Wild Sri Lanka Traveller Reviews

Experience devised a holiday to suit our particular requests. We stayed in lovely places and were well looked after throughout our tour, doing trips that suited us. They listened to what we wanted and produced the goods.

The agent listened and did not try and buttonhole us too much.

47 days touring Sri Lanka leisurely. A woderful experience

The firm provided us with a excellent bespoke tour There agent listened and provided us with everything we requested . There agents in Sri Lanka took great care of us and monitored our progress carefully.

Immediately on arriving you are enthralled by the sounds and sights of the birds which abound all over Sri Lanka, their vibrant colours and calls are everywhere you go. In Udawalawe we visited the Elephant Transit camp and completed some incredible safaris. The wildlife was abundant both in Udawalawe and Bundala, where crocodiles were seen, elephants, spotted deer, land monitors, monkeys and an amazing number of birds too numerous to mention. One day we went Whale watching from a rib and were the closest we could possibly be to see the wonderful sight of the groups of Sperm whales at the time. It was a totally real experience never to be forgotten.

Extremely helpful and knowledgeable about the areas we wished to visit. Nothing was too much trouble for them.

Sri Lanka is a beautiful country and it was a privilege to be able to travel around. There is still a lot to do to improve the facilities, but it will be worth while. we particularly enjoyed the scenery and bird wild life. Every bird enthusiast should visit Sri Lanka at least once!

We are very pleased with the overall organisation of our holiday. Before the holiday we had ample time to select our preferences and we could make small changes while we were there. Will recommend Experience Travel Group to friends and family and might use them again for ourselves in the future.

We flew from Birmingham with Emirates, the flight times were excellent and the airline was one of the best Ive been with, we had economy seats which were roomy and comfortable. The seat back tvs were twice the size of usual airline tvs and there were so many programmes to choose from. Meals were good and drinks were included in the price. When we reached Sri Lanka we were met by our chauffeur who held up a board, he introduced himself and gave me his mobile - Thushani from the Sri Lankan branch of ETG was on the other end and welcomed me to Sri Lanka and told me if I had any problems to contact her. The vehicle was a large mini bus type vehicle with blacked out back windows and plenty of room. The aircon was going and it was lovely and cool. The first hotel was Amagi Lagoon in Negombo and as its name suggests was next to the lagoon, a quick 25 minute drive from the airport. Our chauffeur booked us in and left us for the night. It was a lovely comfortable hotel and and food was plentiful and unexpensive. After an excellent breakfast we departed for Ashburnham estate which was in the knuckles mountain range. It was a good 4 hour drive and we stopped a couple of times for a comfort break and to buy fruit. When we arrived at Ashburnham we were greeted by Laura and Ollie who made us feel like part of the family and we were upgraded to a suite which was fabulous. The next day we walked around the estate and were given a tour by the estate manager, we then walked down to their own waterfall and as we walked back up to the first level of the waterfall, Max our guide arranged for beer to be bought down which was very welcoming. Ashburnham is a lovely old colonial house and has only 5 rooms for guests, I would thoroughly recommend this hotel, just wished we had stayed longer. When we left Ashburnham we made our way to Kandy, again a long drive but interesting. We stayed at Sweet Cinnamon which was a really interesting octagonal bungalow, we were booked in by our chauffeur and he returned later in the evening to take us to the Kandian dance and then to the temple of the tooth. Whilst I enjoyed the dancing, I thought the temple was much to busy and manic and I was relieved to leave. I think it would have been good to go at a less busy time, but if you want to see the ceremony of the tooth then you have to go at that time. the next day we departed for Udawalwe national park, again a 3 to 4 hour drive. This was probably the least favourite of mine, as I wasn't keen on the safari and although the hotel was very comfortable, it wasn't an attractive place to look at, which surprised me as it was built in the national park. After the safari the next day we made our way to Unawatuna which is next to Galle. This was around 4 hours. We went on the only motorway in Sri Lanka which is about 50 miles long. The hotel was in a jungle setting and was really interestingly laid out. We had a lovely room overlooking the pool, with a huge bed with mosquito netting, great air con, very quiet. The staff at the hotel were very attentive, they made our anniversary very special, baking us a cake and putting out table out of the main dining area and near the pool. We had lobster thermidor and when we got back to our room Experience Travel had left us a bottle of champagne. All in all the whole holiday was fabulous, the planning was perfect, everything went like clockwork, the chauffeur, Ashara was excellent and again, nothing too much trouble. We were sad to say goodbye to him, I would highly recommend Experience Travel, their knowledge was excellent, I told them what I wanted and they managed to sort this perfectly, I was very pleased and so were the other members of my group. I would definitely use them again. Thank you Experience Travel for a fabulous holiday!!

Experience Travel are an excellent company. they listened to what I wanted from my holiday and delivered this. Each hotel was exactly what I would have booked myself, the Sri Lankan branch were equally good and extremely helpful. If I had had any problems I know they would have been there to help me. The vehicle we were taken on the tour in was modern, comfortable and roomy. All in all an excellent experience and one I would recommend.

We had a wonderfully relaxed and informative cultural tour of Sri Lanka. A beautiful country, charming people and no administrative hiccups in a complicated itinerary.

Everything was organised with outstanding efficiency and imagination to provide us with an amazing tour of Sri Lanka

This was our first trip to Asia - Sri Lanka. We expected we probably would not return there and so we wanted to squeeze the best out of the fortnight. Believing we could not see all the island without compromising the vacation we opted for the centre to north and stayed 1 to 3 nights in 6 locations. The 2 weeks incorporated a great variety of sights and experiences which will never be forgotten. They included: a stay on a coconut plantation, idyllic beaches, Buddhist and Hindu temple visits, ancient kingdoms, an elephant safari, staying on a tea plantation, village walks, dawn cycle rides, snorkelling amongst amazing fish, an elephant ride, Sigiriya rock fortress of course, tennis and croquet, and the unexpected highlight of dawn birdwatching in the jungle.

Our first trip to Asia, Sri Lanka, we chose Experience out of 3 companies we first contacted. They exceeded our expectations in every department. And, offering very good value. The hotels provided a very varied accommodation experience and were all better than expected. A great selection. Pre-booking, we went through numerous iterations of our itinerary and in all cases our Consultant "got it" straight away and developed our perfect vacation. All the pieces of the process and our time away worked so well and our chauffeur/guide was perfect for us. Keeping the right balance of affording us suitable privacy and being beside us for advice and assistance he could not be faulted. Experience's knowledge of the locations was very good and their ability to match their clients' needs and desires with what is available appears very strong. Well done and thank you to all at Experience (especially Consultant - Nick Clark, and Guide Sri Murali)