This island of Sri Lanka has a double monsoon system, so picking the best time to visit Sri Lanka can be complex and entirely depends on which parts of the island you are visiting. Luckily, it means that there is always somewhere on the island with good weather at any time of year. Temperatures remain … Read more
Colombo, the busy, and often chaotic, Capital of Sri Lanka is most people’s arrival destination by air. While there are a few sights to see in and around Colombo you’ll soon want to head out and one of the more popular routes is from Colombo to Galle. On the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, Galle … Read more
Sri Lanka is a justifiably popular holiday destination for families with kids thanks to it lovely beaches, incredible wildlife, good food and good hospitality. Sri Lanka has many kid-friendly attractions and things to do plus some very good hotels for kids and families, at a great price. But is Sri Lanka with kids easy? We … Read more
Sri Lanka is one of the most beautiful and culturally rich places on the planet. It’s one of my personal favourites of the 50+ countries we’ve visited and I can’t recommend it highly enough for your long-term travel or holiday vacation. This post deals with best places to visit in Sri Lanka, the best places … Read more
Sri Lanka is an amazing place to take a holiday, or to travel, as a family. This magical island combines low prices, friendly people, stunning coastline and a wealth of cultural and wildlife experiences that can all be very family-friendly. After months exploring Sri Lanka, these are our family’s recommendations on highlights of Sri Lanka … Read more
We’ve posted extensively about travel in Sri Lanka, where to go, how to go, what to do, but we need a post on Sri Lanka beaches to complete the set. Sri Lanka is surrounded by beaches, there are literally hundreds of places to take a beach holiday, from our favourite, Mirissa Beach, to the popular … Read more
This morning at sunrise I sat down to my computer to start my work for the day. It’s what I do every morning before the kids wake up. The first thing I do is check my emails, messages, data and comments. Some good news, some bad, a couple of lovely comments and readers asking for … Read more
Our last month in Sri Lanka was all about getting to Jaffna, this almost newly open destination was top of our wish list and after many years exploring south and central Sri Lanka, we had to get to the far north of the island. We finally made it. Jaffna Sri Lanka doesn’t disappoint in any … Read more
If you’re looking for a luxurious, relaxed, ocean-side stay during your time in Sri Lanka, the Eden Resort and Spa (Agoda link for booking), near Beruwela (Beruwala), could be the perfect place for you. It’s on Sri Lanka’s “Golden Mile” of beaches, not too far south of the airport. We stayed earlier this year and loved … Read more
We were sitting on the headland in Unawatuna, just chilling at sunset, watching the waves come crashing in, when a beautiful bride and groom arrived to take their wedding shots. Unawatuna wedding photography on these sunset cliffs with their dramatic ocean backdrop are big news I guess. We loved Unawatuna, such a cute little town … Read more
Balapitya Beach is a peaceful stretch of shoreline punctuated with feature boulders forming sheltered rock pools on Sri Lanka’s west coast. Balapitya Beach is immediately to the north of Ambalangoda Beach and is south of Kalutara, north of Galle. We paid a little more than budget, for a luxurious stay at a secluded and relaxed … Read more
Sri Lanka’s main international airport is not in Colombo, it’s about 35 Km outside Colombo Fort Station (bus and train) via the expressway or 40Km on the old roads. Everyone’s worst travel nightmare must be arriving at night, stuffing up your plans and ending up with nowhere to sleep. When you travel with kids it’s … Read more
The British Garrison Cemetery is a place of interest in Kandy Sri Lanka. It’s well worth visiting if you have time to explore Kandy on foot during your vacation in Sri Lanka. This post is about the cemetery, its location, history, and opening hours. Sorry it’s taken me so long to write this post. I … Read more
Sri Lankan curry for breakfast, you can’t beat it. Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day and Sri Lankan breakfast has been the highlight of my early morning eating experiences over the many years of our nomadic travel adventure. (Read more about who we are, what we’re doing and why, here.). We have a … Read more
