from if you need reliable internet. In some instances, you may find it more reliable to hotspot off your mobile than using your hotel/hostel WIFI.
  • Reliable internet DOES exist but not always in places you’d expect. Sometimes a small family guesthouse had more reliable internet than a big hotel, I guess because few people are sharing it.
  • I also had one instance where we walked into a place to check their internet before booking and the owner insisted he would fix it tomorrow (even though we saw a working WIFI signal). Turns out, the WIFI was working fine but they didn’t have data. He told me he recharged the internet and now it worked; I checked and it was mega fast, the fastest streaming video quality I had in all of Sri Lanka. So what I’m guessing is some places don’t recharge their data plans during quiet days or when they try to save money and get away with not doing it.
• Accommodation – many places you can bargain for a cheaper price by going up to them directly and letting them know how many days you want to stay. Of course, you risk not having rooms available when you don’t make reservations. And many good places will be taken this way, even during off season.
• LOTS of Russians – depending on where you go (especially Hikkaduwa), you may see lots of Russians. And while I won’t say all Russians are this way…the general consensus among the locals are the Russians are killing the vibe. Unfriendly, unkind, they just buy up land and property and make loud (noisy music) businesses that cater only to other Russians. The act like they run the place, very entitled, rude, smoking in public spaces, dressing inappropriately at religious places, and kill the harmonious spirit of Sri Lanka. Many of them come for long family vacation or even live here with their family and just stick to their own kind. They’re not travelers looking to learn the culture and meet other travelers. Generally…everybody hates the Russians.
• Other popular travelers in Sri Lanka – after Russians, I’d say British and German are next most common. Then French, Italian, Spanish. Lesser are Chinese, Americans, South Americans. I found everyone except the Russians were generally well-behaved. Germans seemed to be the most integrated and respectful, many acts of kindness towards the locals. And in general, most travellers and backpackers in Sri Lanka are here for the nature and culture, rather than party life. So it lends to a more respectful vibe.
• Visa websites – visa site & visa extension site (for when you want to stay past your 30-day period). Extending is really easy. Takes about 3 business days from the time you apply. And I think you’re fine as long as you start applying before your time is up.

Miscellaneous tips:

