Negombo Tours in October 2026

Overall, amazing trip! From the moment I rang up and spoke to lovely Mandy, I was impressed by Explore. I was part of a group of 8 ranging from 30s-70s, by the end of the trip, we were like old friends. I hadn’t done a group trip before and you are spending a lot of time together so be prepared for that if you are also sharing a room. Luckily we all got on really well and had a laugh together but you do have to carve out some solo time. Itinerary - this trip is described as moderate but it’s quite full on. So many activities are squeezed in to the available time and a fair bit of travel in between, but this is broken up by stops on an off the bus for points of interest. It meant we saw so much of Sri Lanka, we covered 2000km. Think, temples, wildlife, food, hiking, boat / train trip, beach, cities, and history and beautiful scenery. Accommodation - some were lovely, some not so much, but all were clean / acceptable, some just a bit more basic than others. Most had pretty good food as we eat at the hotel most nights due to often being off the beaten track. You are accompanied for the whole trip by your tour guide and we were very lucky to have Sam. Sam made the trip. He has such and in depth knowledge of Sri Lanka and was so willing to tell us everything we wanted to know about the history and customs of the country that we really felt like we had gotten to know the country in depth. He had so many little extras ‘up his sleeve’ from stopping the bus to show us how to blow bubbles with a soap plant to arranging for us to go into the signal room at the train station. I am sure all of the guides are brilliant, but know if you are lucky to be assigned Sam, he is something special. The trip was fantastic, so many experiences packed into two weeks and friends I hope to stay in touch with. If you’re considering this trip, 10/10 recommend.

This was a great trip. The bikes were good and well-maintained. Accommodation was a nice mix of hotels. We had good food and good company. The wildlife and culture of Sri Lanka is wonderful. The guide, Ash was knowledgeable and clearly cared that we were all happy and enjoying his beautiful country. His team were smiley and helpful. Ash had to exercise diplomacy unfortunately as there was one bad apple client, (people!!) but he did this quietly and confidently.

This is a very good trip but fell down on two points: 1) Just half a day in Colombo is woefully inadequate. 2) The current Explore practice on many recent trips of large lunches (In the case of Sri Lanka buffet group lunches in tourist restaurants) followed by large evening meals, also invariably as a group, is crazy. Most group members complained about this. A light lunch sampling local "street type" food, soup or light sandwiches followed by a decent evening meal would be infinitely more sensible. We all agreed that given we were not walking very far on most days no one needs two huge meals a day!

Both parts of this trip wee amazing but the tour leader, Nala, for the Sri Lankan part was amazing. We were seeing and doing so much of Sri Lanka but his efficiency and effectiveness at keeping us all informed and inspired throughout was seamless. He was knowledgeable, fun, and thoughtful with all of our group. He was careful to make sure everyone was happy and felt part of the group, and was aware of everyone's particular interests. Nala made sure that we all knew what to expect in the day's itinerary but also added in extra activities if there was time, or the opportunity arose for example, a large banana market where the cooperative owners were happy to hear our questions and have phottaken. We would thoroughly recommend Nala as a tour guide- everything he did was designed to keep us all happy and he was exceptional in this.

Just finished up a fantastic trip with Intro to Sri Lanka, covering all the major sites as well as special local experiences. Penn was an amazing group leader, making the trip stress free, fun and relaxing! I would recommend to anyone looking to travel to Sri Lanka with a group of likeminded people!

Penn was an amazing leader and star photographer! She was always behind the scenes making sure we had all the information needed and best pics captured. The Sri Lanka tour is fantastic and the perfect balance of active and relaxation. I highly recommend!!!