The questions that come up every time.
Everything below applies to any trip we design. Questions about a particular route — how long the Cultural Triangle needs, which coast works in July — live on the page for that journey.
Before you get in touch
Our journeys start at around £3,500 per person and most land between £4,500 and £7,000, depending on length and where you stay. That's one per-person figure covering accommodation, private vehicle and driver, guides where they're needed, park fees, and our planning. The variable is almost always the hotels — the same route can differ by several thousand pounds depending on what you want at the end of the day.
No. The enquiry, the conversation and the first draft itinerary are all free, and there's no obligation at the end of it. We don't charge a planning fee — our margin is inside the trip price, so charging separately would be charging twice for the same work.
Not formally, but below about six nights or £3,500 a head we're usually not the right people — at that length you're better served by something simpler than a private trip, and we'll say so rather than take the booking.
For December to March on the south coast, four to six months. The good small properties in peak season are genuinely limited and they go early. Outside peak we've built excellent trips on six weeks' notice. The thing that can't be rushed is the train — reserved seats on the hill-country line open roughly a month ahead and the best ones go quickly.
No. Everything we do is private — your party, your vehicle, your dates. If you want a scheduled small-group departure, there are operators who do that well and we're happy to point you at them.
How the process runs
Within 48 hours you get a real reply from one of us — usually with a question or two before we start designing. Then a draft itinerary, day by day, fully costed. You tell us what's wrong with it and we revise. Most trips go through two or three rounds before anyone talks about paying.
As many as it takes. Revisions before booking aren't charged and we don't count them. It's a bad sign if a draft is right first time — it usually means we haven't understood you yet.
One person, from the first reply to the day you fly home. Not a case number, not a handover to an operations desk, and not a different name each time you write. It's the main reason we cap how many journeys we take a year.
Yes. Your driver meets you inside arrivals with a name board, and the car is yours for the whole trip — not a series of transfers with different people. For most of our routes the same driver stays with you throughout, which matters more than people expect.
Deposits and payment
A 30% design and booking deposit confirms the trip and releases us to hold rooms and vehicles. The balance is due 90 days before you travel. If you book inside 90 days, the full amount is payable at confirmation.
Not as cash, no. It covers the design work and the deposits we pay forward to hold your accommodation, which we cannot recover once committed. But it is not lost either — if you cancel it becomes travel credit, with 24 months to book your next trip and one transfer to anyone you choose. The refund policy sets out how that works.
Pounds sterling for UK travellers and US dollars for the US. We accept international bank transfer and card payment. All exchange-rate risk between quote and payment sits with us — the figure we quote is the figure you pay.
What you have paid converts to a travel credit rather than being lost — the full amount, less any supplier costs we cannot recover, and we show you that breakdown line by line. The credit gives you 24 months from the day you cancel to book the next trip — travelling can be later than that — and you can pass it on once, to family, friends or anyone you like. Full terms are on our refund policy. This is still exactly what travel insurance is for — credit is not your money back, so take a policy out when you book the trip, not the week before you fly.
We hold negotiated rates with the properties we use, which is how the industry works and how we can often book the same room for less than the published price. What we don't do is let those rates decide the itinerary. If a place is wrong for you we won't put you in it, whatever it pays.
Practicalities
We don't. Most travellers prefer their own airline, airmiles or routing, and we'd rather you kept that flexibility. We'll advise on which airports and arrival times actually work for the itinerary — landing at 2am into a four-hour drive is a poor start, and it's avoidable.
Sri Lanka requires an ETA for most nationalities, applied for online before travel. As of 2026 it's free for around forty nationalities including the UK, though the ETA itself is still mandatory. Check the current rules before you travel — this changes with some frequency, and we'll flag anything relevant when you book.
Yes, and we'd ask you to have it. We're not insurance advisers so we won't recommend a policy, but make sure it covers cancellation from the date you pay the deposit, medical treatment, and any activities you're planning — some policies exclude hiking above certain altitudes or motorbike riding.
Talk to your GP or a travel clinic six to eight weeks before you go — requirements depend on your medical history and where exactly you're going, so it isn't something we can answer usefully. Tap water isn't drinkable; bottled and filtered water is everywhere and included in your vehicle.
Yes, and it's one of the more straightforward countries in the region for visitors. Check your own government's current travel advice before you book — the UK FCDO and the US State Department both publish it and both are more current than anything we'd write here. Solo women travel in Sri Lanka routinely; we'll talk through the practicalities honestly if that's you.
On the trip
You call us, and we're in the same time zone as you rather than five and a half hours behind. Roads close, weather turns, a property disappoints. That's the part of the job that isn't planning, and it's most of why people use an operator rather than booking it themselves.
Within reason, yes — an extra night somewhere you've fallen for, dropping a site you've gone off. Accommodation already paid for can't always be moved, and we'll tell you the cost before changing anything rather than after.
Lunches, dinners outside your hotel, entrance fees not already included, and tipping. Roughly £30–50 per person per day covers it comfortably for most travellers. We'll give you a proper breakdown with your final documents, including what's already paid.
It's customary and genuinely appreciated, but never demanded. We'll give you honest guidance with your documents — including for your driver, who is the person who most shapes how the trip feels.
Still unsure?Ask us the awkward one.
Ask us the awkward one.
We'd rather answer it now.
If something here didn't cover it, write and ask. No fee, no obligation, and a real reply within 48 hours.