• Tap water – you can’t drink it, especially as a foreigner (that’s not used to it). It also has a lot of chlorine.
• Restaurants:
  • Wait time – food usually takes forever to make. I’d say 1 hour is the average wait time. No matter how simple the dish, or how empty the restaurant. It always takes a long time, in every city that we ate at. Funny thing though that is food delivery orders usually come faster than waiting in the restaurant.
  • Tourist pricing – just about every restaurant has tourist pricing on the English menu. We went along with it being that Sri Lanka was already so cheap. But sure if you insist, you can ask for “local pricing” and maybe they’ll give it to you. I feel you can get away with this when the restaurant is empty.
• Food delivery – PickMe or UberEats. Or some places, I think you can arrange delivery directly through them (like Pizza Hut).
• Power outtages – they’re very common in Sri Lanka. And if you’re staying in a hotel or one place for a long time, it might be a good idea to read reviews to know if they have a power generator to stay on during outages. That’s if you absolutely can’t live without electricity.
• Bed sizes – some places in Sri Lanka say “double bed” but it literally means 2 smaller beds pushed together instead of one big mattress. In some cases, it’s 2 smaller mattress sharing the same big frame…which is a little annoying, but still doable. But some places, it’s 2 smaller frames pushed together and now you have an annoying hard wood part in the middle separating you and your partner…very annoying!
• Mold – Sri Lanka has a massive issue with mold especially in beach areas and/or rainy season. Ventilation can be very poor and you’ll often smell it. You should immediately ask for another room or try to cancel your reservation. We’ve found many places were willing to let us cancel right on the spot without any issues.
• Mosquitos:
  • I’ve seen many ways to deal with mosquitos. Generally mosquitos hate these because you’re using repellant or something that makes it harder for them to fly.
  • Fan or AC – mosquitos don’t like moving air.
  • Mosquito vaporizer – can buy in any market.
  • Mosquito coils – wall plug that puts out mosquito repellant smoke into the air. Burn some and put around you. You can also use incense sticks. Depending on who you talk to…vaporizers and coils are very toxic, and not recommended for indoor use.
  • Mosquito spray – ahhh yes, the good old fashion body repellant spray. There’s a full range highly toxic chemical ones down to natural ones. Some places do the mosquito smoke thing…which I think is really unnecessary.
  • Mosquito oil – there’s a special oil you can buy in a traditional market. Put the oil on your body to repel them.
  • Disco lights – I swore this one rooftop restaurant didn’t have mosquitos because of the disco lights which create so much visual movement the mosquitos don’t like being there.
• Wildlife:
  • Monkeys – many places have monkeys and they cause house problems. Often stealing items from you, or even from your room (if you have one of those open-roof accommodations. They’re looking for food and they love bananas. Be careful about having bananas in your room as they will come in to take them (and hopefully nothing else). I suggest you don’t feed them as they can be very unpredictable or aggressive. The grey macaque ones are the most mischievous to me.
  • Turtle nesting season – usually Jan-to-Jun (peak is Feb-Apr). You can see many turtles laying eggs and the eggs hatch around 60 days later.
  • Elephants – depending what region you are, there is a war between man and elephants. Taking turns attacking each other and creating more bad memories of each other. In Sigiriya, you are told by everyone never to walk around outside since elephants can come. They often attack and kill about 5 people every year in that town alone. You’ll hear many tales of tuktuk drivers being chased, or people seeing an angry bull elephant blocking the road. There was a young girl who died shortly before I was there. Another story of a local guy was killed when the elephant broke in his home and killed him (because he was cooking rice). Elephants love rice and corn and are especially active during those crop seasons. Attempts at containing them with electric fences don’t work since they know how to knock down the wooden posts and walk over the downed wires. The battle wages back and forth like a modern day Jurassic Park.
  • Bats – many bats here and also the huge ones (aka “Indian flying foxes”).
  • Muntjac deer – cute small deer species. Aka “alien deer”.
  • Wild dogs – look like dogs, but make a different sound.
  • Leeches – many areas (especially in central district) have leeches during rainy season. Wear closed-toe shoes if you’re walking through wet squishy grass. I just pulled them right off with my hands or a napkin. Other people recommend salt, hand sanitizer, or turmeric (assuming you even have some on hand). I did read a YouTube comment saying salt is a bad idea because it makes them vomit back into you and can make you sick.

Safety tips:

• We really didn’t have any crime issues. It seemed super safe everywhere.
• Tuktuks scams and pricing:
  • PickMe pricing – theoretically, you can get the best deal by asking tuktuk drivers directly (since they don’t lose on PickMe’s commission). But you must already know the price. So check PickMe first for the price, then ask a driver to take you for less than the PickMe price. This works well for most busy areas where many tuktuks are driving around, especially for beach towns and/or during low season. Everywhere else such as in big cities…the drivers would rather wait for the next tourist. Or they will insist something exactly or slightly above PickMe price.
  • Unexpected distance – careful when drivers accept your price too easily. Make sure you show them your destination on the map so they can’t use the excuse that it’s farther than expected and ask for more money at the end.
  • Tuktuk mafia – many cities have a “tuktuk mafia” or gang of drivers working together at main public places (outside train station or tourist sites). And they all collude to give you a high tourist price, neither one offering a better deal. If you call a PickMe, it often stalls or cancels you or when it does come…the driver is immediately harassed by one of the tuktuk mafia guys. Easiest way to deal with this is to stand away from the public spaces, like walk one block away and then call your PickMe so your drive doesn’t get harassed.
  • Commission stops – many tuktuk drivers may recommend to drop you off at places where they get commission, such as tea factory or restaurants, souvenir shops, etc. They may insist that it’s free or a highly recommended tourist destination. Just say no and insist that you only want to get to your destination, no stops.
  • Asking for gas money – they may do a gas stop and ask for gas money. This isn’t common but can happen for very long rides. Be firm that their price is the price.
  • Wait time – some drivers will also ask for a tip at the end for wait time if you made many tour stops. Again, be firm that their agreed price is the final price.
  • Ultimately, make sure both parties agree on the price and destination. So there are no surprises. This is especially key for remote destinations, longer distances, or multiple-stop situations.
• Staring – Sinhalese men seem to have no issue staring at foreign girls. Hardcore staring. For this reason, solo women travelers may feel less comfortable especially in the more conservative areas such as the far east (like Trincomalee) or far north (Jaffna). Maybe dressing much more conservatively will help with that, I don’t know.
• Elephants – some areas have wild elephants that frequently clash with humans, each killing the other. It’s not a joke. Some areas will have many elephants signs and all the locals tell you not to walk around at night, as the elephants will kill you.
• Monkeys – don’t feed the monkeys. They may expect more food from you or others and get aggressive when you don’t comply. Leading to bites and people rushing to the hospitals for rabies shots.

