Sep 24, 2024
Unforgettable tour with our whole family - A one-off unforgettable tour with our whole family, that was the goal.
We mapped out our route ourselves and chose some hotels. Henry from Merganser Holidays looked at our itinerary and gave some clues for other choice of hotels and Things to do, after which the trip could be completely recorded.
Arriving in Sri Lanka Henry and our Guide Athula welcomed us with a warm welcome. This was the start of our fantastic trip through Sri Lanka. During these 20 days we got to know Athula as a Guide, with a lot of knowledge about Sri Lanka, but mainly got to know him as a warm, sweet and caring man. Athula is in our hearts forever.
Sri Lanka, saying it is the pearl of the Indian Ocean, is certainly not an exaggeration! You will find beach, green landscapes, jungle, elephants, but also culture, temples good food and certainly not forgetting the super friendly people.
As a family trip definitely recommended and all absolutely with a Guide / driver like our Athula!
Karen Stijn Lori Tila Jorn
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 13, 2024
Multi day car hire with driver/guide - For our holiday in Sri Lanka we booked a car with a driver for 22 days with Merganser Holidays. We had a very good experience. The contact and planning of the trip with the company went smoothly. Based on the places we wanted to visit, we were provided with a day-to-day itinerary. Sir Henry Lionel drove very safely while also telling a lot of interesting information about the country. He is reliable and punctual. Things like safaris or transport to Horton Plains were also arranged by him, which ensures that you can relax during your holiday without having to arrange too much. The car is clean and well maintained. The price is fixed, and there are no hidden costs. We would highly recommend this company for anyone looking to hire a car with a driver for their Sri Lanka holiday.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 12, 2024
Wonderful short trip - We had a wonderful time with Dahanayake as our driver. He went above and beyond to make sure we saw as much as possible during our short time in Sri Lanka. Safe driver and very friendly and knowledgeable about the country.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jun 29, 2024
Great Tour in all aspects, would highly recommend. - This was the second time I've used Merganser Holidays and just like the first, it was a great experience. The booking process was very smooth with Henry who was very willing to help accommodate what we wanted with clear and friendly communication throughout. We booked a hotel room through Merganser which was also completed smoothly with no issues on arrival. A friendly tour guide named Senal welcomed us at the airport and drove well throughout. He was more than willing to accommodate our timings and give us recommendations. We had a 24 hour hotline to use if we needed to (we did not) so it was nice to know we had that failsafe too just in case.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
May 3, 2024
Merganser driver-guide - Henry made me feel very comfortable & I liked his steady driving. As a tour guide as well he speaks very gd English. When I needed to buy local chilli sauce to bring back home he drove to a large supermarket. He also helped me select the brands when I bought chocolates and chips. I had to arrange my time properly as I was heading to multiple locations and Henry was always on standby. Henry is steady, approachable, service- oriented, obliging. Very trustworthy and I’m very glad to have had him on this trip to bring me around! Will be back again hopefully with family next round!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
May 1, 2024
A great tour of Sri Lanka - We had a great trip to Sri Lanka with Merganser Holidays and particularly our driver Lal. He was a great tour guide, always willing to share information about the history and culture. He helped us to see all of the sights on our itinerary, but also flexible with our itinerary when we wanted to have some downtime. We always felt we were in good hands with Lal. Thanks for helping to make our trip so special!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 16, 2024
One of our best trips ever, made extra special by our wonderful driver Mr Laal! - Our trip to Sri Lanka was one of our best trips ever and the experience was really elevated by our wonderful driver Mr Laal and the great organisation before and during our trip by Merganser Holidays. We were a party of two couples and months before the trip we put together a list of boutique hotels we would like to stay and also places we wanted to visit. We booked all the hotels but Merganser arranged everything else for the trip.
Merganser was able to work with us and they helped put together an itinerary.
When we arrived in Colombo airport after an overnight flight from London Mr Laal was there waiting for us and our adventures began!
We started with one night Colombo to get settled and over 13 days travelled to Kandy, Sigiriya, Nuwara Ella, Ella, Mirassa and finally Galle Fort.
Our driver Mr Laal was with us for the whole trip and really looked after us very well. He was also a great guide when we needed him and sometimes came on the hikes we did. His driving was very safe and he always made sure we were comfortable in the van. Note that driving 80km in Sri Lanka can take over 3 hours...due to slower traffic and also mountainous roads inland. At the end of each day he would drop as back at our hotel usually around 5pm and then we would next meet him the following morning after breakfast outside the hotel with his minivan cleaned and ready to go.
We took 3 train train journeys during our stay and Mr Laal always brought us right to the platform and made sure we found our reserved seats on the train. He would then meet us at our destination as we stepped off the train, and best of all...he had our luggage already in his minivan.
It is very hard to buy first class reserved seats on trains in Sri Lanka ahead of time but Merganser took care of all of these for us. We turned up one morning at a station only to find a huge line of tourists right out of the station waiting to buy tickets. Mr Laal brought us in another entrance as we already had our tickets and we walked straight to the platform.
If we wanted to change plans or add something to our trip then Mr Laal and Merganser were very helpful and accommodating. We tried to set up a balloon trip but fog prevented this....we were kept informed the whole time...and it was not a problem when the balloon company had to cancel the night before.
Thank you for everything and thank you Mr Laal for looking after us so well...we will never forget this trip!!!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 16, 2024
Exceptional! - A very serious agency that I recommend 200%.
Our driver/guide Lal was wonderful throughout our 7 day road trip, always with good advice and very considerate.
It made our trip to Sri Lanka magical!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 1, 2024
LET'S GO MY FRIEND!❤️ - A wonderful experience to try once in a lifetime, the convenience of having a driver available was a great help in shortening the time.
Indika was fabulous, kind, helpful, organized and protective ❤️ I recommend her 💪🏻
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 5, 2024
Great views, comfortable van, would recommend! But please follow the scheduled itinerary! - Pros:
- The van was very clean, very well equipped. WiFi on board was a GREAT feature. Water and napkins etc. were available which was very helpful. Lal cleaned the van every night for us.
- Lal (tour guide) was friendly and helpful. He gave just the right amount of tour guide info, not too little and not too much. He was friendly with the kids and even helped set up a car stand where they could put their Nintendo.
- Most of the spots we visited were beautiful and the views were amazing. Well-worth seeing. The best parts were the Sigiriya Rock climb, the Little Adam’s Peak hike and the Yala Safari where we saw two leopards!
- Lal gave us privacy during lunches which was appreciated as sometimes you need a break from the tour, especially when you are traveling with kids, which can be exhausting.
Cons:
- Lal did not follow the scheduled itinerary on a couple of occasions. He changed the tea factory without informing us. He also changed the elephant conservatory. The scheduled itinerary should be followed.
- Lal made some unscheduled stops at souvenir shops that we did not ask for. This resulted in some delays and we did miss a couple of things that were scheduled in the itinerary.
- Lal told us that the Ramboda falls cannot be seen from up close which turned out to be untrue, as we found out later.
But overall, we would definitely recommend this tour company!
Review provided by Tripadvisor