Tika Traveller

Discover Sri Lanka & Maldives From Those Who Know It Best

Blogs from Tikalanka are designed to enhance your knowledge of Sri Lanka and Maldives and keep you up to date with recent developments. We intend to post regular features on travel, news, lifestyle and accommodation as well as guest articles from current and past customers, which will give you first-hand experience of Tikalanka, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Category: Travel tips

A deserted east coast beach of Sri Lanka

TikaWeeks #11/2023: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 18th March 2023

Earlier this year The Independent’s travel desk published their dream destinations for 2023 and Sri Lanka topped the wish list. After years of pandemic-related restrictions, this is the first year that travel has the opportunity to return to “normal”, with most countries having opened back up to tourists, without the need for extra testing and paperwork. Previously on the up as a seemingly universally loved travel destination and with so much pent-up demand, Sri Lanka is the place to visit in 2023.

Sri Lanka's beautiful and enigmatic Tea Country

TikaWeeks #10/2023: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 10th March 2023

I am sure you will have heard of the Camino de Santiago in Spain, Peru's Inca Trail or the well-trammelled route to Everest Base Camp, but do you know about the world's newest walking trail? No, well it's Sri Lanka's very own Pekoe Trail, a 300-km, 22-stage network of hiking trails, which winds its way through the island's dramatic Hill Country, an area synonymous with growing tea. Intended to be walked in stages or in full, it was conceived to encourage more visitors into the island's most remote regions.

TikaWeeks #23/2022: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 11th June 2022

Good news. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office no longer advises against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka so we are able to offer holidays to Sri Lanka again for immediate departure. Please get back to us asap if you are still looking for that special holiday or honeymoon to Sri Lanka and/or Maldives this summer.

A train negotiating the tortuous railway line through the Hill Country in Sri Lanka

TikaWeeks #10/2022: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 9th March 2022

Like the rest of the world, Sri Lanka is currently suffering the effects of sky-high oil prices, supply chain issues and a prolonged break in tourism due to the pandemic but this doesn’t stop new travel initiatives from appearing on the island. These include a new luxury train service from Kandy to Ella (the most picturesque railway journey on the island), a projected cable car route through the breath-taking scenery of the Hill Country, and the opening of the Central Expressway between Colombo and Kandy in 2024.

TikaWeeks #09/2022: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 2nd March 2022

Yesterday, the Sri Lankan authorities removed the requirement of a pre-arrival COVID-19 negative test result, which should aid the recovery of the island’s beleaguered tourism industry. This comes hot on the heels of Emirates no longer requiring a PCR test for transiting passengers through Dubai. Both are indications that countries are beginning to relax their pandemic travel requirements to encourage more foreign travel.

Quintessential Ceylon - a pot of tea overlooking misty mountains in the magnificent Hill Country at W15 Hanthana Estate, Kandy, Sri Lanka

TikaWeeks #01/2022: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 7th January 2022

Happy New Year and now back to the last. Our ‘Northern Tour’ of Sri Lanka started with visiting a few special places to stay around Kandy before heading northeast into the Cultural Triangle – Dambulla, Sigiriya and Habarana – and on to Nilaveli just north of Trincomalee on the east coast. We then drove straight up to Jaffna at the northernmost tip of the island before returning south to the Anuradhapura and Wilpattu region. Our last stop was in the Negombo area before I flew home.

Lunuganga, or Salt River, is Geoffrey Bawa's name for his private estate on Dedduwa Lake

TikaWeeks #50/2021: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 16th December 2021

Just returned from an 18-day research trip to Sri Lanka, which was a precursor to restarting our holidays by the New Year. Pathi and I travelled around the island meeting tourism colleagues, visiting current and new accommodation, and discussing the restart with our guides. Overall, the trip was a success and we are confident that a holiday in Sri Lanka will be a great experience despite the few extra precautions required due to COVID-19.

TikaWeeks #46/2021: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 21st November 2021

Tourism is beginning to pick up in Sri Lanka once again. More than 7000 foreign visitors arrived to Sri Lanka in the first two weeks of October, out of a total of 45,413 tourists for the year as a whole. Visitors are required to always carry their COVID-19 vaccination card when visiting tourist sites around the country – 12 to 18 year olds who have had at least one dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are considered ‘fully vaccinated’. There is now an online Health Declaration System at the airport to reduce cross-infection.

TikaWeeks #42/2021: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 20th October 2021

Fully vaccinated travellers are now EXEMPTED from obtaining the mandatory COVID-19 Local Insurance cover in Sri Lanka. However, fully vaccinated travellers should ensure that they have a comprehensive travel insurance policy that will cover health and other expenses related to COVID-19 should there be a need as the Government of Sri Lanka will not bear any costs resulting from COVID-19 infections.

TikaWeeks #40/2021: Sri Lanka update

Posted by John on 4th October 2021

The good news keeps on getting better! Sri Lanka’s newly-released health protocol for fully vaccinated travellers makes it even easier to visit the country. No on-arrival PCR test or any other test necessary, no quarantine, no restriction on where you stay (except ‘bio-bubble’ hotels), which places you visit or how you get around. This now feels like the pre-pandemic experience of enjoying freely the wonders of Sri Lanka – its scenery, wildlife, beaches, food, culture, history and, most of all, its ever-smiling people!

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