Are you looking for Cheap Holiday Packages to Sri Lanka? Well, Sri Lanka is generally an affordable destination and you have certainly come to the right place. Visitors to Sri Lanka have the choice of opting for either a luxury tropical Holiday package or a budget oriented tour packages.

On the luxury side, visitors to Sri Lanka can expect to find unique accommodation option with tailor-made services, a chauffeur driven personal tour guide, tailor-made tour attractions and more.

For a Cheaper holiday package, one can expect all this but on a less grandeur scale. You can also mix and match your tour to get the best of both worlds.

If you are traveling on a budget, my recommendation is this:

1)      What are your interests? – Choose the sites and activities that you want to do.  Write down the must-see places and communicate this to your travel agent. Your travel agent will then recommend the most suitable and practical route and will also be able to guide you on other additional activities and sites you can enjoy at the same cost.

2)      Choose your Accommodation – If you on a budget, this is how you should work out where to stay.

In the areas that you are going to be doing heavy sight-seeing and outdoor activities choose hotels and guesthouses that are basis with limited facilities but will offer a clean and comfortable stay. You can then jazz it up if you are taking a retreat break on the beach or in the hill country by opting for a more luxury resort option. If you are just going to be lazing around on the beach and are planning to be outdoors, here too you can opt for a basic resort that is close to other restaurants and activities. This way you can eat out and enjoy your retreat with the locals and at the local hangouts.

3)      Traveling options around the country – If you are coming with a big group then your transport will undoubtedly be a big bus that will cater to your group size.  The size of the group will determine if you have to have a chauffeur as well as a guide due to Sri Land Tourism Bureau regulations. Either way, due to the scale of the group this is easily the cheapest option.

If you are traveling with family or a smaller group of 2 to 6 people, you can opt for a chauffeur driven guide. This way you will be saving on paying for one additional person on your tour (the driver). You can scale the price of the transport factor by choosing a cheaper vehicle and perhaps even slightly older model of vehicle.

DON’T go too cheap on this as you certainly won’t want your transport breaking down in the middle of the journey.

Also DO NOT consider getting around Sri Lanka by public transport. Its certainly far from developed and the routes and schedules are confusing an relatively unreliable.

4)      Entrance Tickets – Request your travel agent or tour operator to pre-purchase your entrance tickets to the main sites. Most major sites in Sri Lanka charge a dollar rate for foreigners which collectively can add up. Pre-purchasing the tickets will ensure a cheaper deal for you in the long run.

5)      Meal Plan – It is advisable to opt for a Half Board Meal plan which will include you breakfast and dinner. Dinners are usually expensive in the hotels and resorts and buy pre-arranging your meal plan you will certainly make a huge saving on this. You can choose to buy your own lunch which will give you more flexibility and freedom to try the local flavors and other restaurant options in the region.

6)      A local Travel Agent – I strongly recommend contacting a Travel Agent that is based in Sri Lanka rather than buy a package tour from an agent in your country. Simply because the agents outside Sri Lanka go through Travel Agents that are based in the country and they keep a markup on the package that the local tour agent has already quoted. In addition you will always have a local point of contact and the local representative will always give you a more personalized service than an agent back in your home country.

It is very rare that Travel Agents deceive travelers to Sri Lanka as the Sri Lankan Tour industry is closely knit and such incidences are taken up very seriously by the authorities.

These are just a few pointers to keep your costs down when planning a tour package to Sri Lanka. For more advice and our recommendations on how to organize and book a cheap Sri Lankan holiday package, please do contact us.