Almost every visitor to Sri Lanka ends up with a driver, because the alternatives are worse than they look from abroad. Here is what it costs, what you are actually paying for, and what to check before you agree to anything.
A private driver with a car, hired through an operator, is normally quoted as a day rate that covers the car, the fuel, the driver and the driver’s own food and accommodation. You do not pay separately for his room; every hotel of any size keeps driver quarters, and that cost is inside the rate.
On our routes the driving between your hotels is included in the price of the trip, so there is no separate day rate to compare. That is the whole reason this site exists: you are quoted one figure for hotels and driving together, rather than two figures you have to add up yourself.
What it does not cover, almost anywhere, is entrance fees to parks and temples, your own meals, or a guide licensed to take you round a site. Drivers are drivers. Some are superb company and know every stop on the road; that is not the same as a national guide licence, and anyone quoting you a driver-guide rate should be able to say which they are selling.
Sri Lanka is small on a map and slow on the ground. A hundred kilometres can take three hours. The trains are wonderful on two specific stretches and impractical everywhere else, the intercity buses are cheap and uncomfortable, and self-driving means an unfamiliar licence process and roads that reward local instinct.
The real reason, though, is that a driver removes the planning. You stop worrying about how you get from Sigiriya to Kandy and start thinking about what to do when you arrive.
The last one catches people out. A single freelance driver has no cover; an operator does.
Tipping the driver is normal and is not built into the rate. What is customary varies more than any guidebook admits, so ask us what the current range is when you book rather than guessing from a blog written five years ago. Nobody will be offended either way.
Every drive between your hotels is included in the trip price. Your driver meets you, takes your luggage, and is the same person for the whole trip rather than a different car at each transfer. Stops on the way, for lunch or a temple or because you saw something, are fine. That is the point of having the car.
Airport transfers at the start and end are quoted with the trip. Ask your planner and it will be on the same quote as the hotels.
Day rates vary with the car, the season and the operator. On our routes you do not pay a separate day rate at all: the driving between your hotels is inside the trip price, so you get one figure rather than two. Message us with your dates and we will quote it.
No. Every hotel of any size keeps driver quarters, and the cost of that is already inside the rate. You should not be asked for it separately.
Our drivers know the roads and the stops extremely well, and most are good company for a week. A licensed national guide is a different qualification, and if you want one at a specific site we will arrange it and say what it costs.
Yes, within reason. Tell your driver or message your planner. Adding a stop is usually fine; changing which hotel you sleep in that night depends on availability.
Every drive on these is included, which is what most of the advice above is about.
Suggested route 10 nights
Sigiriya, Kandy, Ella, Yala and the south coast
Everything, without rushing. Two nights at every stop, so you unpack once and stay put for a day.
Price based on
Suggested route 10 nights
Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Haputale and the south coast
For people who would rather go high and then go flat than tick off ancient cities. Four nights in the hills, four on the coast.
Price based on
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