Ella

Keells — the main supermarket

Cargills Food City — widest network

Arpico — big-box

Pola (weekly market) — cheapest produce

Best: Jan – Mar & Jul – Sep · Wet: Oct – Dec

Fees: Bank ATMs charge about ₨400–600 a withdrawal; Commercial Bank, Sampath and HNB are the reliable ones for foreign cards.

Limits: Usually ₨40,000–100,000 a pull.

Best machines: Commercial BankSampath BankHNB

Vaccines: Routine, hepatitis A and typhoid. Rabies is worth considering because of stray dogs and monkeys; Japanese encephalitis for long rural stays. Malaria is not a risk here and tablets are not normally prescribed.

Health: Bottled or filtered water only. Dengue is the real one and it is carried by a mosquito that bites in daylight, so wear repellent by day rather than only at dusk. The sun is fierce on the coast and still strong up in the tea hills, where it feels cooler than it is. The good private hospitals are all in Colombo — Lanka Hospitals, Nawaloka, Durdans and the Asiri group — and they want payment or an insurance letter up front, so insure properly, evacuation included.

Tap water: ❌ Don't drink the tap. Bottled or filtered water is cheap and everywhere, and hotels and guesthouses supply it.

Safety: Sri Lanka is warm, welcoming and largely very safe, and the fuel queues and blackouts of the 2022 crisis are long over. Violent crime against visitors is uncommon; solo women should take the usual care with unwanted attention. The friction is hustle rather than danger: tuk-tuk drivers who will not use the meter, the gem and spice-garden shops a driver takes you to for commission, unlicensed guides at temples who ask for money afterwards, and train tickets sold outside the official counter. Steer clear of political demonstrations, and in the far north and east stay on made roads and marked tracks — some ground still holds uncleared mines.

Sri Lanka is NOT visa-free, whatever a lot of travel sites still say. Every visitor needs an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) obtained BEFORE flying, from the official portal at eta.gov.lk — a pre-departure suspension that ran from late 2025 is over, and the Department of Immigration's current position is that the ETA is compulsory. What changed is the price: since 25 May 2026, nationals of 40 countries get the 30-day, double-entry tourist ETA free. That list covers Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK — but NOT Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Malta, Cyprus or the Baltic states, which still pay roughly US$50. The free scheme was approved for one year, so it may lapse around May 2027. Longer than 30 days needs a paid extension. Correct as of August 2026 — check eta.gov.lk for your own passport before you book.