FAQs & travel information about Sri Lanka

To travel to Sri Lanka as an EU-citizen, you will need a passport that must be valid for at least six more months after the end of your journey, it is not sufficient to present a valid identity card. Additionally, you need a visa permit which you can apply for before or during your entrance into the country. Before the commencement of your journey, you can apply for your visa online (ETA) or at a diplomatic representation of Sri Lanka. If you apply for your visa at the airport, long queues can occur, which is why we recommend applying for your visa beforehand. A visa that is valid for thirty days and two entries into the country costs approximately 40,00 USD. The application process for the ETA usually takes 1 - 3 business days, however we recommend applying for the visa a bit earlier. If you prefer to apply for your visa at one of the diplomatic representations, you should do so at least 2, preferably 4 weeks in advance.

If you directly enter Sri Lanka from Germany, no vaccinations are needed. If you enter Sri Lanka from or stayed in an area where yellow fever is an issue however, you need to be able to prove that you are vaccinated against yellow fever. Furthermore, we recommend being vaccinated against all standard vaccinations according to the calendar of vaccination of the Robert-Koch-Institut. You should also consider talking to a tropical disease specialist.

The Sri Lankan currency is called Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) and it's exchange rate is about 1 Euro = 203 Sri Lankan Rupees. Speaking from experience it is mostly the cheapest option to exchange your money in Sri Lanka instead of in your home country, however you have to consider that you might have to pay an additional fee if you are planning to deduct the money that is to be exchanged from your card instead of bringing it in cash.

During winter, there is a time difference between Sri Lanka and Germany of +4,5 hours, during summer +5,5 hours.

The country's official languages are Singhalese and Tamil. While Singhalese is spoken in most parts of the country, Tamil is only spoken in the northern and eastern regions. Furthermore, Sri Lankans start learning English in school early on, which is why most of the island's inhabitants are fluent in it as well, even though you can clearly hear their typical accent.

The climate in Sri Lanka is tropical, which is why the humidity as well as the temperature are high year round, with an average temperature of 29 °C. Therefore, it is generally possible to travel through Sri Lanka all year round, however you should consider the monsoon seasons where the sea is rougher and it rains more often. The monsoon seasons in Sri Lanka are usually in Spring and Autumn between March and April as well as between October and November.

Our motorbike tour through Sri Lanka starts and ends in Colombo, which is why we recommend flying to the international airport of Colombo (CMB). After your arrival, our tour guide will welcome you at the airport and drive you to your hotel, where you can rest after your flight. At the end of your motorbike tour, we will also drive you back to the airport so that you can end your trip in the easiest and most relaxed way. If you would prefer to travel to Sri Lanka with your car or your motorbike, you can of course also do so - simply shoot us a message and we will be more than happy to assist you in planning your tour!

To grant you maximum flexibility in the process of planning your tour, we did not set any fixed dates for this motorbike tour. Simply fill out our contact form or shoot us an e-mail telling us how many riders you will be travelling with, what level you are riding at und when you would like to travel and we will be more than happy to send you an individual offer after checking our current availabilities! If you would like to book further ammenities such as a couple of extra days to go swimming or to explore the country on your own, just let us know - the more information we receive, the better and quicker we can organize your next motorbike tour for you and the earlier you can lay back and relax, looking forward to travelling to Sri Lanka!

After your booking, you can pay for your tour via bank transfer or PayPal, the information that you need to do so will be mentioned on your invoice. An initial deposit payment amounting to 20% of the total tour price must be paid immediately after receiving the invoice, the rest of the payment is due 30 days before your scheduled departure. Exceptions can be made if flight bookings have to be paid in total in advance, which depends on the chosen airline.

Just because you are new to riding motorbikes, it doesn't mean that you cannot book one of our motorbike tours! Simply let us know your level of riding and we will do our best to match you with other riders that are on the same page as you are so that you do not have to worry about the trails being too tough (or too easy, for that matter)! After all, Sri Lanka has got many trails for beginners, intermediate riders and experts which we would love to show you! 

To be able to join our tour by riding your motorbike through Sri Lanka, you must be at least 18 years old. Furthermore, you need a valid, international motorcycle license.

If you'd like to join our tour as a pillion, however, there is no minimium age, as long as children and teenagers under the age of 18 are accompanied by a legal representative.

Yes, the tour price already includes the rent for one of our rental motorbikes on all riding days. Usually, we use the following models: Yamaha WR-X, Yamaha WR-R, Honda XR, Honda Baja, Kawasaki D-Tracker.

