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Sri Lanka Travel Guide
An extraordinary island in the Indian Ocean with thousands of years of diverse culture — predominantly Buddhist, with strong Hindu, Christian and Muslim communities, and small enough to explore widely in 10 to 15 days yet large enough to offer infinite variety.
What to bring home
- Hand-woven sarongs from Barefoot — an incredible range of colour, reasonably priced
- Arrack — a local spirit worth trying for the adventurous
- Cashew nuts from Kadjugama — a well-known local specialty
- Ceylon tea — the best way to bring the island home with you
What to try
- King coconut (Thambili) — refreshingly hydrating, sold island-wide
- Chilli crab — best eaten with your feet in the sand on the coast
- Egg hoppers with seeni sambol — a classic breakfast, watch for the spicier kata sambol
- Buffalo curd & treacle — simple, rich, and hard to stop eating
- Cashew nut curry — rich and creamy, one of the island's standout dishes
You absolutely must know
English is widely spoken across the tourism industry, but a few Sinhala phrases go a long way.
| English | Sinhala |
|---|---|
| How are you? | ko·ho·mȧ·dhȧ? |
| My name is [Name] | ma·gé na·mȧ [Name] |
| What is your name? | o·yaa·gé na·mȧ mo·kak·dhȧ? |
| Where are you from? | o·yaa ko·hén·dhȧ? |
| I want to go here | ma·tȧ mé·hé·tȧ yan·nȧ ō·né |
| Thank you (very much) | bo·hō·mȧ sthoo·thi |
| No, thank you (very much) | é·paa, bo·hō·mȧ sthoo·thi |
| Help me! | ma·tȧ u·dhauw kȧ·ran·nȧ! |
| I don't feel well | ma·tȧ sa·nee·pȧ nǣ |
| I'm hungry | ma·tȧ ba·dȧ gi·niyi |
| How much? | kee·yȧ·dhȧ? |
| Sorry / Excuse me | sa·maa vén·nȧ |
| Where is the toilet? | væ·si·ki·li·yȧ thi·yén·né ko·hé·dhȧ? |
Useful for shopping and getting around
| English | Sinhala |
|---|---|
| Yes | ow |
| No | nǣ |
| Too expensive | goh·dak værȧdi |
| Can you reduce the price? | adu ka·ran·nȧ pu·lu·vandȧ? |
| One / Two / Three | e·kai / de·kai / tu·nai |
| Good / Tasty | hon·dai / rasai |
| Where is the bus stop? | bas hal·tu·wa ko·hé·dȧ? |
| Stop here (tuk-tuk/bus) | mehe nawattapan |
| I don't understand | ma·tȧ terenne nǣ |
| Water | wat·u·rȧ |
Sri Lanka at a glance
Buddhist majority (70%), with Hindu, Christian and Muslim minorities · top exports are tea, textiles, gems and foreign remittances · home to the highest concentration of leopards in the world · the Sinhalese name, Sri Lanka, means "The Resplendent Land."
Questions before you pack
Hand-woven sarongs from Barefoot, Ceylon tea, cashew nuts from Kadjugama, and a bottle of local arrack are the classic picks — all reasonably priced and easy to pack.
Egg hoppers with seeni sambol, chilli crab, buffalo curd and treacle, and cashew nut curry are among the dishes most worth seeking out.
No — English is widely spoken, especially by chauffeur-guides and in hotels, but a few Sinhala phrases go a long way with locals outside the main tourist areas.
Eight, spread across the island's Cultural Triangle, hill country and southern coast — several feature directly in our tour itineraries.
The island has 1,340 km of tropical coastline, with the west and south coasts driest from December to April and the east coast driest from May to September.
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