Gay Sri Lanka travel: a complete gay guide for LGBTQ travellers

One word, stunning! Even with all the train traveling we've done from the Trans Siberian railway to the high-speed Shinkansen trains of Japan, nothing compares to the train journeys we took in Sri Lanka. The most impressive leg is from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya and then the train ride to Ella. The journey takes you through the lush green tea plantations then powers into the spectacular cloud forests. Locals get on and off at each stop while school children run along the tracks to catch up with the train so it can take them home. It's truly an experience you'll never forget, especially if you sit by the doors of the train.

The National Parks of Sri Lanka offers some of the best safaris outside of East Africa. The most famous is Yala National Park where you can spot leopards and elephants in the wild. Our favorite is the less frequented Udawalawe National Park. Udawalawe is fantastic because with fewer visitors it means fewer jeeps blocking your way and therefore a more rewarding safari. At one stage during our safari at Udawalawe, we spent an hour in our jeep watching a family of leopards interacting, just meters away! Read more about these two parks in our article comparing a safari in Udawalawe and Yala National Parks.

There are many famous treks in Sri Lanka, the most talked about being Adam's Peak, which is more a hardcore pilgrimage trek for Buddhists, involving a very early wake-up. However, we instead recommend basing yourself in the pretty small town of Ella, which is surrounded by beautiful mountains and hills. Our favourite trek here was to Ella Rock, which is slightly hard but not too laborious. The views however from Ella Rock are something else! You can trek to Ella Rock yourself and it only takes around 4 hours from start to finish, so can be done at any time of the day you fancy. The other popular trek to do in Ella is the shorter and easier Little Adam's Peak.

We loved spotting orcas in Argentina so we jumped at the chance to do it in Sri Lanka. The south coast of the country is the best place for spotting blue whales, particularly around Mirissa. This is because the waters here are particularly rich in plankton, which almost guarantees sightings whenever sea conditions are good. The ideal time of year to come is between November to April when sea conditions are most likely to be optimum. When we came, we got lucky and saw a male blue whale wooing a female during our trip – absolutely incredible! Then on the way back, we spotted many dolphins and even a pair of turtles mating! The one thing we strongly advise is only going with a responsible company who abide by the criteria set by the WDCS (Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society).

Whilst doing a cooking class may sound obvious and slightly cliche but hear us out; Sri Lankan food is one of the best we tried in all of Asia. With so many different nationalities leaving their mark, the island offers up a variety of cuisines. You can read more about our favourite Sri Lankan dishes below, but even better, try to do a cooking class or ask your hostel / guesthouse host if you can cook with them. We did this with our hosts in Ella and Negombo who were both happy to show us their recipes for rice with curry and devilled prawns.

The tea industry of Sri Lanka is immense. During the British Colonial years, the tea industry flourished in Sri Lanka, which is why the trains were built across the tea plantations – to take it to the coastal ports so it could then be shipped over to Europe. Nuwara Eliya is the most famous place in Sri Lanka for tea plantations. It is nicknamed “Little England” because the British Colonists established it in the 1840s as a base. In Nuwara Eliya, you can visit one of the many tea plantations to take a tour, have a tasting session and learn more about how the herbs are harvested and made into the tea bags we buy in the supermarkets.

If you read all the guidebooks and online accounts of Sri Lanka, they'll rave about Kandy. We'll be honest, we weren't blown away by it. The most famous sight in Kandy is the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, which is a Buddhist temple in the old city. It's famous for housing the relic of the tooth of the Buddha, but you don't actually get to see it. It is instead kept in a golden casket shaped like a dagoba (stupa), which contains a series of six dagoba caskets of diminishing size. The temple is quite impressive, but we felt that it was perhaps more impressive and meaningful to people who were devout Buddhists.

Whilst Sri Lanka doesn't have the best waters (it's choppy and quite rough!), the beaches are lovely. Some of our favorites were Mirissa and Unawatuna, both on the south coast. The sunsets every evening were truly something to marvel at. As mentioned, the water itself is rough and therefore not great visibility, so don't come here expecting to snorkel. However, if you love surfing, this island was made for you, with many excellent surfing spots, as well as choices for those with varying degrees of skill. The best thing is, Sri Lanka is a year-long surfing destination so whenever you visit you can hit those waves.

Since Sri Lanka is located just off the southeast tip of India, it makes sense that it has some cuisine elements in common. However, the types of curry (usually served with rice) that you will come across in Sri Lanka are not exactly the same as those from India. Sri Lankan curries are usually thinner and more heavily spiced, partly due to the wide variety of international ingredients brought in by trade. We loved trying different curries during our time in Sri Lanka, some with seafood like fish, prawns or crab and others with pork, lamb, beef, chicken or even goat.

If you ever see something in Sri Lanka that's called ‘deviled' then you know it's going to be spiiiicyy! Also known as ‘isso baduma', deviled prawns in Sri Lanka are usually served as an appetizer or with some pre-dinner drinkies. The contrasting sweet and sour notes create a burst of flavours on your tastebuds. A glass of Arrack (see below) pairs especially well with the sweet, sharp notes of the devilled prawns, or you could just enjoy them with a refreshing, cold beer.

Curry and rice are served at any time of the day in Sri Lanka, but egg hoppers are a bit of a breakfast staple that you'll find all over the country. Made from fermented rice flour and coconut milk, they're cooked in a bowl to make a kind of pancake shape, then a fried egg is added in the middle. The dough cooks up to be thick and soft on the bottom, thin and crunchy around the edges. You can use them to pick up the same sort of curries and other wet dishes that rice is often used for. You can get hoppers from roadside stalls, bakeries and hotels all over Sri Lanka.

