Planning your holiday in Sri Lanka

Journey times

The journey times given below are estimates only and will vary according to the road conditions, weather and time of day in which you travel. IMPORTANT: The journey times are on-road travelling times only and do not include stops.

Select the start and finish locations from the the drop-down menus for an estimate of the travelling time between locations.

Planning a route

Despite its small size, there are several alternative ways of seeing Sri Lanka’s great variety of scenery and its historically and culturally fascinating sites

All international flights arrive at the airport in Katunayake, which is 30km north of Colombo. From the airport, it is best to head to the beaches along the west, southwest or south coasts, Kandy in the Hill Country, or directly to the ancient cities' area (Cultural Triangle). From these starting points you can then choose the best order to visit other sites of interest.

Remember that the road conditions in Sri Lanka are very different from those encountered in Europe or North America and consequently average road speeds are about 40km per hour, even less during rush hour or on the island’s narrow and winding country lanes. Therefore, we suggest that you gauge the length of your journey by time rather than distance (see above for an estimate of journey times between locations).

Most roads are single-lane each way, poorly maintained (although a comprehensive, island-wide road building project is currently in progress), and used by all sorts of ‘traffic’. Pedestrians often walk along or in the middle of narrow roads, cattle and dogs roam at will, over-laden bullock carts and paddy tractors crawl along at a snail’s pace holding up the following, frustrated vehicles, the vulnerable but ubiquitous cyclists and motorcyclists shoot out from side roads then wobble precariously in front of the chasing, uncompromising buses and trucks, and finally cars, vans and tuk-tuks forget about warning others of their intentions because Sri Lankan drivers simply expect everyone else to avoid them!

Now simply click on Holiday planner to create your own dream holiday to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

If you would prefer to discuss your Sri Lanka and Maldives options with a holiday expert, feel free to call us on 020 8802 3680 or email us at holidays@tikalanka.com where you can also order our latest brochure or book a holiday.