Help & answers

Booking is simple: you choose a trip, fill in a form, and we take care of the rest.

1. You choose one of three trips: 3, 5 or 7 days.

2. You fill in a short booking form and send it to us.

3. Right after the form, you pay the booking fee by card on our bank’s secure page: $99, $149 or $199, depending on the trip. Your receipt comes by email straight away.

4. The same day we assign one of the drivers we’ve selected to your dates and write to you on WhatsApp to confirm. The confirmation shows exactly who will drive you and includes a photo of your driver and vehicle details.

5. You also get a receipt from us, and then one message with the places we would pick for your hotels.

6. On the day, your driver arrives at the agreed time.

We also write to you twice. The first message comes two weeks before the trip: that is the last moment to change your dates, and from then on the booking is final. The second comes the day before the trip, when we confirm everything with the driver, so you know he is ready.

The tour price covers your transport and the listed included activities. Hotels, lunch, dinner and tips are paid separately.

We include the costs that typically create surprises on the road, such as fuel, tolls, parking, the driver’s accommodation and the listed attraction tickets.

In the price: the car and driver, fuel, tolls, parking, the driver's own room and meals, the private jeep and park tickets in Yala, and on the 5 and 7-day trips your train tickets. You do not pay any of this separately, and nothing is added at the park gate or at the petrol station.

Not in the price: hotels, lunch, dinner and tips. You choose your level in the booking form, and once you have paid the booking fee we send you the places we would pick. You book them yourself and pay the hotel when you check in. Breakfast depends on the hotel rate you choose. Lunch and dinner you pay for where you eat, and your driver can recommend good places.

The price is for two people, and a solo traveller pays the same.

Our tour prices are for two guests, without hotels: $560 for 3 days, $780 for 5 days and $1,040 for 7 days.

If you travel alone, you pay the same price, because the car and the driver cost the same whether you’re travelling alone or as a pair. For three guests, the tour price is 50% higher, and you travel in the same car. For four people we send a van, and we give you the exact price for your dates.

If your group is bigger, or you are not sure about the numbers, write to us on WhatsApp with your dates and how many of you there are, and we’ll confirm the exact price. Hotels are always paid separately, at check-in.

Our trips run from November to April, the best time for the south and the centre of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has two monsoon patterns, so the best time to travel depends on the region. On the south and south-west coast, December to February is usually the driest and busiest period. May to September is generally wetter and less predictable, while March–April and October–November are shoulder periods. Because our routes focus on the south and the central highlands, we operate mainly from November to April, when conditions are generally more favourable.

Want to travel between May and October? Write to us on WhatsApp and tell us your month. We will tell you honestly what works and what does not. We cannot promise the weather, but we choose the time of year so that you have the best chance of good weather.

Need a ride from the airport? Tap “I need a transfer”, and we will arrange it.

After a long flight, the last thing you want is to find a taxi and negotiate the fare. We can arrange an airport transfer in advance.

Tap the green “I need a transfer” button at the top of the page and send us your flight and your hotel. We arrange a driver who meets you at the airport and takes you to your hotel, and we tell you the price before you pay.

The trip itself then starts at your south-coast hotel, so you can rest from the flight first. If you are not sure how to get from the airport to your hotel, write to us on WhatsApp, and we will help you work it out.

For UK, German and French passport holders, the 30-day tourist ETA is currently free of charge. You still need to apply for it before you fly, online, on the official Sri Lankan immigration website. It takes a few minutes on your phone. Rules can change, so check before you travel.

Apply here, on the official immigration site: https://www.eta.gov.lk/slvisa/

Use only this official site. Some look-alike sites charge a fee for the same thing. For eligible nationalities, the official ETA is currently free of charge. Rules can change, so check the site on the day you apply.

One more thing to check: your passport should be valid for at least six months after the day you arrive. If it expires later than that, everything is fine. If it does not, renew the passport first, and then apply for the ETA.

Yes, children are welcome. Tell us their ages, and we will add child seats.

Travelling with children needs a little more care, and we plan for it in advance.