As well as the egg version, string hoppers are another popular snack made in Sri Lanka. Also called ‘idiyappam', they're made from steamed rice flour noodles that have been pressed through a special extruder and then shaped into the cute little nests on the left of this picture. They can be eaten the same way as the egg hoppers, to scoop up curries and other dishes or even just as a snack. They're often served with a yummy thin coconut gravy or made into a sweet treat with the addition of sugar and coconut.

Also spelt koththu or kotthu, kothu roti is a uniquely Sri Lankan dish made from a type of flatbread (roti) which is shredded then mixed with vegetables, egg, meat and aromatic spices. Everything is chopped up and cooked together on a flat griddle with characteristic beating sounds. Street vendors often make kothu roti with a lot of dramatic flair and rhythm, so the dish is entertaining as well as tasty! It's also very popular with young people as a snack on the way home after a night of partying in Colombo.

Believed to have been brought to Sri Lanka from Malaysia in the 18th century, watalappam (sometimes called watalappan) is a well-known and delicious dessert. It's kind of like a flan but made from coconut cream, jaggery (a type of palm sugar), eggs, cashew nuts and various spices. Watalappam is delicious and lighter than air, sometimes with chopped nuts on top to add a bit of a contrasting crunch to this soft dessert. It's very popular during weddings, festivals and religious celebrations.

Arrak is Sri Lanka's signature spirit. It's made from just two ingredients: water and the distilled sap of unopened flowers of Sri Lankan coconut palms. Men known as ‘toddy tappers' climb to the tops of coconut trees to collect the sap, which is then allowed to ferment. After 24 hours it becomes a mildly alcoholic drink (known as a toddy) and is then put into timber vats or copper stills to age, often for years. Arrack is actually one of the oldest distilled spirits in the world, older even than Scottish whisky, and very nice as part of a cocktail or mixed with some ginger beer. Just be wary of the hangover if you drink too much as it's very strong!

During the British occupation of Sri Lanka, a tea plant was smuggled into the country from China and soon tea plantations started popping up all over the place. Tea production thrived in the climate of Sri Lanka, due to the humidity, cool temperature and rainfall, especially in the central highlands. Sri Lanka is now the world's fourth-largest producer of tea, which is pretty impressive especially considering its small size. There's a fascinating tea museum located near Kandy, or you can tour a plantation in Nuwara Eliya as mentioned earlier in this article. Whatever you do, make sure you enjoy a cuppa at some point during your time in Sri Lanka!

Travel insurance: Sometimes when you're traveling, things just go wrong. Whether it's a canceled flight, lost luggage or you fell down some stairs, you should never travel without travel insurance. We've been using Heymondo Travel Insurance for years and absolutely love them. They offer comprehensive cover and it's easy to make a claim online when needed.

How to get there: Since it's an island, you will most likely need to arrive by flying into Sri Lanka. The main international airport is Bandaranaike, located north of the capital Colombo. There are buses to take you from the airport to downtown Colombo, although we usually prefer to book a private airport transfer with an English-speaking driver so that we don't need to deal with the hassle when arriving in a new country.

Visa requirements: Sri Lanka has an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system which means visitors from many countries can apply online for a tourist visa and not have to bother going to an embassy. Residents of some countries do need to apply for a visa in person at a diplomatic mission, so make sure you allow plenty of time before your travels to check your personal visa requirements for Sri Lanka.

Getting around: Sri Lanka is a small country, so it doesn't usually take long to get from one place to another. Public transport consists of buses and trains, both of which are affordable, although the trains are much better than the buses in our opinion.

Vaccinations: Travellers to Sri Lanka should be up to date with all routine vaccinations (such as measles, mumps, rubella), while the CDC also recommends getting vaccinated for Hepatitis A and Typhoid. Depending on which parts of the country you are visiting/what you plan to be doing while there, you may need further vaccinations, so make sure to check the CDC website and speak to your doctor before you book anything.

Currency: The currency used in Sri Lanka is the Sri Lankan rupee. The currency code is LKR and it's written as Rs. $1 US converts to about 181Rs, €1 is about 200Rs and £1 makes about 227Rs.

Tipping culture: There is a strong tipping culture in Sri Lanka, mostly owing to the fact that wages are low. Generally, if you receive good service, you would tip 10% for a restaurant bill and tip hotel staff around 1000Rs per day (which is about $5 US). Here is a detailed guide on tipping in Sri Lanka for more information.

Internet access: WiFi is usually available in hotels and hostels in Sri Lanka, as well as some internet cafes. If you want reliable access to the internet, or know you will need to use a lot of bandwidth for work perhaps, you may like to hire a portable WiFi device during your trip.

Online privacy: Following communal violence in Sri Lanka in 2018 and 2019, the government dramatically increased censorship online, including blocking sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube. If you want to be able to reliably (and privately) access the internet, we recommend using a VPN service like ExpressVPN. Their service is very reliable and affordable, enabling you to stay connected with ease.

Accommodation: When looking for places to stay in Sri Lanka we always use (and love) Booking.com. With so many options, excellent 24/7 customer service and an easy to use online system, it's always our go-to when planning our travels.

Sightseeing and adventure: Our other favourite planning website, for finding the best activities and tours, is GetYourGuide. They have so many choices for fun things to do, all over the world, as well as an easy to use booking system and wonderful 24/7 online support.

When to visit: Sri Lanka's weather is dictated by two monsoon seasons, but luckily they affect alternating sides of the island, so you can pretty much visit year-round. For the best experience, visit the west/south coasts and hill country between December – March, and/or the east coast between April – September.