Sri Lanka
From the Indian Ocean breaking behind the bowler’s arm at Galle to cricket in the hills above Kandy.
Sports tours in Sri Lanka
Choose your sport
Every tour is tailored and quoted for your dates and group, through our team on the ground.
Cricket in Sri Lanka
Galle Fort, Pallekele, Colombo and Dambulla: cricket all year, built around your dates.
Golf in Sri Lanka
Legends & Paradise Golf Premier 2027: three courses, eight days, 29 March to 5 April 2027.
Playing tours in Sri Lanka
School and club tours for cricket, rugby, netball and hockey, with fixtures against Sri Lankan sides.
The country
Where you’ll go
Sri Lanka packs a whole continent into one island: the 17th-century Dutch fort at Galle, the tea country around Kandy and Nuwara Eliya, the ancient cities of the Cultural Triangle, leopards in Yala and blue whales off Mirissa.
It is also a cricket-mad nation with cricket all year round. Galle is the most atmospheric Test ground in the world, Pallekele sits in the hills outside Kandy, and the R. Premadasa Stadium is the big-match home in Colombo. The golf is old and beautiful too, from Royal Colombo, founded in 1879, to Victoria above Kandy and Shangri-La Hambantota on the south coast.
Most trips combine a sport with the island around it: a Test at Galle and a leopard safari, a week of golf with the Temple of the Tooth, a school or club playing tour in cricket, rugby or netball, or cricket in Kandy and the hill country train. Tell us what you want and we build it around your group.
On the map
10 places to know in Sri Lanka
Hover over or tap a pin to explore.
Colombo
The R. Premadasa Stadium, Royal Colombo Golf Club and Geoffrey Bawa’s architecture: the gateway to Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s commercial capital and the most likely start to your trip. The city has changed a great deal in recent years, with a new food scene, excellent hotels and real cultural depth: the Gangaramaya Temple, the National Museum, the Pettah markets and the bars and restaurants of Colombo 7.
Direct flights from London Heathrow, about 10 hours 30 minutes to 11 hours.
When to go
Sri Lanka through the year
The guide
The Sri Lanka guide
Sri Lanka is my favourite country on earth. I know that’s a big statement, and I stand by every word of it. There is nowhere else in the world where cricket, culture, wildlife and sheer natural beauty come together quite like this.
Galle is the reason most cricket lovers first come to Sri Lanka, and rightly so. Watching Test cricket from the ramparts of a 17th-century Dutch fort, the Indian Ocean crashing behind the bowler’s arm, is the single greatest experience in world cricket. But Sri Lanka has so much more: the hill country around Kandy and Nuwara Eliya is breathtaking, the island has eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and the wildlife rivals anywhere in Africa.
Cricket here is year-round. There is no "season" in the way there is for Australia or the West Indies. This guide is built from 17 years of cricket travel. It is the guide I wish I’d had on my first trip, and it will help you plan yours.
Travel notesEntry, health, money, weather, plugs, time and getting around.+
Entry+
British passport holders need an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA), a form of visa you apply for online before you travel. It is issued free of charge and valid for 30 days. Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months from the day you arrive.
Rules can change, so always check GOV.UK travel advice before you travel.
Health+
No vaccinations are required to enter Sri Lanka from the UK. Talk to your GP or a travel health clinic at least 6 weeks before you go about which are recommended for you, and about antimalarials.
Mosquito repellent is essential, above all in the evenings. Drink bottled water.
Money+
The currency is the Sri Lankan rupee (LKR). Major hotels and restaurants in the tourist areas take cards, but you need rupees for smaller places, tuk-tuks and tips. ATMs are widely available.
Sri Lanka is one of the best-value destinations in world cricket: fine hotels, private drivers and excellent food cost a fraction of what you would pay in Australia, England or the Caribbean.
Weather+
Sri Lanka has two monsoons, which is good news for visitors. The south and west coasts, including Galle and Colombo, are driest from November to April; the east coast and the Cultural Triangle from May to September. There is always a dry region to visit.
Expect 27 to 32°C on the coast, dropping to 15 to 20°C in the hill country around Nuwara Eliya. Pack light cotton for the coast and a warm layer for the hills.
Flights and time+
Bandaranaike International Airport near Colombo is the main gateway, with direct flights from London Heathrow of about 10 hours 30 minutes to 11 hours. International flights are not included: you book your own and we plan the trip around them.
Sri Lanka is 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of the UK in winter and 4 hours 30 minutes ahead during British Summer Time: midday in a London winter is 5.30pm in Sri Lanka.
Plugs+
Sri Lanka uses the same three-pin plug as the UK (Type G), so no adaptor is needed for UK travellers.
Getting around+
Private car with driver is the standard and most comfortable way to travel, and we arrange every transfer for you. Distances are manageable: Colombo to Galle is about 2 hours 30 minutes on the Southern Expressway, and Colombo to Kandy about 3 hours.
The Kandy to Ella train is a must: one of the most beautiful train rides in the world, and we build it into longer trips.
Destinations in Sri LankaGalle and the south coast, Colombo and Negombo, Kandy and the hill country, the Cultural Triangle, the wildlife and the east coast.+
Galle and the south coast+
Galle is why most cricket lovers first come to Sri Lanka, and it is easy to see why: the cricket ground sits inside a 17th-century Dutch fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with the Indian Ocean breaking behind the bowler’s arm. There is nothing else like it in world cricket.
