Questions

Choose a trip, pick your date and see the whole price. Then give us your name and phone number and press Book. Once you book, your trip is secured and we run it. Booking closes at 21:00 Sri Lanka time the evening before pickup.

Yes. Your trip is booked when you press Book. You pay in cash when the trip starts: to your driver when the booking includes our vehicle, otherwise to the person we name with the meeting point. Once you book, your trip is secured and we run it.

Yes. Without a date you can still see prices, and the button reads "Choose your date". You can book up to a year ahead.

Booking closes at 21:00 Sri Lanka time the evening before pickup. After that the website stops taking bookings. Message us on WhatsApp and we tell you if we can still take the trip.

When the booking includes our vehicle, your driver's name and vehicle plate come by 20:00 the evening before the trip, or within 30 minutes of a later booking. Otherwise your pickup details, or where to meet and who to pay, come on the same timing.

No. Nothing to pay now. You pay in cash when the trip starts: to your driver when the booking includes our vehicle, otherwise to the person we name with the meeting point. No deposit, no card details online.

Yes. With Majeste nothing is paid online, and your trip is booked when you press Book. You pay in cash when the trip starts: to your driver when the booking includes our vehicle, otherwise to the person we name with the meeting point. No deposit, no card details online. Plans change? Cancel free up to 24 hours before pickup.

Prices are in US dollars. Rupee amounts shown beside them are approximate, and we confirm the exact rupee amount for you to bring.

You pay in cash when the trip starts: to your driver when the booking includes our vehicle, otherwise to the person we name with the meeting point. PayPal receiving only launched in Sri Lanka on 15 May 2026, Stripe is not available here and Wise cannot send rupees to Sri Lanka, so we have kept it simple: cash when the trip starts is the only way to pay.

Yes, for everything listed on the receipt: vehicle and driver, hotels with breakfast, entrance tickets at the fee we last found, the activities shown, all taxes and service charges and, on multi-day trips, our 8% Trip planning and support fee on vehicle and hotels. When your hotel nights include 24 or 31 December we add a gala dinner line, marked as an estimate. Not included: flights, visa, insurance, lunches and dinners unless you add half board, drinks and tips.

It is our fee. On multi-day trips we charge 8% of the vehicle and hotels, shown as its own line. It pays for planning, booking every hotel and ticket, and our team on WhatsApp, 07:00 to 21:00 Sri Lanka time, throughout the trip. Sights and activities are at their listed price, except the hill train seat, which includes our booking charge, and day tours have no such line.

Plans change? Cancel free up to 24 hours before pickup. The same rule covers every booking. Inside 24 hours, tell us at once: your driver has held those days for you and turned other work away. If we cannot reach you on the day and you do not arrive, the booking lapses.

Parks close and boats cancel, sometimes at short notice. Where there is a sensible substitute, for example Udawalawe when Yala's main blocks close, we offer it and show the price difference, and you decide.

Yes. Message us with your reference and we send the new price, worked out from the same published rates. Hotel changes depend on what is free on the new dates.

Very large groups are priced by hand on WhatsApp, and the site tells you when yours is one. Nothing booked until you accept the price.

Majeste is a trading name of Senific (Private) Limited, a Sri Lankan company, number PV 00355973, and its sister brand is safa.lk, which arranges private jeep safaris in Sri Lanka's national parks. Nothing is paid online: you pay in cash when the trip starts. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before pickup. Majeste is new, so it has no guest reviews yet.

Within 30 minutes, 07:00 to 21:00 Sri Lanka time (UTC+5:30). We answer WhatsApp and email in those hours. Outside them a message waits until the morning.

The vehicle, an English-speaking driver, fuel, expressway tolls, parking, and the driver's meals and lodging, with 150 km a day pooled across the whole trip. A car is USD 75 a day, a 6-seat van USD 99, a 9-seat van USD 119 and a mini coach USD 175, as of 7 November 2026; distance beyond the pool is USD 0.45 per km for the car and USD 0.55 for the van. Multi-day trips add our 8% Trip planning and support fee. Day tours of up to 6 hours use a half-day rate, 60% of the day rate, and some day tours have no car charge because the jeep or boat collects you.

No. You get an English-speaking driver, who drives and handles tickets and logistics. Guiding is a separate job. At sites such as Sigiriya or Polonnaruwa you can hire a site guide at the gate.

Most tourist hotels provide driver quarters and meals. Where they do not, we pay for the driver's room and food; it is inside the daily rate and never a surprise on the day.

