SRI LANKA family holiday in August?

Angelmouse

Hello,

The hoilday search has moved to Sri Lanka, will be my husband, 11 year old son and myself for two weeks in August.

Good time of year/bad? Should I be worried about Mozzies?
Have heard it's not best to swim in the sea?
Any recommendations on accomodation, things to do?

Thanks in advance

Incapuppy

I suggest you head over to the Trip Advisor Sri Lanka specific forums and destination guide. There is enough information over there to keep you reading for at least the next week.

alwaysskint96

Can recommend http://www.shangrilankavilla.com/

Didnt get bitten by mozzies but sandflies got me, Insect repellant cheap in pharmacy

Not sure on time of year, i went in Nov

jonny_power

We went in March. We didn't do a beach holiday but yes the sea looks very rough (we stayed a night at Mount Lavinia before going on to the Maldives). We did an organised 10 day tour where we spend a couple of nights at different places (Kandy, Habarana, Nuwara Eliya) seeing the cultural stuff and the tea plantations/elephants/safari etc. It was incredible and I'd definitely recommend doing it. I know people who have been there just for a beach holiday, and said they've been to better beach holidays in Europe and that they'd wished they gone inland and explored a bit.

alanrowell

Went in August, didn't get bitten once. BUT to go that far for a beach holiday is frankly a massive waste of money - inland Sri Lanka is one of the most astounding places you can ever visit.

And in the first two weeks of August there is one of the amazing looking & sounding festivals you'll see - the Esala Perahara.

Angelmouse

Thanks for all replies, have decided against Sri lanka now as we are unable to swim in sea during our time there, thank again for all your advice

sghpl

Further to previous messages, we are also considering a family adventure holiday to Sri Lanka in August this year. Can anyone recommend a travel company or itinery, preferably having been experienced, children will be 12 & 10, both fairly active.
Thanks for any suggestions.

Incapuppy

The first time we went we travelled with Kuoni and did a six night tour of the Cultural Triangle followed by eight nights at the beach. Kuoni and their associate company The Travel Collection have several different itineraries of various lengths to suit. Of course any of the big long haul tour operators should be able to offer a similar service and also tailormake to requirements. Don't fall into the trap of thinking the likes of Kuoni are massively expensive, they can quite often outprice the basic charter packages and have the benefit of scheduled flights, more flexibility etc.

Take a look at Mercury Direct, I have heard good reports about them and again they offer a couple of tours of varying durations followed by beach stays.

If you would like something tailormade by a smaller company try Red Dot Tours, they come highly recommended.

If you head over to Trip Advisor you will find destination info and Sri Lanka specific forums with masses of information to help you to decide where to go and what to see.

sghpl

Thanks for all the information, I will start looking at everything and hopefully, Sri Lanka here we come !!! :T

kochi1

Check out Explore Worldwide - they do family tours and have Sri Lankan one.
I went there 4 years ago for the cricket and got eaten by the sand flies, they did a better job than the mozzies! Mount Lavinia is a nice hotel (was the hospital in the movie Bridge Over the River Kwai movie!), Kandy, Dambulla, and the rest of the Cultural Triangle are stunnig places to visit. Recommend Cinnamon Lodge in Habarana, Hilltop in Kandy. Oh and dont forget the elephant orphange, its a truely amazing country to visit.Good shopping in Colombo is Paradise Road. Enjoy