Sri Lanka
Use two ride apps, book scenic trains early, and keep cash beyond the cities
Apply through Sri Lanka's official ETA portal before departure and check the rules for your passport.
The essentials
What to know before you go to Sri Lanka
Fees and eligibility can change, and fake visa sites target travelers, so use only eta.gov.lk. Carry Sri Lankan rupees and more than one physical card. Cards work at many larger hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and tourist businesses, but cash remains important for guesthouses, local eateries, markets, buses, tuk-tuks and rural travel. PickMe and Uber are both worth installing, yet neither is dependable everywhere.
Driver supply can be thin outside Colombo and other busy areas, and long-distance app bookings may be cancelled or renegotiated, so arrange critical transfers in advance. Sri Lanka Railways uses separate official systems for reserved seats and ordinary tickets. Scenic reserved seats open up to 30 days ahead and can sell out quickly. Check current rail and road conditions before travel because monsoon rain and landslides can disrupt routes.
Stay inside moving train carriages. Save 1990 for the free national emergency ambulance service, 119 for police and 1912 for the tourism hotline.
Ride Hailing
PickMeEssential
Sri Lanka's main local app for tuk-tuks, cars, vans and scheduled rides in supported areas.
UberEssential
The best second ride app for comparing fares and finding cars or tuk-tuks in its supported Sri Lankan cities.
Food Delivery
Uber EatsEssential
A major restaurant and grocery delivery option in Colombo and other supported Sri Lankan zones.
PickMeEssential
The same local super-app used for rides also provides food and grocery delivery where supported.
Messaging
WhatsAppEssential
The main channel for coordinating hotels, drivers, guides, safari operators and airport pickups.
Navigation
Google MapsEssential
The best general map for roads, businesses, accommodation pins and basic route planning across Sri Lanka.
Organic Maps
A free offline OpenStreetMap backup for roads, paths and places without requiring an account.
The Pekoe Trail
The official specialist app for Pekoe Trail stages, GPS navigation, offline maps and trail passes.
Transit
NTC Bus Information
The official web reference for selected interprovincial bus timetables, fares and booking links.
Travel & Booking
Sri Lanka ETAEssential
The official government portal for checking eligibility and obtaining required electronic travel authorization.
CCF Heritage eTickets
Official advance ordering for Sigiriya, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and selected heritage sites and museums.
DWC National Park Permits
The official reservation service for visitor permits at the Sri Lankan national parks currently listed.
Language
Google Translate
A practical aid for Sinhala and Tamil text, short conversations, signs and showing a destination.
Intercity Transport
Sri Lanka Railways Seat ReservationEssential
The only official online platform for reserved seats on eligible Sri Lanka Railways services.
PraveshaEssential
Sri Lanka Railways' current official service for buying ordinary train tickets, including unreserved travel.
Sri Lanka Bus Tickets
The government-backed portal for advance seats on the long-distance bus routes currently listed in its search.
Utilities
1990 Suwa SeriyaEssential
The official app for Sri Lanka's free, island-wide emergency ambulance service and location-assisted calling.
Sri Lanka Tourism 1912
The official tourism website and 24-hour 1912 hotline for visitor information and assistance.
DMC Sri Lanka
The official Disaster Management Centre source for warnings and assistance during floods, landslides and other hazards.
Also covered
Internet in Sri Lanka
Mobile internet eSIM Best option when traveling
Guac
RecommendedReliable mobile internet at better prices than most travel eSIMs, with polished iOS and Android apps and support for making and receiving phone calls.
Airalo
One of the biggest travel eSIM brands, with a very large destination catalog.
Holafly
Known for unlimited-data plans in many destinations, at a higher price per gigabyte.
Buying a local SIM card ID registration required
- A passport is required for every tourist SIM and is checked in person, whether at an airport counter or a carrier store. Anyone aged 16 or over can buy, and the whole process takes about 10 minutes.
- Dialog's tourist bundles run from roughly LKR 1,400 for 20 GB to about LKR 2,450 for 50 GB (a few US dollars each). SLT-Mobitel's Tourist SIM offers 7 GB, 700 local minutes and unlimited WhatsApp for around LKR 1,200 valid 14 days, while Hutch sells 10 GB with 500 local minutes for roughly LKR 999 valid 30 days.
- Colombo's Bandaranaike Airport has Dialog and SLT-Mobitel counters in arrivals, open around the clock for incoming flights; Airtel and Hutch desks are there too. In town, official Dialog and Mobitel stores plus mobile shops and supermarkets nationwide sell SIMs, and Dialog lets you order online for airport pickup with your passport and order number.
- Effectively none. Sri Lanka is one of the few countries where buying at the airport is genuinely recommended: the counters sell the same standard tourist packs found elsewhere, with a quick passport check and no reported markup.
- Dialog sells a Tourist eSIM alongside its physical Tourist SIM, activated with your passport at the airport store or a service centre, and SLT-Mobitel's travel SIM is also available as an eSIM. Since registration is just a passport check, a local eSIM is a realistic option here.
Getting connected here is unusually easy: dedicated tourist products, English-language carrier pages and staffed 24/7 airport counters. Pick your carrier by terrain: Dialog for general use and the coast, Mobitel for the hill country, Hutch only if price matters most and you are staying urban. Airtel now operates in Sri Lanka as a Dialog-licensed brand rather than an independent fourth network. Pack validity varies sharply (14 days on Mobitel's tourist SIM versus 30 on Hutch's), so match the pack to your trip length rather than comparing headline gigabytes.
Local carriers
Dialog Axiata
Best overall coverage, reaching roughly 95% of the population on 4G, and the usual pick for tourists. Runs a dedicated Tourist SIM and Tourist eSIM.
SLT-Mobitel
State-owned and a close second, particularly strong in rural and plantation areas. The better pick for the hill country.
Hutch
Cheapest data in the country and fine in cities, but weaker in remote regions.
Frequently asked questions
What are the must-have apps for traveling in Sri Lanka?
The essential apps for Sri Lanka are PickMe, Uber, Uber Eats, WhatsApp, Google Maps.
How many travel apps does Sri Lanka have?
We've curated 19 apps across 10 categories for traveling in Sri Lanka, including 10 essential apps.
What is the best ride hailing app in Sri Lanka?
PickMe. Sri Lanka's main local app for tuk-tuks, cars, vans and scheduled rides in supported areas.
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