Essential Sri Lanka - Deluxe Traveller Reviews

We had a wonderful two and a half weeks in Sri Lanka visiting Colombo, Kandy, The Hill Country, Uda Walawe and the south coast near Galle. We were looked after so well everywhere we stayed , the staff were friendly and the food fantastic. We enjoyed all our excursions and guided tours and our driver Iresh, who was with us for nine days, went out of his way to help and advise us. Thushni the Experience travel rep in Sri Lanka was efficient and helpful too on the few occasions we contacted her Our favourite hotel was Horathapola Estate, a Coconut plantation near Colombo - perfect in every way as a starting point and we would have happily stayed there longer. We ended our stay at the luxurious Why House near Galle and were grateful for five days relaxation in such lovely surroundings.

Our Experience Travel advisor was Becky Grainger and her help and advice at every stage of the planning and booking was excellent and particularly thoughtful. The itinerary was perfect for us, with good spacing between our stays and we especially relished the last five or six days of being 'at leisure'. Overall our holiday in Sri Lanka was all we had hoped it would be and we would recommend Experience Travel Group without any hesitation.

We spent a wonderful week in Sri Lanka, visiting many temples, climbing Sigiriya, finding elephants on an afternoon safari, meeting local farmers and appreciating their way of life. Everyone we met was incredibly friendly and made us feel very welcome. We saw some fantastic wildlife and ate some amazing food - we will definitely be back as a week is not long enough!

Great itinerary put together for us - Becky was very knowledgeable about what we could realistically achieve in the week that we were in Sri Lanka. Everything flowed very well for the week and we had no problems whilst we were in Sri Lanka. Our tour guide was extremely knowledge and went out of his way to ensure that our first visit to Sri Lanka was a memorable one.

A chance to view the ancient Sri Lankan relics of a tropical island, enjoy the fabled cuisine so rich with rare local fruits, vegetables and delicious curries in exotic residences or on the roadside both from the turbulent tuks tuks squeezing us through the rush hour traffic or graciously touring in aircondition comfort.

Becky at ETG took a lot of trouble understanding what elderly tourists, one with sight impairment but a lot of travel experience would find stimulating and manageable. The variety of hotels suggeted gave us the opportunity to feel we were properly involved with the planning as well as controlling the budget. Additional information was well presented and the whole package was very tidily managed in a thoroughly friendlyt, proficient and helpful manner.

My wife and I have just got back from a two week holiday in Sri Lanka . We experienced such a range of activities, including a jeep safari, to a journey up the mountain tracks at nearly 2000m above sea level to see tea leaf picking. We also visited ancient sites and holy relics, all very interesting. Our journey and range of accommodation was planned and arranged by Experience Travel Group and we would say that everything ran like clockwork, except for the Sri Lankan railway ( which is never on time). Their local representative on the island and especially our guide/driver were exceptional and made our stay very safe, comfortable and enjoyable; apart from the unseasonable rain. Thouroughly recommend the organisation and experience: beautiful country and people.

Long time planning of this holiday, which was supported by the tour operator with amendments to suit. Good communications and personal service. Excellent range of activities and mix of accommodation all at a reasonable price.

What an interesting island! We saw plains with wild elephants and monkeys, tea plantations, magnificent hills (and climbed some) and intriguing ancient ruins. A fascinating mixture of ancient culture and colonial past. Warm sea with beautiful beaches which is a fantastic break from England in January.

All arrangements went according to plan.

We had a very busy and well organised tour of Sri Lanka. It was smooth from start to conclusion, involving 7 hotels and numerous transfers

Very reliable and confidence-inspiring. Clearly possessing a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Would not hesitate to use again and will recommend to friends.

We wanted to see different aspects of Sri Lanka, but not be constantly on the move. They provided this, and we got to know the places we stayed in. These were very well selected to meet our requirements. The drivers we had gave us confidence that they could cope with the challenging driving conditions; they knew the country well and provided us with lots of useful and interesting information.

Experience Travel listened carefully to what it was we wanted, and designed an itinerary that matched it. The hotels they selected were superb. And they were always available, in the UK and in Sri Lanka, to help with queries or problems.

We told ETG what we would like to see and do and Nick came up trumps. We got to visit a coconut plantation, National Park,tea plantation and Botanical Gardens. We visited the ancient city of Anuradhapura, Kandy's Sacred Temple of the Tooth, and climbed Sigiriya Rock and Little Adams Peak. We got to see the work of local farmers and enjoyed a meal with them. We travelled on a train with the locals and at Galle had a cookery experience which was so enjoyable. There were tours of Galle and Colombo with very knowledgeable guides and rides in the famous tuk tuks. We got to see so much of Sri Lanka all thasnks to our driver Saman.

We were introduced to ETG by a friend who assured us that we would be well looked after and he wasn't wrong. Right from the start ETG kept in touch with us with reminders of what we had to do eg. visas, insurance etc. We were given numbers to contact if we experienced any problems (which we didn't have to use as all went like clockwork.) For anyone wanting a holiday with a difference I would recommend ETG.

We gained a true experience of Sri Lanka - a real taste of the culture, the beautiful wildlife, history, food and beach life of this wonderful country. Highly recommended. We would be totally confident in recommending Experience Travel Group to any friends and family - totally professional, informative and responsive to our requests.

Excellent.

AN escorted 2 week holiday with a personal driver/guide in Sri Lanka. A well run holiday company with good professional and ethical standards (both here in the UK and in Sri Lanka) Without the services of the guide we would never of seen/experienced many of the highlights of the tour, as ever it is down to local people with good local knowledge who care.

Our link person at Experience Travel was knowledgeable as she had personally visited the island on many occasions.