- A sunset walk on the 400-year-old fort ramparts as the sun drops into the Indian Ocean
- Whale watching from Mirissa: blue whales and sperm whales from November to April
- A leopard safari in Yala, with elephants, sloth bears and crocodiles
- The south coast beaches: Unawatuna, Mirissa, Tangalle and Hiriketiya
- Galle Fort itself: boutique shops, cafés, galleries and colonial architecture inside the walls
Colombo and Negombo+
Colombo is Sri Lanka’s commercial capital and the most likely start to your trip, with a new food scene, excellent hotels and real cultural depth. Negombo, just north of the airport, gives you the beach for the first and last nights.
- City culture: the Gangaramaya Temple, the National Museum, the Pettah markets and the Colombo 7 food and bar scene
- Geoffrey Bawa’s architecture: Number 11, his own home, and the Parliament Building, masterworks of tropical modernism
- Negombo beach and lagoon: fish markets and Dutch canal heritage
Kandy and the hill country+
Kandy is Sri Lanka’s cultural capital, in the misty hills of the central highlands. The hill country south to Nuwara Eliya and Ella is some of the most beautiful landscape in Asia: tea estates down the mountainsides, cool air and colonial hill-station charm.
- The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Sri Lanka’s most sacred Buddhist temple
- A working tea plantation and factory in the hills around Nuwara Eliya, home of some of the finest Ceylon tea
- The Kandy to Ella train: about seven hours through tea country, across viaducts and through mountain tunnels
- Horton Plains and World’s End: a plateau walk to an 870-metre drop
- Nuwara Eliya Golf Club: more than 125 years old, at about 1,900 metres
- The snooker room at the Grand Hotel, Nuwara Eliya, a heritage hotel from 1891
The Cultural Triangle+
Sri Lanka’s ancient heartland, between Kandy, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. Sri Lanka has eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and the Cultural Triangle gives you most of them.
- Sigiriya Lion Rock: a 5th-century fortress on top of a 200-metre granite column, with staggering views from the summit
- The Dambulla cave temples: five caves, more than 150 Buddha statues and ceiling paintings over 2,000 years old
- Polonnaruwa: the medieval capital, with well-preserved ruins, stupas and the stone Buddhas of Gal Vihara
- Anuradhapura: the ancient sacred city and the Sri Maha Bodhi tree, believed to be the oldest historically documented tree in the world
Wildlife+
For a small island, Sri Lanka’s wildlife is extraordinary, and it fits naturally into any cricket or golf trip.
- Yala National Park: one of the highest densities of leopards in the world, best on an early-morning jeep safari, and easily combined with Galle
- Udawalawe National Park: one of the best places in Asia to see wild elephants, with herds of 50 or more, on the way between the south coast and the hill country
- Bundala National Park: a wetland reserve on the south coast with flamingos, painted storks and more than 200 bird species
- Mirissa: blue whales and sperm whales from November to April
- Pinnawala, near Kandy: a large herd of captive elephants bathing in the river. For wild elephants, Udawalawe is the better choice
The east coast+
Trincomalee’s beaches, whale watching, and the surf at Arugam Bay: Sri Lanka’s uncrowded side, at its best from May to September.
Beyond Sri LankaThe Maldives: about 90 minutes by air from Colombo, and the perfect end to a trip.+
The Maldives+
About 90 minutes by air from Colombo to Malé, then a speedboat or seaplane to your resort. Overwater villas, white sand, turquoise lagoons and some of the best diving and snorkelling on earth. After the energy of Sri Lanka, the perfect wind-down.
Four to seven nights, added to any Sri Lanka trip, on request. Best from November to April: calm seas, sunshine and excellent visibility under water.
- Premium: four-star resorts with beach villas and excellent house reefs, the best value in the Maldives
- Luxury: five-star resorts with overwater villas, fine dining and spas
- Ultra-luxury: private island resorts with butler service and private pools
Booked with confidence
Follow On Tours is the tour operator for your trip. You book with us and pay us: one contract, one point of contact from your first question to your flight home.
We are a member of ABTOT, number 5718. If we were to become insolvent, ABTOT cover provides a refund if you have not yet travelled. This covers non-flight packages.
Depending on your arrangements, our trusted local team is there to deliver your trip and help with anything you need while you're away.
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Follow On Tours Limited is a member of the Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust (ABTOT), membership number 5718, and holds bonds A60089 and A60090.
The Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited (ABTOT) provides financial protection under The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 for Follow On Tours Limited, membership number 5718, and in the event of their insolvency, protection is provided for:
Non-flight packages
ABTOT cover provides for a refund in the event you have not yet travelled or repatriation if transportation was included in your package. Please note that bookings made outside the UK are only protected by ABTOT when purchased directly with Follow On Tours Limited.
In the unlikely event that you require assistance whilst abroad due to our financial failure, please call our 24/7 helpline on 01702 811397 and advise you are a customer of an ABTOT protected travel company.
You can access The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/634/contents/made
You can find out more about ABTOT here: https://www.abtot.com/