This post is about getting from Kandy to Dambulla to visit the Dambulla Cave Temples, the experience of visiting and the entrance fees. Dambulla is also a gateway for onward travel to Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, Jaffna, or Sri Lanka’s East Coast. Most people spend a few days in Kandy in Central Sri Lanka before travelling on to Dambulla and … Read more
When you think of things to do in Kandy the big-ticket attractions are what probably come to mind, places like the Temple of The Tooth and the Botanical Gardens are world-famous. But there are plenty of other things to do in Kandy Sri Lanka, some of them free, that we’ll share with you here. Just … Read more
UPDATE: On our last visit to Sri Lanka this hotel had changed hands, the kind owners had gone and the prices had gone up massively. We’re sorry, but until we can get back to Sri Lanka, we can’t currently recommend a cheap place to stay for families. Very sorry about that. All at World Travel … Read more
What is a hopper? Hoppers are great! They are a tasty and diverse food that you can eat all over Sri Lanka, we love them, and so do our kids. Hoppers can be a type of pancake or a nest of noodles served commonly in Sri Lanka with sweet or savoury dishes. String hoppers resemble … Read more
Sri Lanka is a favourite travel destination of ours. We got married there and we’ve taken our kids there. This Sri Lanka travel blog to help you plan your holiday or travel in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka works for single, couple and family travellers with interests ranging from culinary to wildlife, culture, surfing and adventure … Read more
For once I’m going to tell you about the accommodation we used in Ella, Sri Lanka, and then tell you to stay somewhere else. I won’t give you the name, that wouldn’t be fair. We stayed for 3 nights, the location was good, the price was good, the breakfast (not included) was divine and the young … Read more
Where to stay in Mirissa? Finding good, (cheap or luxury) Mirissa accommodation for families is generally easy, there is plenty of it and most places are really pleasant. We absolutely love Mirissa and we’ve visited multiple times. It’s our go-to beach destination in Sri Lanka for quieter stays and our kids’ favourite beach. We stayed … Read more
It’s much harder these days to find budget (cheap) accommodation in Sri Lanka than it was. Standards have gone up and with them prices. Sri Lanka fills up with package holidaymakers so accommodation tends to favour those tourists, but there are still bargains to be found. Guest houses, hostels, and hotels (even resorts and villas) … Read more
Cheap Family Accommodation Negombo Sri Lanka. Mazz Homestay Negombo I found Mazz Homestay through one of the hostel booking websites. They have a 4 bed room, described as a 4 bed mixed dorm, which does just fine as a family room. A taxi from the airport to Mazz homestay cost us around $12. We should … Read more
Hikkaduwa is full of great value hotels and guest houses at all price points and this post covers where to stay in Hikkaduwa for all kinds of travellers. The beach-side town of Hikkaduwa is much bigger these days and there is a reason for that, it’s a lovely spot. Options for staying in Hikkaduwa include … Read more
Monkeys are everywhere here in Sri Lanka. I’m sitting outside our room watching them right now. You may not see them at first, but they’re there, leaping through the trees. On the coast and in the hill country. The Garrison Cemetery in Kandy has its own monkey trap. A police officer has to hide behind … Read more
Admission prices to the big attractions in Sri Lanka are steep. It’s something that you need to factor in to the cost of your holiday, particularly for families. They’re wonderful, I’ve been to them all previously, but on our last trip, on a tight budget, they just weren’t affordable. ( Sorry Sri Lanka, we love … Read more
If you’ve been following our Facebook page over the last month, you’ll have seen me alternately complaining and raving about food in Sri Lanka. Food is a big part of our travel experience, we like to try as many new foods as we can and, hopefully, enjoy them. (For non-regular readers, my husband is an … Read more
I think Ella, in the hill country of Sri Lanka, is one of my favourite towns so far. It’s full of tourists, backpacker tourists mostly. There are endless guest houses asking too much money, but it’s really refreshing to be up in the hills. It’s cool, if not cold, great walking weather. That is what … Read more