Activities & Tours:

• Wildlife safari – most people think of Sri Lanka as beaches and Indian-like culture. But they don’t realize Sri Lanka also has many wildlife animals like elephants, leopards, crocodiles, buffalos, sloth bears, monkeys, birds, etc…that it can be seen as a cheaper version of the African safari.
• Beaches – naturally, an island countries would have many beach destinations. Surfing & swimming, diving & snorkeling, turtle beaches, clean and dirty beaches…all can be found on Sri Lankan beaches (if you know how to research). But I also recommend to check out the lakes or lagoons as well. It can be a very nice and different experience to being on the beach all the time. Read reviews of the accommodations and see for yourself.
• Cultural – temples.
• Train tracks – take photos on the train tracks.

Foods to try:

• fried rice
• kottu
• fish, calamari, cuttlefish
• roti
• chicken dishes – chicken is probably the most common meat. more than beef and pork. sausages in Sri Lankan tend to be made of chicken.
• nasigorang

Customs & Language:

• Languages spoken – surprisingly, enough English is spoken on Sri Lanka.
• Hello & Bye –
• Yes & No – Sri Lankans (and I assume Indians) have a way of shaking their head when they say “YES” but foreigners may think they mean “no”.
• Thank you –

Itinerary suggestions:

• Most people usually fly into Colombo. Then head south for the beaches, curving towards the center through national parks like Udalawawa and Yala for wildlife. Then up to the center area for popular mountain and cultural destinations, like Ella and Kandy. Finally heading north for the cultural triangle, like Anuradhapura and Trincomelee, and Jaffna. Before flying out of Colombo again.
• Others fly into Colombo and cut directly east to the cultural centers like Anuradhapura and Sigiriya, the drop down south for the better weather and more swimmable beaches, cutting out the north entirely (usually because the vibe there is too conservative and not as foreigner-friendly).
• During off-season when hotels have more availability, it’s possible to book 1-2 fewer days than you think you might need. See the place and the town when you arrive, then decide exactly how many more days you actually need, and book directly asking for a discount. Of course…it’s still a risk that you lose the room, ok?

Sri Lankan cities (* = recommended, ** = must see):

West & South

I bunch these 2 together because they’re generally the most popular areas, especially for tourists and backpackers. Known for the beaches, good surfing, warm sunny weather. Also big national parks with wide variety of wild life. Culturally, the west area (Colombo and nearby) is different from the south (Galle to Tangalle) but those differences don’t concern tourists and travellers.

Generally, the southern region is a live nice and chill type of beach places. Not much historic cultural value. Stay as little or as long as you want and move on.

