Travel to Sri Lanka on a budget – A complete guide to help you
navigate through the beautiful island
Last year, my wife and I traveled on a 5-day tour to Sri
Lanka, the tiny tear-shaped island located at the tip of India, in the Indian Ocean.
The primary reason why we choose to visit this place was that it is not very
expensive.
Just to give you an overview before diving deep into the
details, the 5-day trip cost us INR 80,000
(A little over 1,100 USD for two persons, including return flight costs from
India) and we spend some real good amount on our hotels as well.
Proper planning and prior research about the places to visit
in Sri Lanka will help you immensely in saving money, without compromising or
missing out on any of the key attractions.
Through this blog, I will give a detailed break up of things
to do in Sri Lanka and things to avoid in Sri Lanka if you are traveling on a
tight budget.
How much does a flight to Sri Lanka cost?
First things first, flight ticket will probably form the
biggest chunk of your total expenses.
Our flight route: We took a Jet Airways flight from Hyderabad to Colombo, via Bangalore.
Total cost: The
tickets cost us INR 36,000 (USD 520 appx.) for two persons.
Tip to book flight
ticket for cheap:
1.
You can save on your flight cost by booking
the tickets well in advance.
2.
Flights with layovers are generally less
expensive than direct flights. If you are okay with spending time at the
airports, then this could save you some money.
How to apply for Visa to Sri Lanka?
Next comes the visa application. Getting a visa to Sri Lanka
is not difficult. It is an online process which will take you about 10 minutes
in total.
FAQ 1: Does Sri Lanka
give visa on arrival?
Answer: Except for the citizens of Singapore, Maldives and
Seychelles, individuals from every other nationality are required to apply for
the visa online via the Electronic Travel Assistance (ETA) system. While there
is an option to apply for Visa at the port of entry in Sri Lanka, it is
expensive and NOT RECOMMENDED.
FAQ 2: What is the cost of Visa for Sri Lanka and how
much time does it take to get a visa for Sri Lanka?
We spent USD 20 per person to get the visa. Since India is a
member of SAARC, the visa cost is less compared to the cost for other
nationalities. However, the cost of visa has been hiked and the table below
shows the latest cost of getting a visa to Sri Lanka:
You will receive the online copy of your visa on your
registered mail ID almost immediately.
You can use the following link to apply for Sri Lankan visa
online: https://etagov.com/slvisa/visainfo/eta.php
What is the best way of traveling from Colombo airport to Colombo city?
Our flight landed at around 2:30 AM in the morning and by
the time we reached the exit after completing the immigration formalities and
collecting our bags it was close to 4:00 AM.
There are various cab service provider counters at the
airport. We first checked on the Govt. approved cab service – and the lady
there was kind enough to admit that the Govt. cabs are more expensive and there
is no scope for bargaining. We turned to a private cab service and booked a cab
to the city. The distance from the airport to the city is around 35 KM’s and it
took us 40 minutes in the morning to get there.
FAQ 3: How much does
a cab cost from Colombo airport to Colombo city?
Well, we ended up paying 2,000 LKR (1 USD = 160 LKR appx.)
which was way too much. Before leaving India, we had done all our research and
every article said that anything more than a 1,000-1,200 LKR is high. At 4:30
AM in the morning, having spent the last 9 hours in transit, we just wanted to
get out and reach our hotel!
FAQ 4: What is the
best and cheapest way to get to Colombo city from the airport?
If you are looking for a best and cheapest combo, then I
would say hiring UBER is the best choice. It should not cost you more than
1,000 LKR.
If you can forgo the comfort and speed, then the cheapest
mode of transportation is the local bus service. Getting from the airport to
the city will cost you not more than 80 – 100 LKR but it will take forever to
reach the city, especially if it is during the peak hours.
What is the best place to exchange currency in Sri Lanka
Probably the most important activity on reaching Lanka is to
exchange your currency for the local currency.
FAQ 5: Is it worth
getting currency exchanged at the airport?
