Climate
Climate:
Tropical climate. Upland areas are cooler and more temperate, and coastal areas are cooled by sea breezes. There are two monsoons, which occur May to July and December to January.
Required clothing
Lightweights and rainwear.
Airports
Colombo Bandaranaike (CMB) (Katunayake) is 32km (20 miles) from the city.
Departure tax: None.
Travel Times
The following chart gives approximate travel times (in hours and minutes) from Colombo to other major cities/towns in Sri Lanka.
| City |
Air |
Road |
Rail |
| Kandy |
- |
2.30 |
3.00 |
| Galle |
- |
3.00 |
3.00 |
| Bentota |
- |
1.45 |
1.45 |
| Matara |
- |
4.00 |
4.30 |
| Badulla |
- |
9.30 |
9.00 |
| Negombo |
- |
0.45 |
0.45 |
| Nuwara Eliya |
- |
3.30 |
5.00 |
| Anuradhapura |
0.45 |
5.30 |
6.00 |
| Polonnaruwa |
1.00 |
6.00 |
7.00 |
| Trincomalee |
1.00 |
6.00 |
7.00 |
| Kataragama |
- |
6.30 |
- |
Public Holidays 2005
Public Holidays 2005:
Jan 14 Tamil Thai Pongal Day.
Jan 21 Eid al-Adha (Hadji Festival Day).
Feb 4 Independence Commemoration Day.
Feb 7 Mahasivarathri.
Mar 25 Good Friday.
Apr 13-14 Tamil and Sinhala New Year.
Apr 21 Milad un-Nabi (Birth of the Prophet).
Apr 25-26 Vesak Poya Days.
May 1 May Day.
Nov 1 Deepavali.
Nov 3-5 Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan).
Dec 25 Christmas Day.
Passport/Visa
Passport
Passport valid for at least 6 months from date of entry required by all.
Visas
Required by all except nationals of the following countries, who will be issued with visas free of charge for a period of 30 days on arrival at Colombo Airport (for touristic visits only):
(a) nationals of Europe, Australia, Canada, USA, Japan
(b) nationals of Albania, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China (PR, including Hong Kong), Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Korea (Rep), Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Maldives, Montenegro, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, The Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia & Montenegro, Singapore, Slovenia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and United Arab Emirates;
(c) nationals of CIS countries.
