This beautiful island nation can be summarized in three simple words: “India for beginners.” Sure, there are still cows in the roads here, and the wardrobe, cuisine, and architecture are all similar, but the country is much less crowded and the culture way more relaxed. If you are planning to visit India then definitely schedule a week or three in Sri Lanka beforehand — otherwise India will eat you alive.
Never been? Check out my first impressions of Sri Lanka for an idea of what to expect plus advice for first time visitors.
There are two ways to explore Sri Lanka: luxury travel with fancy resorts, private beaches, chartered flights and scheduled tours, or budget travel using hostels and public buses, making friends with locals along the way.
I highly recommend doing a mixture of both. All luxury travel and you won’t experience the real culture. Focus too much on a budget and you will miss out on the true Sri Lankan hospitality. Regardless of what you do and where in the country you visit, spend your money at small family-owned restaurants and shops, rather than internationally-owned chains, hotel restaurants and airport gift shops. Local families need that money more than the fancy places and foreign brands.