Sri Lanka Tours in Winter

Sri Lanka is a fabulous country with lots of lush scenery, abundant wildlife and excellent food - many meals were buffets with lots of choice. The itinerary is fairly packed, but there was a good balance between cycling, bus journeys and sight-seeing. The local crew and support team of drivers and cyclists were amazing and did a great job of making sure everything went smoothly. A special mention has to go to our tour leader (Ashan) who did a fantastic job and was clearly enthusiastic to share his extensive knowledge of the island's culture and wildlife - he really did make the trip exceptional.

Another excellent trip with Explore! Amazing tour leader, so knowledgeable about a vast array of subjects. Beautiful country The Group got upgraded for accommodation on the trip twice which is a nice surprise. That said a few of the hotels we stayed in were dated and bathrooms a bit mouldy! The trip is a lot of a driving around which is only downside - would have liked more time in Kandy to explore so the itinerary was a bit full on

A really enjoyable trip with a bit of everything thrown in! The trip packs loads into the two week tour of Sri Lanka - ancient sites, lots of wildlife, beach stays and an insight into a fascinating culture. The tour moves fast (most hotel stays are just one night) but even the longer travel days were made enjoyable with the inclusion of many interesting stops along the way. Our guide, Cham, was extremely knowledgable and worked hard organising all the details and logistics. Hotels varied from nice to really good and were generally of a high standard. The highlight of our holiday was the Dhoni cruise. If you like snorkelling you will love it. Every snorkelling site was brilliant in its own way and our guide, Moussa, was so knowledgable and passionate about the marine life. The accommodation on the boat is basic but actually better than we expected. We were very well fed and looked after by a lovely crew. It was wonderful.

The accommodation we stayed in was of a high standard and the different parts we saw of Sri Lanka were very varied and I feel we saw so much of this special country during this trip. The food was absolutely outstanding on this trip and we went to some amazing off the beaten track restaurants. One of our favorites was the ladies who cooked the vegetable curries, the dinner at a locals house, and another was the buffet at the old colonial hotel, you may burn 2000 calories cycling but you will eat 3000 calories of amazing food if you want too. Suresh has a saying 'do maximum damage' at the buffet and that we did! wait till you try the egg hoppers you will be hooked! A bit of detail about the cycling: my husband and i were the youngest on the trip at 44 and 52 but we decided to go for the e bikes as it was our first cycle holiday. I highly recommend this option, whilst we had a good level of fitness, and I had trained for this trip doing 100km cycles. Even though we had done level 4 graded Exodus hiking trips before,we wanted to make sure we enjoyed the big climb days and did not slow everyone down, not that it is ever an issue with a lovely exodus group! We also didn't know if everyone would be super amazing club cyclists and we would be the slow ones, but we had a complete mix of lovely people and we didn't have anything to worry about. We have just booked our next Exodus cycle trip and have gone for normal bikes. We had the e bikes turned off most of the time and actually felt after a couple of days we should of gone for normal bikes but it did mean we could enjoy the big climbs and not worry at all, but the van is close behind you on those days and very easy to jump into, so if you are worried you are not fit enough for this trip or not a super keen cyclist i highly recommend going for the ebike option as the trip is definitely worth it and an amazing experience, the ebikes were a very good standard and brand new. At the time of the trip I was a modest cyclist and cycled mainly during the summer months at home, I did properly train for the trip and made sure i had done the 100km distance on a few occasions but this was just to give myself confidence and I just wanted to make sue i was well prepared, don't think you have to do a lot of training for this trip, the pace is good and no one was ever left behind, it is a level 4 so you do need some fitness but with a good level of fitness you could do it, if you are worried definitely go for the e bike option. I would agree with some of the other comments that it wasn't aways back roads and sometimes the traffic was crazy but we always felt safe with Suresh at the front another guide at the back and the bike mechanics were often following us, i really cant thank the whole crew enough just an amazing team who were brilliant and everything was seamless. It can be hot and I recommend bringing some electrolytes with you, the crew carry more water and food than you could ever need so nothing to worry about there. Have cold gear for the mountains in the evening as it does get cold. I felt there was also a good amount of things organised outside of the cycling and it felt we always had plenty of things organised in and out of the saddle, the tea plantation visits were amazing also the jewelry factory, the visit to the gardens in Kandy also really great mix of things to see and do outside of the saddle. Finishing the trip at the beach was fabulous as well, there are so many different sides to Sri Lanka I felt we saw them all. We had a totally amazing group of people in the group who shared this adventure with us, and we all got on so well it was wonderful to get to know them all, we have always had great groups with Exodus. but this was the best group yet, so thank you also to all of them who made the trip so memorable.

I had a fantastic time - the walking was very diverse and we were able to get off the beaten track as well as see many of the famous sites. Adam's Peak was a very memorable although challenging experience - I would definitely recommend doing it. Be ready for lots of early starts. Our tour leader, Ash, was excellent and really made a difference to the trip- the rest of the team and local guides were also great.

Fantastic busy itinerary, lots of variation in the days & full of adventures. I would recommend removing Wilpattu as the safari and accommodation both were less than desirable. Great for birders, not so much families. That might would have been enjoyed more in Kandy or Hikkaduwa. Also, the wave of highs and lows with accommodation just didn’t work. From guesthouse to 5 star is just too inconsistent. Moving from bougie Kassaba Lions Rock to mold on the walls at Kilulgala Guesthouse didn’t go over well. Rama was a great guide & the driver/assistant did a magnificent job.