Doubting whether or not you should visit Sri Lanka on your next trip? We’re here for you.
Hopping on a plane to this wonderful country was one of the best decision we could have made on a cold January day. After just a couple of days in the country, we learned that Sri Lanka had more to offer than we could’ve ever imagined.
So in this travel guide, we’ll share all of our top reasons to why you need to visit Sri Lanka on your next holiday in 2024. We’re clearly biased since we fell head over heels for this country, but we also do promise to be honest along this blog post – such as when we write about why the country needs the tourism.
Anyways, let’s jump straight into it! Here are our top reasons to why you should visit Sri Lanka in 2024.
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1. Nature
One of the main reasons why we decided to visit Sri Lanka was because we heard that the island was packed with great opportunities to be in nature.
Living in Copenhagen in our everyday life (when we’re not traveling), we yearned to be chilling on a beach and hiking trough a jungle. And we were not disappointed with Sri Lanka. We were actually very impressed with how many different vegetations a single island can possess.
Sri Lanka’s total area is around 65000 sq km (around 25000 sq miles), and within this area you can find lush jungles and rain forests, tropical beaches, a cool-aired hill country, majestic mountains, powerful waterfalls, and dry savannahs.
The best thing about traveling in Sri Lanka is that you only need to travel a few hours and you’re suddenly in a whole different climate.
We really loved how many great nature opportunities Sri Lanka has to offer, and it’s certainly one of the reasons why we loved the country so much.
2. Wildlife
With great nature comes an abundant wildlife.
Sri Lanka has so many national parks you can visit. We went on a memorable safari in Yala National Park and managed to see more wild animals in just 6 hours than we ever have!
But the thing with Sri Lanka is, you don’t even have to go to a national park to see wild animals. We saw countless of wild monkeys, peacocks, squirrels, lizards – even two snakes! – just by traveling around the country.
So one of the top reasons why you should visit Sri Lanka on your holiday in 2024 is definitely because of the wildlife!
Here is a list of wild animals we saw in just 3 weeks in Sri Lanka: Leopards, elephants, jackals, crocodiles, snakes, tufted grey langurs, macaques, water buffalos, peacocks, boars, deer, kingfishers, and many more! (Not to worry, most of these dangerous animals were seen in a national park).
3. Landscapes
Before moving on from the nature and wildlife, we’d just like to mention one more reason why you should visit Sri Lanka – the incredible landscapes.
Different terrain means different landscapes. And whether you’re watching the rolling tea hills in Nuwara Eliya, the jungle landscape from Sigiriya Rock, or all of Sri Lanka from above on Adam’s Peak at 2243 meters height – the landscapes here are sure to take your breath away!
This also means you have the opportunity to watch many beautiful sunsets and sunrises in different sceneries. So remember to take full advantage of that!
4. Friendly Locals
One of the things that surprised us most was realising just how friendly the locals are in Sri Lanka. Not because we thought Sri Lankan people wouldn’t be friendly, it’s just rare to experience kindness at this level.
Talking to people in Sri Lanka is so easy.
It’s pretty normal to have a conversation with the waiter in the restaurant, your tuk tuk driver, the hotel owners, or the people sitting next to you on the train. We honestly loved how easy it was to talk to the locals because it gave us the opportunity to really get to know Sri Lanka. And luckily for us, we learned that many people also speak English.
Glenn also loved to take pictures in Sri Lanka because everyone was always up for it and gave him permission. Afterwards, he often had a little chat with them whether it was the lady who sold king coconuts or the conductor in the train station.
Sri Lankan people are sure to make you feel welcome! You will return home with pain in your cheeks after having smiled so much.
5. Surfing
Are you into surfing? Then you just got another reason why you need to visit Sri Lanka!
We traveled to the South Coast of the country in search of bounty beaches, but instead we found rough waters and surfers filling the oceans. Don’t get us wrong, you can probably find tropical, serene beaches on this island – we just didn’t see any during our little time at the coast.
Sri Lanka is like a surf heaven, so if you’re into getting salty hair and riding waves, then this is just the right country for you! We stayed close to Hiriketiya Beach and Hikkaduwa Beach – check out both of these spots as they were great for surfing.
6. Ancient Wonders
One of the top reasons why you should visit Sri Lanka is definitely to experience the country’s ancient wonders.
Sri Lanka is known for its cultural triangle: Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, and Dambulla. Within this triangle, you’ll find a collection of Sri Lanka’s best cultural and historical wonders such as cave temples and ancient cities! Out of Sri Lanka’s 8 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 4 our them are located here.
One of our best memories from Sri Lanka was visiting the ancient city at Sigiriya Rock, which is located within the cultural triangle. Some day, we hope to return to Sri Lanka and visit more of these ancient wonders!