When you book, tell us how old your children are. We tell your driver in advance and arrange age-appropriate child seats, so the correct seats are ready at pickup. Every car has seat belts in the back seats.

A normal day has about two hours in the car, with stops, and the last day of a trip is longer. If a stop is too much for the children, you can skip it without disrupting the rest of the itinerary.

You pay a small booking fee by card when you book, and we assign your driver the same day. The rest goes to your driver in cash on Day 1.

The order is simple. You fill in the booking form and pay the booking fee by card straight away: $99, $149 or $199, depending on the trip. Your receipt comes by email. Once you’ve paid, we assign your driver and write back the same day with his photo and the details of the car.

You also get a receipt from us, and then one message with the places we would pick for your hotels. On Day 1, when your driver meets you, you pay him the rest of the tour price in cash. You pay hotels directly at check-in, and you pay for lunch, dinner and any tips during the trip. Before you travel, we confirm which currency to use when paying the balance to your driver, so there is nothing to work out at the last minute.

You have 24 hours after paying to change your mind. If you cancel in that time, we refund the whole booking fee.

Booking from home is a big step, so there is a safety net. After you pay the booking fee, you have 24 hours to cancel. Write to us within that time and we will refund the whole fee.

After those 24 hours the booking fee becomes non-refundable, because your driver has reserved those days for you and takes no other bookings. Until 14 days before the trip you can still move your dates, and it costs nothing.

Two weeks before the trip we write to you to confirm everything, and from that moment the booking is final. The day before the trip we confirm with the driver once more, so you know he is ready. Your hotels are a separate booking, made by you in your own name: you cancel a hotel yourself on Booking.com, under the rules of the rate you chose, and we do not hold any money for it.

Road safety is one of the main practical concerns for visitors, and it is exactly what we take care of.

Plenty of drivers in Sri Lanka drive fast and carelessly. Ours do not: we pick drivers who take mountain roads slowly, and every seat has a belt.

We choose experienced drivers who prioritise safe, unhurried driving. You travel in a comfortable air-conditioned car and look at the island instead of the road.

If anything worries you during the trip, message us on WhatsApp and we will work with you and your driver to resolve it.

Comfortable cars: a Prius with air conditioning for two guests, a van for four or more, and seat belts in the back seats of every car.

On our trips you spend a fair amount of time on the road, and the drives can be fairly long. To keep you comfortable, our cars are chosen for guests: for two we take a Prius with air conditioning, and for four or more a van. Every car has seat belts in the back seats.

You see your driver and your car in the message that confirms your booking, and the same car and driver stay with you for the whole trip. You do not change cars on the way.

Travelling with children or with a lot of luggage? Tell us in the booking form, and we will arrange a van or child seats before the trip.

Once you've paid, we assign your driver the same day and send you his photo and his car on WhatsApp. We choose every driver ourselves.

Your driver is the person you spend the whole trip with, so we do not leave his choice to chance.

We choose every driver the way we would choose for ourselves. He speaks English, he is used to European guests, he drives carefully, and he makes no stops at shops that pay drivers a commission. The same day you pay, you get his photo and his car, and you can ask us anything about him.

If anything about your driver changes before the trip, you hear it from us on WhatsApp, so there are no surprises on the day.

A normal day has about two hours in the car. The last day of a trip is the longest.

On a map Sri Lanka looks small, but the roads are slow, so we count the hours for you and tell you in advance.

On the 3-day trip the drives are about two hours, two hours and three and a half hours. On the 5-day trip, day 3 is a car-free day in Ella, and the last drive home takes four to six hours. On the 7-day trip the leg from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy is about two hours, and the last day, from Kandy through Galle to the coast, takes about four and a half hours with a stop in Galle.

These are estimates from the map, and your driver confirms them for your day. Knowing the long day in advance lets you plan the evening.

Yes. We work with drivers who speak English confidently and know how to look after European guests.

There is a known problem in Sri Lanka. You tell a driver one thing, he smiles, nods, and does the opposite. Tourists complain about it a lot.

