Last Updated: May 25, 2023
The small island of Sri Lanka is a magnificent place to visit and has some of the best wildlife to offer in the world. With the added cultural sites and breath taking natural scenery to boot, it really is a country that has pretty much everything.
Sometimes nicknamed ‘the Teardrop of India‘ due to the shape of the island and it’s close proximity to India. But don’t let that fool you, as the two countries are worlds apart in many respects and should never be thought of as similar (particularly when talking to Sri Lankans!)
After Nadia chose Kandy in Sri Lanka as the place for her foreign nursing placement, we immediately came up with a plan for the rest of our family to venture out a few weeks after her and then explore the country as a family.
And kids will adore Sri Lanka for so many reasons. If, like ours, your kids love animals they will be spoilt by Sri Lanka and it’s vast offerings of wildlife. Monkeys are absolutely everywhere, Elephants are a common site and the marine life is out of this world!
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Sri Lanka Itinerary for Families
Although Sri Lanka is quite a small country, being under 450km from top to bottom and under 250km across, it has such a different feel from region to region and so is well worth moving around.
Below is our suggested 3 week, family itinerary. We feel 3 weeks is a really good length of time that we would recommend for a trip here. But you could also cut a day or two from each place and see it in two weeks if that’s all you have we’ve put a suggested two week itinerary in brackets to help.
1. Colombo – 2. Kandy – 3. Trincomalee – 4. Habarana – 5. Nuwara Eliya – 6. Yala National Pak – 7. Mirissa – 8. Negombo
Colombo – 2 (1) Nights
The capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo is often overlooked and skipped by tourists when touring Sri Lanka. But we feel it is worth a visit. With it being less ‘touristy’ than other areas this can be a nice change and usually a bit cheaper.
It’s also a great place to start for international visitors with plenty of flights in and out of the international airport.
It’s mainly an industrial city and so there’s not a vast amount to see or do. But there is still enough to fill a day or two with some nice areas to explore such as Gangaramaya Temple and Independence Square.
A nice green space for the kids is Galle Face Green. A long stretch of grass on the bank of the see, which is a really great place to fly a kite (which you will easily be able to buy from the many street sellers there). And it also competes for one of our best sunsets we’ve seen.
So if you can find a good tuk-tuk driver you can usually haggle a price for a tour and see the majority of the sites in a day.
Kandy – 3 (2) Nights
There is lot’s to do to fill your time if you decide to stay a while in Kandy. Head to our separate post if you want some more detail on Sri Lankas’ capital of culture and read our Guide to Kandy with Kids.
Trincomalee – 2 (1) Nights
Trincomalee is a coastal town towards the north east of the island. It’s a great place to see dolphins and, if you’re lucky, whales also.
We managed to see many dolphins and sperm whales on an early morning boat tour, which we thought would be our highlight (until we see saw something even bigger revealed below!)
You can also take a day trip out to Pigeon Island which has some amazing snorkelling. We managed to see sharks, octopus and turtles as well as an array of other fish and see life.
Habarana – 4 (3) Nights
Habarana is where we picked as our base to discover the wider Cultural Triangle. You can pick from a few places to stay to see the cultural triangle, Habarana is a really good central location that worked well for us.
From here you can visit Sigiriya Rock, a huge rock formation in the middle of the jungle. This is one of Sri Lanka’s big attractions and one that is good for many reasons for families. If you fancy visiting here you can read more details on our Sigiriya Rock with Kids post.
You can also hit the Dambula Cave Temple, a great set of Buddhist Temples contained within 5 main caves. There are then hundreds of Budha statues and paintings to discover in a couple of hours. Another steep walk to the caves, so wear good footwear.
And the cultural triangle is also one of the best place to see wild elephants. You can see them on safari in either Udawalawe or Minneriya National Parks. You might also spot the odd wild elephant roaming the roads. Like we did one night when we bumped into a rather angry one, but that’s another story!
Nuwara Eliya – 3 (2) Nights
With it’s high elevation Nuwara Eliya has a very different climate to the other regions of Sri Lana and is actually cold at times. With a fitting nickname of ‘Little England‘. It’s a misty, damp area and is stunningly beautiful with numerous Waterfalls and dozens of Tea Plantations you can visit.
