Ella to Marissa Advice please!

We are going to get a driver to take us from Ella to Marissa. we figure it will be a 2 day trip and looking somewhere to stop overnight.

is the route from ella to Tissa along to coast to Marissa preferable to the route through hill country via Ude Wale?

Ella to Marissa Advice please!

Hi there,

It%26#39;s not a short journey but for sure one day only. Ella to Matara is 187 km, that%26#39;s about 5-6 hours, and Mirissa is not much further than that.

I would take the main route, Ella-Tissa/Hambantota and then the coast. The descend from the hill country already takes place at Ella, or alternatively near Haputale; from there you%26#39;re almost at sea level with unimpressive scenery. And the main route has much better road quality (wide etc.) than the roads around Udu Walawe.

All the best,

%26lt;Erik%26gt; %26amp; [Sandya]

Ella to Marissa Advice please!

Hi,

Unless you intend to do a Safari in Yala National Park or visit Kataragama (against UK FCO advice) there is no need for an overnight stop.

The route via Bandarawela-Haputale-Pelmadulla-Akuressa is about 50 km longer than the A2 via Tissa-Hambantota, and on poorer roads. I guess that the renovation of A2 from Wellawaya could be completed or nearly completed by now.

Hans

Thanks guys - this site is fab!

It is one days travelling if you just want to travel but if you want to stop off here and there visit the occassional temple or rock carving then worth stopping off in Tissa and visiting one of the parks. Yala would be against advice but you could visit Bundula with crocs monkeys reptiles and small mamals. We did and thoroughly enjoyed it one of the high points of our holiday.

We used a guide called Mr Lokka he was brilliant no rush and took pride in his work-just ask for him by name

Re. Hans%26#39; comment .. the roadworks are indeed completed now. It is an excellent road.

I know I keep saying it on here .. but the pilgrimage towm of Kataragama really should not be missed. As well as being a perfect stopover between hillcountry and coast, it is one of the most fascinating places in Sri Lanka. I visit it every time I am there. The only real no-go area if you are at all worried, is the road which runs north of Kataragama to Buttala.

Sue

Hi,

In addition to Sue%26#39;s reply, i personally believe that Yala is also a place you shouldn%26#39;t missed these days because if you go for a safari in the evening you have more that 90% of probability of seeing a leopard including lots of other wild animals. Last week within 1 and half safari i was able to see 03 leopards including 03 tuskers,a jackal ,more than 50 spotted deers, sambar etc.

Nishantha

stella mccartney