Plan on up to about 10 hours between about 06:00 and 20:00. Longer days, such as a dawn safari followed by a four-hour drive to the airport, are fine when they are in the plan from the start.

Two people get an air-conditioned car such as a Toyota Prius or Axio, with room for two large suitcases. Three to five people get a Toyota KDH van or similar with six seats. Six to eight people get a 9-seat high-roof van, and larger groups a mini coach. 'Or similar' means the same class, not a smaller vehicle.

Sometimes. Some of our tours include a spice garden stop at Matale, which is free to visit but comes with a sales pitch; one day tour stops at a mask carver's workshop in Ambalangoda, and our Luxury tour offers a gem appointment in Galle as an evening choice. If you do not want a stop, say no; nothing in your price depends on it.

Tips are customary and always discretionary. Guidebooks and operators give USD 5 to 20 a day per vehicle for a multi-day tour, usually at the end; there is no official figure. A tip is never part of your price.

Only with an International Driving Permit plus a recognition permit from the Automobile Association of Ceylon in Colombo or a temporary licence from the Department of Motor Traffic. The UK and Canadian advisories describe driving as erratic and buses as unsafe, which is why we suggest hiring a driver.

Hotels are named as examples of the standard you will get. If a named hotel is full we book one of the same standard in the same area and tell you which.

Bed and breakfast unless the itinerary says otherwise. Luxury tea bungalows at Hatton are full board. You can add dinners as half board: USD 12 per adult per night in simple hotels, 18 in comfort, 28 in superior and 45 in luxury, with children aged 6 to 11 at half. Lunches are not included, so you can choose where to eat on the road.

Children under 6 stay free sharing their parents' bed. Children 6 to 11 sharing a room pay a small supplement. From 12, hotels count a child as an adult. Policies vary by hotel, so tell us the children's ages at the time of travel when you book.

A single room is priced at 80% of the double room rate in our planning rates, and the vehicle is the same price whether one or two people ride in it, so a solo traveller pays roughly two-thirds more than one of a couple pays per person. The hotel lines on your quote say the room is a single.

Most resort hotels charge compulsory gala dinners on 24 and 31 December (Weligama Bay Resort: USD 70 per adult each; one reseller page shows USD 178 to 243 at a 5-star) and apply minimum stays of 3 to 5 nights from about 21 December to 9 January. When your hotel nights include those dates we add an estimated line per adult: USD 40 in comfort, USD 70 in superior, USD 180 in luxury, half for children 6 to 11.

Yes. Name the hotels you want and we price the trip with them if we can book them. We will say plainly if a hotel is full, closed for the season or outside the areas we cover.

Simple and clean (guesthouses and small hotels); comfort (3-star or a good boutique); superior (4-star); luxury (5-star or a top boutique). Planning rates are per double room with breakfast, taxes and service charge included, and change with the season: peak is 10 January to 31 March on the south, west and hill calendars and May to September on the east coast.

Yes, every entrance ticket listed on your itinerary is in the price at the fee we last found, bought for you at the gate, and shown as its own line on the receipt. Fees are set by the Central Cultural Fund, the Department of Wildlife Conservation and the temples, and we add no fee of our own. Some are not published officially, so our prices page gives the source and how sure we are of each one. Fees were last checked on 7 November 2026.

For a foreign adult: Sigiriya USD 35, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura USD 30 each, the Temple of the Tooth LKR 3,000 (about USD 9), Dambulla cave temple LKR 3,000 (no official page; some sites show 2,000), Peradeniya gardens LKR 3,540. A national park ticket for two adults sharing a jeep is USD 71.86 at Yala, Udawalawe, Wilpattu or Minneriya, and the private jeep is USD 75 to 89 on top.

Under-6s are free in national parks, and secondary lists report them free at heritage sites, though the CCF price page does not say. Children 6 to 12 pay a reduced ticket at Central Cultural Fund sites (Sigiriya USD 20) and USD 15 in national parks. From 13 they pay the adult fee. The Temple of the Tooth and Dambulla publish no child price.

Yes. Central Cultural Fund sites charge SAARC passport holders the reduced ticket (Sigiriya USD 20) on showing the original passport, and national parks charge USD 20 per adult instead of 25. Entrance fees for Sri Lankan residents differ. Message us and we price them for you.

Maybe. Leopards are seen on some drives at Yala and Wilpattu, not all, and nobody can promise one. Elephants are usually seen at Udawalawe, though sightings are not guaranteed. Park rules apply to every jeep, which can mean a sighting is further away or missed.