From here you can also visit World’s End. It’s a highly elevated area being around 1,200m up with a sharp cliff edge drop off. The majority of the ascend will be done in your vehicle, so it’s a good walk for kids being pretty mild with few up’s and downs.
Yala National Park – 2 (2) Nights
Yala National park is famous for a one thing, Leopards!
It has the highest concentration of Leopard in the world and so is one of your best bets for seeing one in the wild. But it is still a wild animal and there is no guarantee. We were one of the lucky ones and got to see this magnificent creature sipping water from the a lake on a hot day.
But even if you don’t see a Leopard there are many other amazing animals you will probably witness on safari here. Such as alligators, elephants, jackal, boar, buffalo as well as many colourful birds.
Mirissa – 3 (2) Nights
We really didn’t think that the marine life we saw in Trincomalee could be topped. But then we went to Mirissa and witnessed one of the most amazing things we think any human being could have the privilege of seeing… a Blue Whale!
It had always been a dream of mine to see these magnificent creatures. To be in the presence of the biggest animal that has ever lived is not something you do every day!
Whale watching is a common reason for visiting Mirissa and there are an abundant of boats offering trips. You can just head down to the beach an walk along picking your favourite. We went with Raja and the Whales and would highly recommend them.
It wasn’t easy though, the see was very rough when we went out. Our son was sick once and Nadia multiple times. We didn’t actually see any whales on this day. The tour offered to take you out for a second time for free if no whales were spotted, or give you half your money back.
Nadia couldn’t stomach a second day, but me and our eldest braved the choppy ocean again and were rewarded for our efforts with the sighting of the incredible blue whale!
Negombo – 2 (1) Nights
We’re pretty much back to where we started now, as you may be flying in and out of Colombo airport you may need to do some sort of loop back. If so and you’ve seen all you wanted in Colombo you can instead head north of the airport upon return, this time to Negombo.
This can be just a nice chill out spot after a hectic few weeks. Negombo is great for that being a nice beach town to wind down before saying goodbye to this magnificent country.
Getting Around Sri Lanka with Kids
Even though Sri Lanka is a pretty small country. Getting about it can sometimes take a bit of effort and determination, depending on how you want to do it. But there are lots of options for getting about and most of them very economical.
Getting about Sri Lanka can be hard going, but it can also be fun and rewarding. As there is a lot to it, we have a separate post on Getting About Sri Lanka with kids. So head to that page for a more detailed outline for the ins and outs of transport in Sri Lanka.
Family Accommodation in Sri Lanka
Family accommodation comes in all shapes and sizes in Sri Lanka. From luxury hotels to small B&Bs, home stays and even camping.
The costs are as cheap as you want. You can get very basic accommodation for less than 2,500LKR (£10) a night, but also spend a lot more if you want fancy hotels.
The usual accommodation websites such as Booking.com or Agoda are the easiest way to get your accommodation sorted.
We mainly did basic hotels with a home stay in Nuwara Eliya.
We had one splurge when we went to Yala National park, going to a glamping site on the edge of the park. We went with Mahoora and the tents and facilities were excellent.
On average (splurge aside) we spent around 4,000LKR ($20) per night for our family, doing mainly guest houses and B&Bs.
Sri Lankan Food for a Family with Kids
Sri Lankan food as you might expect, can be spicy! We had curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner a lot of days. But we all really enjoyed the food there and the common Dhal Curry was a hit with our son.
If you or you’re kids are not a fan of spice though, there are other options. With it being a small island sea food is also very common and is delicious, especially on the coastal towns.
Kottu roti usually found on the street stalls is another great dish, which is basically a stir fry made up of unused foods and bread. And it’s always easy to just get plain rice pretty much everywhere if you really want something mild.
There are plenty of western restaurants in the tourist areas, but they are a inflated prices so best to avoid. Stick to the traditional local food establishments if you can.
You can eat for as little as around 2,500LKR (£10) per day for a family, like we did, mainly eating at basic cafés and street stalls.