Yes, you can rent a motorbike in Sri Lanka without booking a tour with us! These are the motorcycles that you can typically choose from (subject to availability):

• Honda Baja
• Honda XR
• Yamaha TWR
• Kawasaki D-Trackers

Per bike, you have to pay a 200,00 USD refundable deposit. The rent per bike per day is 69,00 EUR and includes the following services:

• 1 certified rental helmet (additional helmet upon request)
• Unlimited free mileage
• Comprehensive insurance cover
• 24 hours emergency road assistance
• Tour briefing on great roads and places to go to
• Road map or advice on GPRS connection

If you would like to, of course you can also ride the tour on your own motorbike. To do so, your bike should be legally registered, in a generally good state and equipped with proper enduro tires. If you are not sure whether or not your bike is suitable to ride the tour, write us an e-mail, call us, text us on WhatsApp, Facebook or Instagram and we will be happy to assist you!

If a part of your motorbike breaks during our tour, our mechanic who is always with us for the duration of the tour will try to fix it for you. Should this not be possible on our way, we can also provide you with a replacement bike so that you can continue your tour as if nothing had happened.

For your own safety, we require you to wear a helmet, knee and elbow pads, a chest guard, gloves, a motorcycle jacket, goggles and durable motorcycle boots while riding. You can rent a helmet, knee and elbow pads as well as a chest guard from us free of charge.

Besides of the safety gear mentioned above, we recommend bringing the following items to your motorbike tour:

• A hydration pack or a normal, small backpack (incl. a rain cover)
• A rain coat that can also be worn while riding your motorbike
• Leisure clothing: t-shirts, hoodies, shorts, jeans, comfortable shoes, swimwear, underwear, socks
• Towels, cosmetic products and personal hygiene products
• Personal medicine as well as a first-aid kit
• Sunscreen and sunglasses
• Passport, visa, driver's license, certificate of vaccination (if needed), your wallet

During our round trip, we will be accompanied by a support vehicle in which you can store your luggage for the duration of our tour. Additonally, you can always decide to switch from your motorbike to a ride in our support vehicle if you are done for the day or if you have hurt yourself while riding.

Sri Lanka is a beautiful country that surely has a lot more to offer than we can cover in just ten days of riding. Thus, we would be more than happy to assist you in booking some additional nights, whether you would just like to spend some more days at the beach or you would like to enjoy some more action with one of our guides!

During our tour, we will stay in good 3- to 5-star hotels that we have only had positive experiences with so far.

The Sri Lankan, or rather the Singhal kitchen makes use of a large variety of spices, making the locally prepared dishes some of the spiciest world wide. For breakfast, the locals love to eat Hoppers, thin rice dough flat cakes which are enjoyed together with coconut- or chili-chutneys and Sambol, a spicy dip. Furthermore, Sri Lanka is famous for its variety of currys which are typically served in small bowls so that you can try and enjoy multiple kinds of curry during only one meal. Other typical meals include fried ries, fried noodles and Lamprai, a type of rice that has been steam-cooked in a banana leaf and is served with meat, a shrimp paste or Sambal. The Singhalesi also typically love to eat Rotti, a flat breat filled with vegetables, fish or meat and served with sweet desiccated coconut, bananas and palm syrup. However, you should watch out: the vegetable-filled Rotti that are being sold on the streets often include whole chillies, making them extremely spicy if you are not used to it. As Sri Lanka is populated by many Hindus following a vegetarian diet, many vegetarian meals are being offered throught the different restaurants, making it very convenient for vegetarians to travel through the country.

We advice you, as for any trip, to conclude a travel health insurance before your tour. Additionally, the tour price already includes an accident insurance for the motorbikes, covering damage up to 500.000,00 LKR (around 2.450,00 EUR).

Riding motorbikes is an outdoor sport, which is why the weather is always a risk factor. Should the weather be bad, our guides will determine whether they think that we can ride the tour anyways or not and if any changes to the routing must be made so that you can enjoy a safe adventure. Should our guides decide that going for a ride is too dangerous given the current situation, we will cover the kilometers in our support vehicle and try to adhere to the rest of the program as good as possible.

You can find all information regarding the cancellation of your booking in our terms and conditions.

Now, that you have got a general overview of what to expect on your trip to Sri Lanka, you can take a look at the website of the government of the UK on travel advice for Sri Lanka to get even more information. We at Viaduro care for your safety, and therefore we would like to provide you with some information that enables you to travel safely. However, we can always only assume which information is important to the average traveler, so you might as well look for more information regarding your specific needs elsewhere (for example but not exclusively on the site of the German ministry of foreign affairs). Although we are regularly updating this information, it might also happen that not everything is up to date as frequent changes can always take place, thus, all information provided is not legally binding.

One last advice, please always make sure to listen to our guides! We can guarantee you that the only thing they want you to do - except having fun of course - is to be safe, and they are the ones that know this country best and that have the best overview of the ongoing situation. With that being said, you are now ready to read through the actual travel information. Enjoy your trip!

- last update: 09.07.20 -