Negombo 14-Day Tours and Trips

Our guide, Mimi, was amazing. He was extremely knowledgeable, engaging & ensured that the whole holiday ran as smoothly as possible. The itinerary was a great mix of culture, scenery & delicious food - I could not have expected more I will definitely travel with Explore in the future & am excited as to where to go next ....

Would thoroughly recommend this tour as a way of getting a comprehensive introduction to Sri Lanka, its geography, culture, religions, food and people. You do visit a lot of temples as they are an important part of Sri Lankan life. The tour is busy and can be physical with a couple of challenging climbs which are optional. The accomodation is varied so don't always expect the standards that you may get in more developed countries but the hotels are always clean and some are really top notch. Our tour leader (mimi) and driver (hector) were amazing. Mimi was so knowledgible and passionate about his country, and willing to accomodate all our many requests

Thank you to all concerned for a great trip Food and beer prices need doubling as service charge 10% and VAT 18%. Night under canvas listening to animal noises ruined by local very loud party until 2am Lion Rock. the walk into the rock itself is not easy as very uneven ground and lots of steps. definitely need walking poles if at all unsure on balance. Grand Hotel, Nuwara Eliya. Lots of staff but very slow service in bars and restaurants. 2 nights in Galle with own time to explore old town would have been much preferred to 2 nights at Bentota. Jeep ride around Colombo started well, but monsoon rain meant that we were all drenched, and commentary stopped. street food was just picked up from 3 men standing in side street. I had images of a street food market. the food itself in a cardboard box was just rice with a small amount of chicken, and a sweet sauce and chilli sauce, finally eaten in our hotel room. A sad end to a great trip

Explore leader: for Sri Lanka only satisfactory. Not easy to understand, didn't seem to feel part of the group, didn't join us for meals, a poor communicator (relative to past explore trips) For the dhoni Maldives cruise: Moosa was excellent in every way.

Active Sri Lanka included a really interesting mix of activities. I particularly enjoyed being out in the beautiful countryside, meeting rural people and seeing lots of lovely birds. Overall the people and staff were very helpful, friendly and really proud of their country. Sujith and his team were a well oiled machine. Everything ran like clockwork, and I felt confident of all the arrangements. We were taken care of extremely well and I would really recommend this trip with Su.

A wonderfully varied trip. We did so much. I'll try not to repeat what Karen said but will add a few thoughts. The Sri Lanka we saw was surprisingly diverse. We went from low, hot and humid, by the Indian ocean near Colombo, up into the beautiful hill country, with its expanses of tea plantations, then down to the semi arid coast in the south. A great start was meeting the group. They were all positive, punctual and friendly. We laughed a lot. I loved the food. So much choice! Buffets offered salads, curries, fruit and more for around 6. I didn't feel the need that some felt for sandwiches and chips instead. I'm not vegetarian but found the veggie choices in the buffets to be the best options. We had great "village meals" on two occasions, plus the opportunity to try mannioc and drink tea from coconut shells.