Team Tala Travels’s trip to Sri Lanka was an unexpectedly fun surprise! We were supposed to head somewhere for our Christmas vacation, but fate intervened and brought us to this jewel-shaped country in Asia. We did not have too many expectations for this trip. But, our 2-week trip to Sri Lanka turned out to be one of our most fun and exciting trips so far. There is so much that we loved about Sri Lanka: their beautiful beaches, amazing mountains, their delectable food, their rich wildlife, and their hospitable people who welcome tourists with so much joy and courtesy. 

Travelling to Sri Lanka is an easy thing to do. Because the country is just one big island, you can travel from one town to another through train, car, or any land transportation available to you. The roads may be chaotic, as there are many tuktuks and overcrowded buses traversing their narrow main roads, but once you’re in the country, it will be easy to transfer from one tourist destination to another by land. You may also want to try riding their usually packed trains and strike a pose while hanging off its edge, which is one of the tourist activities famously done by trvelers. And since English is widely used in Sri Lanka, it would not be difficult to speak to locals about what you need while working around your itinerary. 

 What to Do in Sri Lanka with Kids

What should you visit in Sri Lanka? All its tourist places– if you have the time and the means to do it! Sri Lanka may be a small island, but don’t be fooled! There are lots of things to see and do there! For instance, Kandy is home to an elephant sanctuary and to an enormous Buddhist temple. Waskaduwa has a turtle hatchery farm. Ella is filled with hiking treks to Ella Rock and Little Adam’s Peak. Hikkaduwa has beautiful golden sand and waters. Yala has acres of safari, where a leopard lives! Most tourists stay in the southern part of the country mainly to relax on the beach and trek the country’s mountainous terrains.

But, if you are traveling with kids, it is important to carefully create a kid-friendly itinerary to avoid getting kid tantrums due to fatigue and boredom. 

So, here in this blog, Team Tala Travels will share with you a kid-friendly itinerary that we did during the holidays. We enjoyed every bit of it with our 5-year-old Tala.

This is the itinerary that we followed: Unawatuna – Ella – Hikkaduwa – Waskaduwa – Colombo. All of our transfers were taken care of by Drivers in Sri Lanka. We booked in advance and informed the operator about all our scheduled transfers. The operator was very professional and reliable. Similarly, all the drivers were prompt, courteous, friendly, and highly communicative in English. All their cars were well-maintained and clean, too. 

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Check out this video to see how our first driver from Drivers in Sri Lanka gave us a warm welcome when we arrived in Colombo.

Now, get ready to learn about what we did during the first leg of our Sri Lanka trip!

Days 1 – 4: Unawatuna and Galle

Unawatuna

Our first stop: the beaches of Unawatuna! Unawatuna is one and a half hours away from Colombo International Airport. Since we arrived in Colombo late in the afternoon, we arrived at Unawatuna at around 7:30 in the evening already. 

We stayed in Unawatuna for 3 nights. We initially planned to enjoy the beach or simply walk along the shores, but the strong waves prevented us from doing so. Though the beach is beautiful, the waves were really strong, except for the part in front of Wijaya Beach Restaurant, where there is a reef that prevents the waves from coming in to the shore. This is where most of the tourists swim. 

So, we will outline in here the different places that we went to in Unawatuna during our 4-day stay. 

1. Amanda Beach Villas

We booked a room at Amanda Beach Villas for 3 nights. They offer spacious rooms complete with air conditioning, refrigerator, a couch, a bathtub, and a big balcony that gives an amazing view of the beach. 

   _{Amanda Beach Resort}

You have a choice as to avail of their breakfast, which can be either a Western or a Sri Lankan breakfast. If you opt not to, you can simply go to nearby resorts that offer breakfast meals for guests. For us, we availed of their breakfast for the duration of our stay. 

The Western breakfast consists of sausages, bacon, eggs, toast, fresh fruits and coffee or tea. The Sri Lankan breakfast consists of string hoppers, eggs, sambal, bread, fresh fruits, coffee or tea. 

Our verdict for Amanda Beach Villas: 4/5. 

• Hospitality – 5
• Food – 4
• Cleanliness – 3

  2.  Wijaya Beach Restaurant

One of the dining options in Unawatuna is Wijaya Beach Restaurant. They serve a variety of Asian and European dishes, and they are widely known for their seafood options and thin-crust pizzas baked in a wood-fired oven. 