Not really, currency exchange at the airport will pull you
down marginally as the exchange rates are not as lucrative as they are outside.
However, the exchange rates at counters at arrival hall are not too bad and you
can get a few dollars exchanged to meet your initial expenses.
Once in the city, you can approach various private currency
exchange vendors and negotiate the best rate.
Tip to remember: Before
going out to exchange currency, check the current prevailing exchange rates on
any trusted website (I use Oanda.com). This will give you a fair idea of what
to expect.
Also, USD and Euros are widely accepted. Exchanging any
other currency might be a challenge.
Shopping for
essentials
Like most South Asian nations and unlike the European
countries, Sri Lanka is not very expensive when it comes to essentials such as
water, food, local transportation, SIM cards etc. You can walk into any general
store and buy these items easily.
What is the best way of traveling from one city to another in Sri Lanka?
So, on our 5-day trip we visited the following places:
1. Colombo
2. Galle
3. Unawatuna
4. Bentota
and
5. Colombo
Our first journey took us to Galle in the famed Rajadhani
express of Sri Lanka. I booked the tickets for this train online beforehand.
(If you are looking to travel in first class, then there is limited capacity
and it is better to book in advance). The trip cost us around 2,000 LKR per person
and took us four long hours to reach Galle (takes 2 hours by road).
I must admit that I was partly confused and partly shocked
when our train arrived at the Colombo Fort station. Confused because the entire
train was actually a second class train where the crowd was overwhelming. Some
noble soul informed me that only the first bogie was AC First class.
Shocked because the First class turned out to be a deal
breaker. The seats were old and not very comfortable, the AC was not a
centralized AC system, instead, a split AC unit was installed inside the bogie
(beat that). To add to the woes, the train stopped with a big thud every time.
If you are standing without support, you will surely fall.
Luckily for us, the First Class was empty. There were a few
more foreign tourists, but that’s it. Moreover, the train route to Galle must
be one of the most scenic in the World, for the entire rail line runs parallel
to the ocean and the route is dotted with small, beautiful villages and
settlements.
Tip to remember:
I would definitely recommend that you take the Rajadhani at
least once (FIRST CLASS and nothing else). If you do, then book seats in
advance and have a print out of the tickets handy.
Important note:
Rajadhani train is under renovation currently (thankfully, much needed) Visit
this website to check the status - https://rajadhani.lk/
How to travel from Galle to Unawatuna?
Galle to Unawatuna is hardly any distance. We hired a
Tuk-tuk that took us there and got us back to Galle for 400 LKR. Unawatuna has
a lot of beach activities on offer and the cost is not too high. It is a good
place for those seeking water adventures (more details in my Sri Lanka travel
blog).
Traveling from Galle to Bentota and back to Colombo
On our way back, we took the local AC bus to Bentota, stayed
there for a night and took the local AC bus back to Colombo. The bus is
extremely cheap – it cost us only 60 LKR per person on each of these routes and
took us 2 hours each time. However, if you have luggage, the bus supervisor
will charge for one extra seat (although the bags will not be kept on a seat. Who
minds giving 60 LKR’s extra?)
While going back to the airport, we took the local AC bus
from the city. It took us almost 2 hours to get there. So if you want to save
on some money by using local AC bus, start well in advance for the airport.
Hotels in Lanka
There is no dearth of budget hotels in Lanka. Whatever your
budget may be, there is a place to reside available. The hotels that we stayed
in were not very budget friendly (cost us between 6,000 and 15,000 LKR). This
was because I looked at the hotel bookings a little late and all the good, economical
stays were sold out!
Tip to remember:
Planning everything well in advance makes the trip a lot cheaper and you get
the best deals!
Getting around Sri Lanka is by and large safe. Thankfully we
never faced any tense situations in regards to our safety or being scammed by
any local. Must appreciate the hospitality of the Lankans, they do go the extra
mile to make you feel comfortable and welcomed.
(This blog is dedicated for information about the best and
the cheapest way to get around Lanka, in my next blog, I will take you through
my travel experiences in Sri Lanka).
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