Best Things to Do in Polonnaruwa

The hotel on the first night was of a low standard- very noisy - like a cheap backpacker hotel the music from the roof top bar did not stop until early hrs of the morning I would expect better from Explore the fan knob etc all the people I spoke to in the group stated the same thing
Most of the hotels and stays were of a high standard though11

Explore offers interesting itineraries to a variety of countries, but nothing out of the ordinary or unusual. Accomodation tends to be middle of road, with mix of hotels, camps, home stays depending on trip. Transportation is always good—safe drivers. Tour leaders are often local to country which often provides knowledge, language skills, and overall ease. Booking is easy on line, but communication can be slow. Be savvy with your money, and shop around, but Explore is usually good value for money.

I would recommend this tour to travellers interested in the Buddhist culture. Any traveller should check the average weather before booking. Personally, I feel I should have travelled earlier, when the humidity levels would have been more comfortable. Day start was, on the whole, not too early and not too late. I didn’t participate in either of the two early walks/hikes, so cannot comment. There were a few participants who didn’t like “spicy food”, so I’m thinking this aspect of the trip should be highlighted pre departure. Our trip coincided with Buddhist New Year - so we enjoyed some very quiet streets in Colombo at the end of the trip - bliss!

A great trip with such a varied itinerary. So many highlights, from ancient cities and iconic temples to elephant safaris and walking among the tea plantations. Other highlights were the early-morning Lion's Rock ascent, the splendid botanical gardens in Kandy, and the dramatic train ride crossing the Nine Arches Bridge.
Our guide Nala has a great local knowledge and always enthusiastic to answer questions.
The hotels are generally excellent with spacious rooms. Most of the hotel rooms have UK-style sockets, but one or two places just have the local round-pin sockets so it's worth taking a Type D travel adaptor.
Worth changing some money into SL rupees at the airport on arrival, as the exchange rates are the same as in the towns. Cards are widely accepted at larger restaurants and shops.

The Sri Lanka section started very full on, but did calm down. The Maldives dhoni cruise was a fantastic way to finish, particularly as we had come from 53 days in India, independently organised that was also full on.
Sri Lanka was a bit like a cleaner, calmer India. We saw much more on safari there than India. We didn't go whale watching as we were a bit late in the season, and we were going on to the Maldives. George, our guide was very organised and pleasant to be with.
The cruise was fab, we were 'lucky' that our expected boat had problems so we were upgraded to one with AC overnight which was a joy as it was exceptionally hot (48 reported on an island one day). The guide, Moosa, and all the crew were great with the chef creating amazing meals from a very small galley.
We had a great set of fellow travellers and had a wonderful time

Sri Lanka in Depth provided a good overview of the country with a variety of experiences from temples, to hikes, to elephant safaris, to a train ride, tea plantations and more. The pace was good with some busy days and some free time. The country is very green and tropical so the countryside was beautiful along the way. It was very hot on the April trip so plan for light clothing with a couple of layers for the cooler highlands. If you like rice and curry, you will love the food. I'm not a curry fan so had limited choices some days, but always tropical fruit. The bigger towns had more Western food. I personally didn't like the shopping opportunities - remember you are under no obligation to buy despite the hard sell. The guide went to great lengths to make sure we were all comfortable and he even got some medicine for me when I needed it. He made some small changes to the itinerary due to the heat. The hotels range from basic to lovely jungle lodges to a modern city hotel to a colonial style hotel. Only one didn't have air conditioning. Pack casual clothes, loose cotton tops and pants, shorts, a loose dress for women, a wide brim sunhat and a swimsuit. Toiletries at hotels were basic - most had a small soap and a little shampoo but bring your own as well. I felt very safe in Sri Lanka. The people were very friendly. When we had free time, the guide warned us of any concerns. Take normal precautions - wear a cross body bag, don't bring expensive jewelry and don't flash large amounts of cash. There were ATMs in most towns as you will need some rupees but credit cards were accepted at hotels and bigger restaurants.