If you know Sri Lanka you’ll know all about Adam’s Peak but you may not have heard of Little Adam’s Peak (aka Mini Adam’s Peak or Small Adam’s Peak) in Ella. The full-size Adams Peak is a 2,243m mountain in the centre of Sri Lanka. It’s famous as a pilgrimage site and as a really great walk. Traditionally … Read more
From now on, when people ask me where to stay in Sri Lanka, I’ll tell them Mirissa Beach. I think I’ve found my Paradise, my happy place. This beautiful island as a whole brings me enormous joy, but the little beach village of Mirissa is, I think, as near to perfect as I’ll ever find. After … Read more
In general, I believe that anything is possible, that’s mostly what’s got us where we are today. But if you’d asked me, even 3 weeks ago, if I ever thought I’d see a blue whale, the biggest creature that has ever existed on our fragile planet, the answer would have been a resounding “No!”. But … Read more
As I just said on my Facebook page, words cannot express how much we love Sri Lanka. Seriously! It’s like stepping into comfy slippers. So good to be back. The four of us have been sick with terrrible Malaysian flu for over a week now. Really ill, high fevers, sweats, shakes, chills, headaches and an awful lot … Read more
If I told you that travelling in Nepal with kids was easy, I’d be lying. Nepal has been the most challenging place we’ve ever taken the children, and that includes India, but it’s been worth it many times over. They got sick less in India and didn’t have to hike up any mountains. So whether you’d like … Read more
The best way to travel from Kandy to Ella is to take the scenic train. This train is famous in Sri Lanka as one of the very best on the island. You can take in views of mountains, tea plantations and waterfalls on the just under 6 hour journey to gorgeous Ella, in the relative … Read more
You can travel to Jaffna by bus, car, minivan, train, or even plane. Unfortunately, few of these options are available from Kandy. We have a great way for you to find the best, cheapest, or fastest way to travel from Kandy to Jaffna, just use this site! We can also tell you how to get … Read more
Family travel is a wonderful thing. It has made our family tighter and been an education for all of us. We set out purposefully to provide the kids with maximum education through travel and it was something we thought about each time we chose a destination. Today, after 20 years of educating my kids outside … Read more
We travelled full-time for over 6 years (with kids, mostly in Asia) and, yes, we all had minor health problems from time to time. The travel medical kit was essential. My younger child and my husband have been what my mum would call “proper poorly” in Laos. Poorly is only proper if you have a fever … Read more
Last year we went through Cyclone Jasper. We were fairly well prepared, but we should have been better prepared. I already wrote a little about that in a post titled “Mistakes we made in cyclone prep.” That was at the end of 2023. This year, 2024, cyclone season is just around the corner. I’ve been … Read more
Travel, international or domestic, be it for a week, a month, or multiple months is very much easier if you just pack a carry-on bag. Luggage slows you down physically and mentally. Learn to ditch the extra luggage and travel with just a carry-on bag. It’s the way to go! In this post, we tell … Read more
Of all the tools we used for finding bargains in the travel world, Skyscanner was number 1, until the day we found ourselves at the check-in desk with non-existent tickets. That update and scam warning is further down the page. Our tips on how to save money on flights with Skyscanner still stand and are … Read more
If you’re setting out on a world schooling adventure what are your travel essentials? Travel essentials are the things we all need to pack every time, for every type of destination or travel style. They can also be items that are essential for a specific activity or place. As world schooling generally involves multiple destinations, … Read more
“The food” is a popular reason to visit Japan. It was one of my teen’s biggest reasons for wanting to take this Japan trip. He’s a foodie kid and invests a lot of time in watching food videos, when he’s not in the kitchen creating fabulous things. He wanted to visit Japan because he believed … Read more