Blocks 1 and 2 closed from 14 September to 15 October 2026 for drought and reopened on 16 October. The Department of Wildlife Conservation sets closure dates each year and they vary, usually several weeks in September and October. If your dates fall in a closure we tell you as soon as we know, offer Block 5, Udawalawe, Bundala or Lunugamvehera, and show any price difference. You decide whether to take it.

Not end to end when status pages were last checked on 4 November 2026, from secondary sources; the status changes, so look at railway.gov.lk before you travel. No train reached Kandy station, and Gampola to Nanu Oya was closed after cyclone damage and an October 2026 landslide. The scenic section from Nanu Oya to Ella reopened on 20 June 2026, so we drive you to Nanu Oya and book that train, with no class or window seat promised. If no seat is left, we tell you, your driver takes you by road instead, and you do not pay for the seat.

Mirissa boats run daily from November to late April (USD 60 per adult with the government fee). Trincomalee boats run in the summer months; sources disagree on the exact season, but May to August is common to all of them. Whales are seen on some trips, not all. Swimming with whales is prohibited by law and we do not sell it.

No elephant rides, bathing or feeding at captive venues. Pinnawala is a captive herd with chained animals and scheduled shows; we include it only if you ask and we tell you plainly what it is. For wild elephants we suggest Udawalawe or Minneriya, and for orphaned calves being prepared for release, the Elephant Transit Home at Udawalawe, which is viewing only.

Almost everyone needs an ETA from eta.gov.lk before arrival, valid 30 days with double entry. Since 25 May 2026 it is free for 40 nationalities, including the UK, US, Canada, Australia, 12 EU countries, India, China and the Gulf states. Others pay USD 50 (USD 20 for South Asian nationals) at our last reading, so check the fee when you apply. Children under 12 are free, and you should apply only on the official site.

January to March is the driest stretch on the south and west coasts, in the hills and in the Cultural Triangle; December and April are wetter there. May to September suits the east coast and the north. October and November are wet almost everywhere, and on the east coast the wettest months are November and December. Peak hotel prices run from 10 January to 31 March and over Christmas and New Year.

US dollars, euros or pounds in clean notes, changed at the airport bank counters; USD 1 was about LKR 332 on 6 November 2026. Cards work in hotels and city shops, often with a 3 to 5% surcharge; cash runs everything else. ATMs cap withdrawals at about LKR 20,000 to 40,000. Declare foreign currency above USD 15,000 on arrival.

Tipping is customary and discretionary; there is no official tariff. Published ranges: driver USD 5 to 20 a day per vehicle, safari jeep crew LKR 1,000 to 2,000 per jeep, porters LKR 200 to 500. Restaurants and hotels already add a 10% service charge.

Dialog has counters in the arrivals hall after customs: LKR 1,399 (about USD 4) for 20 GB, 1,799 for 30 GB, 2,450 for 50 GB, taxes included, as of 7 November 2026. Bring your passport. eSIMs can be ordered online for airport pickup.

No. Drink sealed bottled water or filtered refills, avoid ice outside hotels, and use bottled water for teeth if you are prone to stomach trouble. King coconut from the roadside is safe.

Shoulders and knees covered, shoes and hats off, socks for hot stone. Never pose with your back to a Buddha statue, and cover any Buddha tattoo for the whole trip; visible ones have led to refused entry and deportation.

Every full-moon day is a public holiday. Bars and liquor shops close by law, hotels do not serve alcohol in public areas, meat stalls close, and temples fill with white-clad devotees. Sites, parks and restaurants stay open. A 10-day trip has about a one-in-three chance of including one; it is a good day for a temple visit.

As of 6 November 2026 the UK does not advise against travel to any part of Sri Lanka; Canada says exercise a high degree of caution. Road accidents, rip currents, dengue and dog bites are the risks most likely to affect a visitor. The UK also warns of petty crime and says terrorism cannot be ruled out. Emergency numbers: ambulance 1990, police 119, tourist hotline 1912.

Yes. The UK and Canadian advisories recommend cover for medical treatment, evacuation and repatriation, and for the activities you plan, because emergency care outside the main cities is limited and evacuation is expensive. We do not provide insurance for guests.

Yes. 92,011 cases and 68 deaths were reported in Sri Lanka in 2026 to 15 August. Use DEET repellent, long sleeves at dawn and dusk, and screened or air-conditioned rooms. There is no malaria in Sri Lanka.

230 to 240 volts at 50 Hz with round three-pin type D, UK-style type G and some type M sockets. Bring a universal adaptor. Power cuts happen in rural areas.