Sri Lanka Trip Cost
A lot of readers have asked me how much I spent on my Sri Lanka Trip, so I thought of dedicating a blog post to this topic. My trip to SriLanka from Bangalore was a 4 day trip, the itinerary can be found on "Sri Lanka Itinerary". We did 6 cities in 4 days so it was quite a packed trip, here are the expenses.
Sri Lanka Trip from Bangalore - Details and Budgets |
Flight Bookings
Tickets: Rs 12000 per person (24,000 for a couple)
Bangalore to Colombo : INR 12,000 round trip per person.
Book in advance, I always use skyscanner to check first the lowest prices in a month, select the whole month option and it will show you the entire month table. The link is www.skyscanner.com
Visa Cost : Nil
Sri Lanka has Visa on Arrival, this means that you do not need an advance visa to go there, you can land at the airport and got to the visa desk and get it done. When I had travelled, I had paid around 2-3K to the travel agent for getting the visa done from India. However, I read on the internet that now upto 2020, the visa fees for Indian Tourists has been exempted to promote tourism, so essentially it is free :)
Internal Transports
Car Cost: Rs 25000
We had booked a car along with driver for the 4 days trip from Airport which included all the travel, sightseeing and going around to places. Fuel is a bit expensive in Sri Lanka and so the charges for car hire are high. There are no metros and travelling by train is very hectic, so car is the best option.
It was called as Leisure tours (we booked through travel triangle who in-turn had subcontracted to Leisure tours Sri Lanka, so better to book directly and negotiate well on the price)
Hotel Bookings
Day 1: Cinnamon Bey Bentota (Located on Beruwala Beach) : Rs 4500 per night.
Beautiful 5 Star property built with Turkish architecture
Day 2 and Day 3 : Thilanka Kandy : Rs 1000 (5000 per night)
This is a 5 star property is located in the city center, very close to the temple and lake, and on a hill so offers beautiful views.
Day 4 : Steuart by Citrus Hotel : Rs 5500
This was a 4 star property in the prime city area, walkable from the Galle beachfront.
When booking a hotel, check the prices at different websites such as booking.com, Hotels.com and Trivago for a comparison and then select the cheapest price
When booking a hotel, check the prices at different websites such as booking.com, Hotels.com and Trivago for a comparison and then select the cheapest price
Total Hotel cost : INR 20000 (We selected all 5 star and 4 star properties as the rates were very reasonable. However you can select good 3 star properties and minimize the budget)
SriLanka primarily thrives on tourism, so yes there is a fees for every attraction or historical monument that you need to pay. Generally these places are free for Sri Lanka natives but tickets need to be purchased for foreign nationals. Always ask what is the fees for Indians or Saarc nationals, as there is a half price discount given to Saarc nations. Don't assume that if you will dress like Sri lankans then no one will know that we are foreigners due to our brown skin, you will eventually get caught because we do not speak their language.
Bentota Beach and Beruwala Beach : Free
Turtle Hatchery: 1000 LKR (Sri Lankan Rupees)
Pinnavala Elephant Orphanage: 700 LKR
Temple of the Tooth Relic: 1500 LKR
Kandy Lake : Free
Sigiriya Ravan Fort : 2300 LKR
Dambulla Caves : 1500 LKR
Total : 7000 LKR which is around 3500 Indian Rupees per person
Check reviews of places on Tripadvisor for more details on the timings, feedback and pictures of various attractions before planning the trip or even during your trip.
Check reviews of places on Tripadvisor for more details on the timings, feedback and pictures of various attractions before planning the trip or even during your trip.
Food and Incidentals :
Food is cheap here, eat where local people eat. Breakfast was quite extensive in all our hotels, so we used to be full in the mornings, buy some fruits from local sellers on the road and eat it during noon, and then we used to have an early dinner. The best things that we enjoyed were eating Dosa, Poori Sabji and Noodles etc. in local restaurants.
Cost for 5 days was around 5000 for 5 days for 2 people.
Our picture from the trip |
Total Cost for the trip for my family was around 81000 (This excludes the shopping that I did in colombo and also excludes the ticket fare for my child as I have calculated the cost of 2 Adults. Overally this trip costed me around 1 Lakh rupees). This is cheaper than many trips I have done within India to say Kerala or Goa. And the natural beauty at Sri Lanka was tremendous.
So do visit SL and reach out to me if you have any more questions about my trip.
P.S: All pictures on this blog are original and clicked by me or Naveen using our Phone and DSLR. So if you do want to use any images, please mention the source atleast.
I would never suggest to go with Tour operators, as I plan all my trips myself and it is more fun to travel that way. You could refer to more links on my blog for details, if confused drop me a message on my fb page.
I would never suggest to go with Tour operators, as I plan all my trips myself and it is more fun to travel that way. You could refer to more links on my blog for details, if confused drop me a message on my fb page.
More Posts from the Sri Lanka series
1. Sri Lanka Itinerary
2. Bentota - Beach town
3. Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
4. Kandy
5. Sigiriya.. Ravan's fort
6. Dambulla.. Caves and Golden temple
7. Colombo Trip Part 1
8. Colombo Trip Part 2
Some more links on Sri Lanka Tourism which were helpful.
https://www.srilanka.travel/
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/sri-lanka
https://www.thrillophilia.com/countries/srilanka
2. Bentota - Beach town
3. Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
4. Kandy
5. Sigiriya.. Ravan's fort
6. Dambulla.. Caves and Golden temple
7. Colombo Trip Part 1
8. Colombo Trip Part 2
Some more links on Sri Lanka Tourism which were helpful.
https://www.srilanka.travel/
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/sri-lanka
https://www.thrillophilia.com/countries/srilanka