• Colombo – capital city that everyone says you should skip. There is no reason to spend waste even a single day here (except if you need some essential item or service only found in a big city). Considering that a late night (airport arrival) direct taxi to Hikkaduwa (2 hours away) only costs me $40 USD…I’d have to agree. If you land during the day, you can train or bus for much cheaper anywhere you want.
  • Negombo – nicer tourist beach town just north of Colombo. And is actually closer to the CMB airport. This should be your final stop (if you have extra days) before flying out. They accept credit card here.
  • Bentota & Induruwa – these were the old popular tourist places back around 1995. Before Hikkaduwa and Galle became the new popular tourist spots of today, which I guess became more popular because of foreign money and foreigners going there.
• Hikkaduwa** 3 days – popular beach line and lake, restaurants, shops. Big enough city to have some sort of nightlife (which is still pretty dead during off-season).
  • Galle – small local city without many things for tourists. Just a Dutch Fort and some temples. Better to just pass through here and go onwards to nicer places. (Like Unawatuna.)
  • Unawatuna* 1 day – nice chill beach town. I’m not even sure I would call this a town. More like a quiet strip of hotels (and guesthouses) and hotel restaurants along the beach. Nice beach, nice vibe. Not much of a town…so no city shops and nightlife sort of thing.
  • Mirissa** 3 days – popular area with lots of westerners and “nightlife”. More things to see and do. Can get overcrowded during high season. Without actually having been here, I feel I would have preferred Tangalle. You can pick just one of these cities, and keep moving on…doing both are not necessary.
  • Tangalle** 3 days – quieter and more local. Just beaches and beach restaurants. Has a range of cheaper local vibe guesthouses, or fancy hotels. Has beach and also lake areas. Or you can stay in town center for a more “city life”, but I don’t see the point of that for foreigners. Feels super dead during off-season but the right amount of people during high-season. For this, many people may suggest you Mirissa for off-season and Tangalle for high-season.
• National parks
  • The two national parks of the south. People usually pass nearby when passing between the central and south. I think choosing one park is enough, unless you really REALLY like animals and safaris. Also, you should not waste any days staying by the national park. It’s better to set up your tour so that they drop you off in your next town instead of returning you back to the previous one. (For example, we arrange a private car that took us from Tangalle to Uda Walawawe, then onwards to Ella.)
  • Udawalawe National Park – best park in all of Sri Lanka to see elephants in a wild (less disturbed) setting…much more relaxed and better photo opportunities here. We also saw monkeys, peacocks, colorful birds, reptiles. Minneriya is the other good park for elephants but it’s only good during the annual elephant gathering period.
  • Yala National Park – this park has a wider range of wild life, mainly people come here mainly for the chance to see jaguars. But the park is known to be super crowded with many many safari jeeps all over. So we chose Uda instead. There is also a local road here that many people will tell you to just drive through and you can get the same safari-like experience for free. But some locals tell us this can be very dangerous if the elephants attack you.

Center

Colder, rainier temperature, higher up mountain altitudes. Scenic train routes, giant Sigiriya lion rock fortress, Minneriya largest Asian elephant gathering. Different scenery here than all the usual beach stuff. And also the southern part of the Sri Lanka cultural triangle and some iconic UNESCO world heritage sites. Get your cameras ready for all the photographic experiences!