We dined at Wijaya Beach Restaurant for our first lunch in Unawatuna. The overall vibe here is generally a relaxed one. They offer lounge seats where guests can dine or drink while enjoying the view or reading a book while facing the beach. Just a tip, though: They do not honor reservations so better come early as it gets full during lunch and dinner time. 

3. Dream Cabana 

Dream Cabana is a guesthouse and a restaurant that is widely known for its rope swings. Their rope swing is featured by many bloggers from different parts of the world. It features a swing tied to a coconut tree that will take you flying over the Indian Ocean with a delectable view of Unawatuna Beach. Dream Cabana charges each person 500LKR for two swings. They will also offer to capture a video or a photo to make sure that the moment lives forever digitally. 

Dream Cabana is not only known for its rope swing but also for its luscious food! We tried their grilled tuna. It was the best! Tala also tried their irresistible vanilla milkshake. Yum! 

But what we really want to feature about Dream Cabana is their hospitality. For one, we went there for Emman’s birthday dinner and for him to try something exciting on his birthday, and the family was so kind to give the rope swing as a birthday gift to Emman! Emman tried Sri Lanka’s #1 rope swing for free!! What a treat! Also, they arranged to prepare a birthday cake for Emman, which is not in their usual menu. They wanted Emman’s day to be spectacular, and they went out of their way to make it happen!

Tatay in the rope swing

Watch Tatay Emman’s birthday celebration at Dream Cabana in this video. 

3. Angel Beach Club

Right next to Amanda Beach Villas is Angel Beach Club, which offers an inviting swimming pool to their inhouse guests and to outsiders, as well. If you are not staying at Angel Beach Club but want to swim at the pool, you can do so provided that you order something from their cafe for a minimum amount. But since Tala has a cast on her arm that shouldn’t get wet, we were not able to enjoy this deal even if we spent that amount for food and drinks. 
One of the features of Angel Beach Club is their angel-winged swing. You can take an iconic shot for free! 

Galle

On our second afternoon in Unawatuna, we booked a tuktuk and went to Galle, where you can see the famous Galle Dutch Fort. This is an interesting destination because of how it shows the fusion of Portuguese, Dutch, British, and Sri Lankan influences in one place. 

1. Galle Dutch Fort

There are many places to visit in here, like museums and and reformed churches, but because we have a 5-year-old with us who might not find these amusing at all, we decided to just go see the lighthouse and the Fort walls.The 18-metre lighthouse is still being used in Galle. Tala also saw cannons, which were used by soldiers to protect Galle from invaders. 

Galle Dutch Fort Lighthouse

                                                        

2. Aqua Pizza   

Aqua Pizza Galle Dutch Fort offers authentic Italian Neapolitan pizzas. We tried their Quattro Formaggi pizza and their Pizza of the Day, which has pistachios, parma ham, burrata cheese. Really good! A must-try in Sri Lanka!

Yummy pizzas from Aqua Pizza    

 3. Isle of Gelato

After eating pizza, we headed to Isle of Gelato for dessert! Isle of Gelato is famous all over Sri Lanka for its homemade gelato. They offer a wide variety of flavors, including vegan options. You can ask for a sample if you are not sure about the taste of their unique flavors. Though it may be a bit pricey, it is worth a try! Just a tip: The cafe gets full at any time of day so be prepared to wait for your turn to be seated. 

Where’s the gelato? Already in Tala’s tummy!

                                                   

4. St. Joseph’s Chapel

There are many reformed churches in Galle. We saw St Joseph’s Chapel and we went inside to offer prayers of thanksgiving and guidance. We headed back to Amanda Beach Villas after our chapel visit. 

Check out our short video featuring our Galle Dutch Fort adventure.

The rest of our stay in Unawatuna was marked by walking along the shores, playing sand toys, and simply enjoying the beauty of the beach.

There are other tourist attractions that can be visited in Unawatuna, such as the Japanese Pagoda, but since we are travelling with a 5-year-old, we decided not to go there as it may not be as amusing as we want it to be for her.

On the fourth day of our stay, as scheduled, our ride from Drivers in Sri Lanka arrived at the lobby of Amanda Beach Villas to bring us to our second destination. Again, so prompt and reliable!

So, this marks the end of the first leg of our Sri Lanka trip! We had a blast in Unawatuna! But you know what? We had much more fun on the second leg of our trip.

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