6 day sri lanka plan suggestions

Suggestions Needed for First International Trip

We are an Indian couple (28M & 27F) planning a 5-night, 6-day trip to Sri Lanka in October. Our tentative itinerary is:

  • Colombo Airport > Sigiriya > Kandy > Nuwara Eliya > Ella > Mirissa > Galle > Colombo. (Suggestions welcome for any modifications)

I have contacted a cab driver for transportation, and he quoted $500 USD for the entire trip. Does this seem like a reasonable charge, or are there better deals available?

We plan to travel from Nuwara Eliya to Ella by train and requested the driver to divide the trip into two phases:

  1. Colombo > Sigiriya > Kandy > Nuwara Eliya
  2. Ella > Mirissa > Galle > Colombo

However, the driver mentioned that he would travel to Ella and then pick us up after our train journey.

Could you also provide a rough estimate of the total cost for the trip so that we can budget accordingly?