So we look for drivers who truly speak English and are used to European travellers. You say you need a stop, and he stops. He understands you, is comfortable chatting, and can tell you about the places you pass, which makes the drive part of the trip, not just a way to get there.

You are not left guessing whether you were understood. You say what you want, and it happens.

A typical day starts at your hotel, includes around two hours of driving, one main sightseeing stop or activity, lunch on the way and an overnight stay at a hotel.

Here is what Day 1 looks like. Your driver picks you up at 8:00 at your south-coast hotel. The drive to Tissamaharama takes about two hours, and from there the Yala jeep ride begins. You sleep near the park, because driving back would add another two hours.

Breakfast depends on the hotel rate you choose. Lunch and dinner you choose together with your driver, who knows good places, and you can skip any stop that does not interest you.

The following days use the same relaxed rhythm: a morning drive, one main sightseeing stop or activity, an unhurried lunch and an overnight stay at a hotel you’ve booked from our picks.

Tipping is up to you, and we do not set an amount.

Tips are not included in the tour price, and there is no fixed or expected amount. If you’re happy with the service, you’re welcome to tip your driver directly.

Many restaurants already add a service charge, so check the bill before adding anything extra.

You choose your level in the booking form, and once you have paid the booking fee we send you the places we would pick for each night. You book the one you like, in your name, and you pay the hotel at check-in.

Hotel quality and availability can vary, which is why we suggest the places and you book the one you like yourself.

When you book, you tell us your level. Once you have paid the booking fee, we send you two or three places for each night, with the prices for your own dates. You can look each one up, read about it, and ask us anything. Hotel prices depend on your dates, which is why we give you a range and not a promise we cannot keep.

You pay the hotel yourself when you check in. Breakfast depends on the hotel rate you choose. On the 3-day trip you sleep two nights away from the coast, so you book a hotel for each of those two nights yourself, from the places we send you.

On the 5 and 7-day trips you ride the train from Ella to Nanu Oya, about two hours fifteen minutes, and the tickets are included.

The train through the tea hills is a highlight of the trip. Booking reserved seats independently involves several steps, including entering passenger details and booking when reservations open. Seats are allocated by the railway.

On our trips, all of this is handled. The tickets are already paid, so you buy nothing at the station. The railway assigns the seats, so you cannot choose the window, and train times can change, so your driver confirms the plan on the day and tells you when the train leaves.

You simply arrive at the station and board with your reserved tickets for the journey through the tea hills.

On the safari day you ride an open private jeep for about four hours on dirt tracks in Yala. Nobody can guarantee a leopard.

Wildlife sightings can never be guaranteed. What we can do is arrange a private jeep and an experienced safari driver for the best possible experience.

The ride starts from Tissamaharama, about two hours from your south-coast hotel, and you sleep nearby, because driving back would add another two hours. The jeep is private and open, so the pace is yours. At a waterhole your driver turns off the engine, and you wait and watch.

The park fee and the jeep are paid before you arrive, so nothing is added at the gate.

We are a company that organises trips around Sri Lanka for European travellers.

We started Sri Lanka SORTED to make private travel around the island simpler and more predictable for international visitors.

Service standards, pricing habits and communication can work differently from what many European travellers are used to, so we take care of the details in advance: the route, the driver, the hotels and the costs we can confirm.

We choose the people we work with carefully and build trips for travellers who want to enjoy Sri Lanka without spending their holiday managing the logistics.

The fixed tour price covers your car and driver, fuel, tolls, parking and the listed activities. Hotels, lunch, dinner and tips are paid separately.

The tour price includes the transport costs and listed activities we can confirm in advance, so you know what you are paying for before the trip. Hotels, lunch, dinner, tips and clearly marked optional activities remain separate.

In detail, fuel, tolls, parking, the driver’s room and meals, the jeep and the tickets in Yala, and on the 5 and 7-day trips the train tickets, are all in one price. You pay separately for hotels, lunch, dinner and any tips. You book the hotels yourself, in your own name, and we send you the places we would pick once you have paid the booking fee.