Well, the obvious answer is: Sri Lanka as a holiday destination has a lot on its plate for tourists.
How can you possibly cover city life, beaches, hill country, tea plantations, waterfalls, village life, history, culture, tradition and also have a relaxing holiday all in just FIVE days?
- Since the island is small, land space is minimum, highways are few, and travelling from one destination to the other takes quite some time.
- Travel agencies recommend at least 10-14 days in Sri Lanka if you want to go back home saying “I have seen Sri Lanka”.
- Even if you want to cover only the beaches in Sri Lanka, you need at least one week as you have to travel to the south, west, north and east coastlines for a perfect beach holiday.
- Sri Lanka has a long history and a very unique culture. If you are looking for a cultural holiday, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, Dambulla, Kandy, Colombo, and Galle are a must visit. There itself you have 7 cities for which you need a minimum of 7 days to cover.
- An interesting option during your holiday would be to include an Ayurvedic treatment or a few days of yoga or meditation. But of course, with a 5 day trip, none of this would be possible.
- A nature stricken holiday in Sri Lanka would involve a visit to a few of the popular National Parks (Yala, Wilpattu, Minneriya, etc), as well as places like Knuckles Mountain Range, Adam’s Peak, Sinharaja Rain Forest, Ella, Nuwara Eliya and so on. 5 days will only let you cover a few of these places.
- Shopping is a must on every holiday! From Sri Lanka, you can take back souvenirs such as clothing, textiles, spices, semi-precious stones, tea, and much more. So in your five day trip do you plan to sightsee or shop? You surely can’t do both in such a short time frame!
Well, the bottom line is, FIVE days is just not enough! As much as you try to tightly schedule a tailor-made itinerary for a five day holiday in Sri Lanka, you will surely miss out on some important highlights of the country. Take our advice and be sure to schedule at least 10 days in Sri Lanka.