India & Sri Lanka Planning 2018

[RooFlyer]

Our first visit to the Trevi fountain provided a good view of scaffolding

Mine too

Hope I'm not 'hijacking' the thread, but having booked my tour, I would be grateful for any accommodation recommendations at or near :

Negombo - near airport
Anuradhapura
Sigiriya
Kandy district
Galle - last hotel after 5 weeks on-the-road, RTW, it needs to be good!

 

[Major]

We have booked with Luxury Escapes and will be staying at mostly Sri Lanka Hotels | Official Site Jetwing Hotels Sri Lanka for May

Jetwing Vil Uyana at Sigiriya

Mahaweli Reach Kandy

Jetwing Yala

Jetwing lighthouse Galle ( we are staying an extra 2 nights here to chill out)

Also staying Ceylon Tea Trails and Jetwing Colombo Seven

I hope they are up to our usual standard

 

[Jacques Vert]

Mine too

Hope I'm not 'hijacking' the thread, but having booked my tour, I would be grateful for any accommodation recommendations at or near :

Negombo - near airport
Anuradhapura
Sigiriya
Kandy district
Galle - last hotel after 5 weeks on-the-road, RTW, it needs to be good!

No problem hijacking the thread, we will be looking for accommodation options as well!

 

[RB]

We have booked with Luxury Escapes and will be staying at mostly Sri Lanka Hotels | Official Site Jetwing Hotels Sri Lanka for May

Jetwing Vil Uyana at Sigiriya

Mahaweli Reach Kandy

Jetwing Yala

Jetwing lighthouse Galle ( we are staying an extra 2 nights here to chill out)

Also staying Ceylon Tea Trails and Jetwing Colombo Seven

I hope they are up to our usual standard

It is quite a while since we were there so things would have changed. The only spot that I particularly noted Jetwing was in Negombo & there seemed to be quite a difference between their properties there-reviews of the time were also indicating this

 

[Milboo]

The Wallawwe is supposed to be great - near the airport. Both times I struck out with getting a booking there.

I stayed at Pledge 3 in Negombo and it did the trick of a 1am arrival and post breakfast departure. Was a nice small hotel with a pool and free airport pick up.

Kandy - Kandy House is one of the good ones but it is a bit out of town and traffic can be busy at peak times but the setting is beautiful, with a pool overlooking rice paddies.

Galle - completely biased but I would stay at Cape Weligama - it’s not too far away and you can easily organise a car to take you to Galle for a visit. It’s close to Mirassa and as a relax spot you can’t beat it! Get a villa they share a private pool and the rooms are more located around the lower pool which is where the kids will be (if any around). The villas have their own gardens and it really is amazing.

 

[Milboo]

 

[SuzieQ68]

Question re timing.

Pretty sure that mid August-mid September isn't the most ideal time to visit India and Sri Lanka, but could anyone give me a heads up on realistically what to expect weather wise. Don't mind a bit of rain, but if it's prone to severe flooding at this time of year, I will probably have to change my timing. Thinking Northern India, but could just divert the trip to travel to just Sri Lanka this time around if that's what AFF's recommend. Thanks in advance.

 

[CMak]

Just a quick note on Sri Lankan accommodation.
We will be travelling there late April/early May this year and haven't been before but here are the hotels we are staying at (but can't recommend as we haven't been there yet)
Colombo - Galle Face Hotel, Sigiriya - Aliya Resort & Spa, Kandy - Clove Villa, Yala - Leopard Trails

 

[Jacques Vert]

Question re timing.

Pretty sure that mid August-mid September isn't the most ideal time to visit India and Sri Lanka, but could anyone give me a heads up on realistically what to expect weather wise. Don't mind a bit of rain, but if it's prone to severe flooding at this time of year, I will probably have to change my timing. Thinking Northern India, but could just divert the trip to travel to just Sri Lanka this time around if that's what AFF's recommend. Thanks in advance.

We haven't been there yet (hence this thread) but my research suggests that August-September will not be good. For example, 2017 saw Mumbai flooded: 2017 Mumbai flood - Wikipedia

Also, check this site: Best Time to Visit India - Peak Season for India - When to Visit India - India Travel Season

After reviewing lots of sites & comments, I came up with this overview of when is GOOD (but no actual experience to go by):

September: Sri Lanka east coast
October: Simla, Darjeeling, Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Kolkata.
November: As for Oct plus add Amritsar, Sri Lanka West (but better from Dec)
December: As for November plus add Maldives & Kerala and leave out Simla.
January: Same as December but getting quite cold in Amritsar and forget Darjeeling.
I did not look at Feb through August.

Note that this list is only based on weather and does not consider hotel prices, etc.

Also, there has been political unrest in Darjeeling as noted earlier in this thread.

 

[Milboo]

I did the South Coast (Weligama) in October and it was humid but not super hot. Out of a week I think it rained in an afternoon or overnight maybe 3-4 times. I quite enjoyed it. And it was pretty quiet tourist wise.

 

[SuzieQ68]

We haven't been there yet (hence this thread) but my research suggests that August-September will not be good. For example, 2017 saw Mumbai flooded: 2017 Mumbai flood - Wikipedia

Also, check this site: Best Time to Visit India - Peak Season for India - When to Visit India - India Travel Season

After reviewing lots of sites & comments, I came up with this overview of when is GOOD (but no actual experience to go by):

September: Sri Lanka east coast
October: Simla, Darjeeling, Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Kolkata.
November: As for Oct plus add Amritsar, Sri Lanka West (but better from Dec)
December: As for November plus add Maldives & Kerala and leave out Simla.
January: Same as December but getting quite cold in Amritsar and forget Darjeeling.
I did not look at Feb through August.

Note that this list is only based on weather and does not consider hotel prices, etc.

Also, there has been political unrest in Darjeeling as noted earlier in this thread.

Thanks so much Jacques. Will have a look at the links and keep following this thread. Lots of good information on where to visit/stay coming through. Hope you have a fantastic time away (when you do end up going).

 

[RooFlyer]

I guess this is where you get your electronic Visa? : Online Visa Application

...and I guess they send you a PDF which you just present at the normal arrival immigration counter?

 

[Milboo]

Yes.

I don’t recall ever having to show mine. I had a print out but think I took a screenshot too.

 

[Major]

I know we discussed vaccinations for Sri Lanka on another thread but I can't find it. Can someone point me in the right direction please ?

 

[Jacques Vert]

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread; I've finally got around to starting a Trip Report: Get it INDIA