• Ella** 3 days – hiking, waterfall, bridge at sunset, national park safari, busy town restaurants bars cafes, train to kandy. Mountain region. Really good food…best and most foodie place of sri lanka so far! Lots of wildlife..monkeys on the streets, exotic colorful birds. And you’ll have hot water in your showers since this is a cold region. No more ground water like the usual south.
• Kandy** 3 days –
  • Sigiriya* 1 day – tiny town with the Sigiriya Rock “Lion Rock” (UNESCO site and one of most beautiful highlights of Sri Lanka) and/or Pidurangala Rock (which is a cheaper hiking alternative of Sigiriya Rock), and the Dambulla Cave Temple along the way. It can be a day trip. Or as a convenient stop between Kandy and Trincomalee. I found Sigiriya accommodations to be really cheap nice jungle oasis so I wouldn’t blame you for spending another day to relax and chill.
  • Riverston – beautiful mountain forest and natural landscapes. Local Sri Lankan girl told me about this place but I haven’t been.
• Ella-Kandy scenic train:
  • This is the scenic train everyone takes. It’s the blue tourist train that goes by the beautiful mountain pass and tourists hang out the doorways and windows. The most beautiful is when it passes by Nuwara Eliya. For whatever reason, our train from Ella to Kandy skipped the Nuwara Eliya part but was still super beautiful. Buying in person is easier to make sure that you’re buying the tourist train, and not the local train (which is slow and much less comfortable).
  • If you get chatty with one of the train staff, they can make you a deal to bring you up to hang out in the conductor engine car. There you get front window views and may even get to toot the horn. We had such a blast. After an hour or so, or whenever you want, you can return back to your car (where the staff will be watching your belongings).
• Cultural triangle** 2-4 days – these are the main cities of the cultural triangle (excluding Anuradhapura, which is nearby but included in the North district). You can choose to spend a day or two at each place or pick one central location and do little day tours to each site…doing organized day tour, or self-arranged tuktuk, or rented motobike.
  • Sigiriya** 1 day – area of the famous Lion Rock, Pidurangala Rock. Also has nice nature accommodations to stay and busier street with restaurants than the others. The only city in this region worth staying the night or two. The others can be day trips.
  • Dambulla* – famous Dambulla Cave Temple and nothing else. If you’re coming from the south…you’ll pass through here, and would be nice if you arrange a transfer to make this stop for you (so you don’t have to come back for it).
  • Polonnaruwa* – didn’t go here but it also has many iconic cultural sites. We were tired churches and temples already so we skipped it with no regrets.
  • Choosing a home base – for those who would rather stay several days in one city than jumping a day between each one…the general concensus is only Habarana (large village) or Sigiriya (the most touristy one) are worth staying in. Giritale, I heard was another option but it’s less centrally-located IMO. For any of these sites, you can visit Sigiriya, Dambulla, Polonnaruwa and even Kandy as a day trip (although Kandy is worth more than day trip!)
  • Minneriya National Park* – not part of the cultural triangle but it’s also in this region. Famous for the largest Asian elephant gathering from June to August.

North

Considered the more cultural part of Sri Lanka with lots of Indian historical influence. The northern part of the historic Sri Lanka cultural triangle and nearly all the rest of Sri Lanka’s UNESCO world heritage sites are in this region.

In terms of similarities, both the north and south have nice beaches (surfable & bathable) and nice weather. The big difference about north vs south….is the culture and how they look at foreigners. South Sri Lanka has much more relaxed Buddhist religious vibe and therefore allows some western influence and tourists, European girls in bikinis and “nightlife”.

The north feels extremely religious (Hindu, Muslim) and limiting or maybe even scary for foreign tourists. Women are dressed up much more conversatively and Westerners would not feel as free to where bikinis on the beach (you won’t see a single person dressed like that). I’ve also heard and seen instances of Western girls get catcalled or even grabbed in public by strange men (even when the tourist girl is accompanied by a male). In short, it can feel a little uncomfortable in some places. I don’t know if I would go so far as to call it dangerous.

• Anuradhapura** 2 days – probably the most important tourist destination in the north district. Many historic cultural sites here, all conveniently near each other and easy to visit.
• Trincomalee 2 days – I’d recommend going here only during high season. Because the tourist areas are super dead outside of high season. You may feel like there’s nothing to see or do, and the local areas may feel too conservative or uncomfortable for you. Unless of course, you want to see exactly local life. There are many more Muslims here, so things feel very conservative.
• Jaffna** 3 days – similar to Trincomalee but the tourism value lies in it being even more authentically local. Feels much more like India (but more peaceful and less chaos), and with Tamil and Hindu culture here. You have to live like a local, eating where they eat. There are no tourist restaurants in bars. Indeed, some beautiful culture sites. It’s totally off the beaten path and no tourists here. You may like it, or you may feel uncomfortable and wish you stuck to the more touristy western parts.
• The far east (Trincomalee) and far north (Jaffna) are much more conservative and local. Food, culture, etc can be very different from what you’re accustomed to, even if you’re used to traveling a lot. My friend who initially wanted to see more “local stuff” missed the western tourist parts of Sri Lanka when we went to Trincomalee.

Nearby countries:

• India – I heard south India and Sri Lanka are like the same.
• Maldives – very highend luxury beach resort vacation destination. Still possible to find affordable hostels and what not.
• Bangladesh –
• Pakistan –

Unfiltered notes: