Sri Lanka

Visa rules

Nationals of most countries can apply for an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) online, except for nationals of Maldives, Seychelles and Singapore, who do not need an ETA. It allows a stay in the country for 30 days and is valid for six months.Apply before entering the country via the official government website. The applicant will receive an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA). Visa charges are US$20 for SAARC countries (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan) and US$50 for others (2025), plus $2 processi…

The currency is the Sri Lankan rupee, denoted by the symbol "රු" or "Rs" (ISO code: LKR). There are coins in denominations of 1 (old version is big and silver, new version is a much smaller with a little change in design), 2 (silver), 5 (gold and silver), 10, (silver) and 20 rupees (seven-sided and silver). Banknotes of Sri Lanka are issued in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 rupees. Coins that are more than a few years old are typically in quite bad condition. Banknotes that are ripped, defaced or written on are not accepted in stores, nor are wet or balled up bank no…

Sri Lanka has a strong public transport network linking nearly all tourist destinations, making independent travel very easy. Roads can be terrifying due to local driving traditions — see #Stay safe. Together with occasional massive crowds (especially on holidays), often lacking luggage space, buses may not seem like the most appealing way of travel for some. Yet, they offer great opportunities for interaction with locals, are cheap, plentiful and have different price points (express/local, public/private). Harassment of women travelling alone was frequent in the past, but Sri Lanka seems to h…

Sinhala, spoken by the majority Sinhalese, and Tamil, spoken by the minority Tamils, are Sri Lanka's two official languages. English is commonly used in most cities, especially Colombo, Kandy and Galle, and by government and tourism officials – signage is also almost always trilingual. But while most of the people in Colombo can speak English, don't expect everyone, everywhere, to speak it fluently. In tourist areas you will have no problem with English. Most people in rural villages, however, c…

Crime

Violent crime is not usually any more serious a problem for tourists in Sri Lanka than it is anywhere. There has been an increase in violent crimes involving tourists in the 2020s, but it is still very rare. Exercise the same care and attention as you would at home. Locals will greet foreigners with a smile and are generally helpful. It is recommended to avoid going alone after dark. Pickpocketing on public transport is uncommon, but take standard precautions.

As always, if you can't afford travel insurance, you can't afford to travel. Government hospitals are not free for tourists, regardless of what you may read online. Government hospitals are cheaper than private hospitals, but they take cash only, and do not accept travel insurance like private hospitals do.

Phone

The country code for Sri Lanka is 94. Remove the intercity prefix (0) before the area code when dialling internationally into the country (i.e., 0112 688 688 becomes +94 112 688 688) when dialling from abroad. The two next numbers after 94 represents the area code, they are different for every district for more information see Telephone numbers in Sri Lanka.

There are several customs that, especially for Western travellers, will take a bit of getting used to.