About Leo Lanka Travels
A small planning company based in Colombo, quietly running private trips across Sri Lanka since 2014.
Two guides, one old van.
Leo Lanka Travels started in 2014, when two friends who had been guiding for larger tour companies decided they could do the work better on their own. Priyantha had spent eight years leading cultural tours around the ancient cities; Kavinda had been driving safari jeeps in Yala since he was twenty-one. They pooled their savings, bought a second-hand van, and put up a one-page website.
The first year was slow. The second year, a review in a European travel magazine changed things. By 2017 we had four drivers and an office; by 2020 we had built up a network of guesthouses and small hotels we trusted across every region.
We are still deliberately small. Eight planners, twelve drivers, and about six hundred trips a year. That size lets us know every property we book, meet every driver personally, and answer emails ourselves rather than through a call centre.
What we care aboutDoing less, better.
We don\'t run bus tours. We don\'t sell resort packages. We don\'t take commissions from hotels we don\'t recommend on their own merits. Every itinerary is designed for one party at a time, and the person you first email is the person you deal with throughout.
We are registered with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA licence no. TA/0847) and are members of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators.
The office in Colombo 3, on a quiet morning.
Some of the people you\'ll be dealing with.
Priyantha Fernando
One of the two founders. Fifteen years guiding cultural tours before starting the company. Speaks English, Sinhala, and passable German.
Kavinda Perera
The other founder. Handles the driver team and looks after wildlife itineraries. Knows Yala better than most park rangers.
Amaya Wickrama
Joined in 2017. Designs most of our family and honeymoon itineraries. First point of contact for a lot of our long-time clients.
What a trip with us looks like.
You email us with rough dates, a rough length, and a rough sense of what you\'re after. We reply within a day with two or three itinerary shapes and rough prices. We refine from there until you\'re happy.
Once you confirm, we hold the hotels, book internal flights or trains where relevant, and send you a day-by-day plan with a map. Your driver meets you at the airport with a Sri Lankan SIM and our office number. From that point, you tell us what needs changing and we change it.
Best time to visit.
December – March: the south, west, and hill country are dry and busy. Book three to four months ahead.
May – September: the east coast and north come into their own. Trincomalee, Passikudah, Jaffna.
April & October: shoulder months. Some rain, fewer visitors, better value. Our own favourite months.
Cultural sites & the hills: workable year-round. The interior isn\'t as monsoon-affected as the coasts.