7. See a lot in a little time
One of the best things about Sri Lanka being a rather small country is that you can see a lot in a little time.
In just 3 weeks, we managed to visit the following places: Colombo, Sigiriya, Kandy, Ella, Tissahamara, Dickwella, Galle, Hikkaduwa, and Negombo. We often stayed 2-3 nights in each location and felt it was enough to do the sightseeing in the area.
We are still so impressed with how different each place we stayed at was – both in terms of vegetation and climate but also in terms of atmosphere and tourism. It’s crazy how many different things you can experience in just one country!
So another great reason why you should visit Sri Lanka is that you can see a lot in a little time. You basically don’t have to decide whether you want to go on a beach vacation or an adventure vacation – you can have both in Sri Lanka!
It’s also super easy to get around, but beware that it can take a long time. If Google says the drive takes 2 hours, you should double it to 4 hours.
Most of the time, we just showed up at the train or bus station, bought a ticket, and went to our next destination. However, you can easily plan ahead on 12go.asia where you can book train tickets, VIP buses, and private drivers.
8. Sri Lanka needs it
One of the best reasons to why you should visit Sri Lanka is because the country really needs it.
It’s safe to say that after the pandemic in 2020 and the economic collapse in 2022, Sri Lanka desperately needs tourists to return to the country. In 2022, the inflation worked its way towards 50%, which meant that people all of a sudden couldn’t afford groceries, fuel, medicine, and such.
During our trip, locals talked a lot about how hard it was to get by at the moment. This resulted in a lot of people approaching us to see if we wanted to buy a tuk-tuk ride, a sightseeing tour, a massage, or basically anything…
For us, it was actually quite exhausting in the end. But don’t let it scare you away from visiting. Just send a smile along with a firm “No Thanks”.
We honestly think that this hassle is just a testament to how much Sri Lanka just need more tourists to visit.
If more people were investing their money in visiting Sri Lanka, then the situation would probably be better. All the people we met also encouraged us to tell our friends and family at home to visit Sri Lanka.
9. It’s affordable
Even though Sri Lanka’s economy isn’t going well and the inflation is skyrocketing, it’s still very affordable to travel here.
Sri Lankan food cost between $2-2,5 per dish, a nice guesthouse for two people often costs around $25, and you can easily take public transportation around the island with tickets varying from $0,5-5 depending on class and distance. Sri Lanka is definitely a great place to visit if you’re traveling on a budget.
However, even if you want something luxurious, you still don’t have to break your bank. The last two nights of our trip, we stayed in this 4-star hotel with a rooftop pool for as little as $55 per night.
We actually spent most money on activities such as going to the Yala National Park, visiting the Lotus Tower, and having dinner at famous cocktail restaurant Smoke & Bitters. But accommodation, food, and transport isn’t that expensive.
So another great reason to visit Sri Lanka is that your money will get you far. It’s such an excellent destination for budget travelers.
10. It’s safe
Before finishing this blog post, we also want to talk about safety in Sri Lanka. Due to the economic crisis in 2022, a lot of international news outlets focused on shortages of fuel and medicine, an inflation spiralling out of control, and protests all over the country.
This of course meant that tourists stopped visiting because of safety concerns.
However, we can confidently say that after traveling around the country for 3 weeks in 2023, we didn’t feel unsafe at any point.
The people of Sri Lanka are so kind, and we’ve always felt welcome and safe anywhere we went. Of course, in some places we could feel the locals were a bit more conservative (like in Kandy), but the overall safety level was the same. Glenn walked around from dawn to dusk all over the country and took pictures with his expensive camera, and he didn’t feel unsafe either.
We’re not saying you can’t be unlucky and experience something uncomfortable, but from our experience, it isn’t more likely to happen in Sri Lanka than anywhere else.
Thank you Sri Lanka, for making us feel safe and welcome, it’s definitely another great reason to visit this beautiful country.
We honestly think there are so many reasons why you should visit Sri Lanka. It’s such a vibrant country full of interesting culture, colourful nature, and beautiful people! We cannot wait to go back some day.
Hopefully, we inspired you to at least consider going here on your next trip in 2024 or else this blog post should do the trick: Great things Sri Lanka is famous for. If you have any questions about visiting Sri Lanka, then don’t hesitate to send us a question in the comment box below.
Thanks for reading and happy travels!
Check out all of our travel guides from Sri Lanka:
Hi Glenn and Cecilie, Many thanks for your comment on Sri Lanka and its culture and people which will help people around the world to know about Sri Lanka.
Hi Damitha, of course! We loved Sri Lanka <3
Sri Lanka ranked 74th out of 141 countries in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2021 of the World Economic Forum. In 2019, Sri Lanka attracted nearly 2 million visitors. As of June 2023, Sri Lanka had over 600,000 international visitors.
Thank you for sharing! 🙂