Bradt Travel Guides Bradt Guide: Sri Lanka

The new seventh edition of Bradt’s Sri Lanka remains the most detailed and comprehensive guidebook to this alluring island nation. Written by Philip Briggs, one of the world’s most experienced and highly regarded guidebook writers, this thoroughly updated guide provides detailed coverage of every aspect of this diverse and compact country, from idyllic tropical coastlines to mist-shrouded tea plantations and time-warped colonial homesteads. Alongside in-depth sections on all major beach resorts, archaeological sites, historic towns and national parks, it introduces adventurous travellers to intriguing lesser-known sites and emergent destinations inaccessible for decades prior to 2009, when the civil war ended.
Beach holidays are a year-round attraction, while fantastic Buddhist-affiliated UNESCO World Heritage Sites range from the massive dagobas of Anuradhapura, built in pre-Christian times on a scale rivalling Egyptian pyramids, to Dambulla’s exquisitely painted cave temples. Wildlife-viewing opportunities abound, and this guide provides unparalleled, illustrated advice on making the most of these. Asia’s densest elephant and leopard populations thrive in an extensive network of national parks, complemented by fine whale and dolphin-watching, and 450 bird species including 30 occurring in no other country.
Extensive hotel and restaurant listings, covering everything from exclusive boutique hotels to shoestring homestays, have been cherry-picked based on the author’s personal inspection of hundreds of properties countrywide. Sri Lanka’s increasingly renowned cuisine features strongly, as does its growing focus on wellness tourism including Ayurveda therapies. This guidebook differs further from competitors by catering for truly independent travellers, providing 70-plus visitor-focused maps covering all major towns and resorts, clear directions for public transport, and off-the-beaten-track information.
Following a tourist boom in the south, and the gradual opening of the north and east to independent travel, tourism jumped 15% in the two years to 2018. Following COVID-19 and a 2019 terrorism incident, Sri Lankan tourism is again welcoming visitors, with infrastructure benefitting from recent investment in trains, which provide comfortable, efficient and inexpensive public transport. Whether you’re into wildlife, culture, beaches or cuisine – and whether you seek luxury or budget travel – Bradt’s Sri Lanka will address your every need for an enjoyable visit to this bewitching and varied country.

Delivery

All items that are in stock will show a delivery timescale of 1-3 working days.  If your order consists solely of these items, then dispatch is within 1 working day of purchase with the exception of framed and customised items which may take up to 14 days.

If your order is a non-stock item, the delivery timescale on that item will show as 3-10 working days on the product details.  In these instances, dispatch is usually 3-7 working days with delivery in 5-10 working days.  If your item is delayed for any reason, we will update your order to provide an explanation of the delay, although it is not always possible to say how long the delay will be. The item will be kept on order for up to three months and supplied to you when it becomes available. After 3 months, we will cancel the order or the remainder of the order unless you ask us to keep it on back order for longer. Incomplete orders will be held until the remaining items come into stock, unless we anticipate a long delay. At our discretion, incomplete orders may be sent out as partial shipments if we anticipate that an item may take some time coming in to stock.

EU customers - IMPORTANT: You will be required to pay import VAT (tax) at your local rate to your postal delivery service before any goods are delivered. Since 2021 you have not been charged British VAT (at 20%) on any purchases or P&P charges, however, with effect from 1 January 2022, the rules regarding importing from outside the EU changed and import VAT is now payable on any value of goods imported into the EU. This is separate to any tariff which may or may not be chargeable on the goods due to their country of origin. Please also note that we are legally required to declare the correct value of your purchase which is used to calculate the tax and any tariff duty. Failure to pay the import charges will result in the goods being returned to the UK.  Our terms and conditions have been updated to reflect this situation. 

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The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (formerly the Distance Selling Regulations) provide consumers with the right to a 'cooling-off' period to allow you to change your mind. Under these regulations, you have the right to cancel your order, without explanation, within 14 days of delivery (starting the day after you receive the goods) and to return the goods for a refund within a further 14 days (28 days in total). The Distance Selling Regulations do not apply to businesses nor to individuals who are trading or acting as a trader (buying goods to re-sell for profit) because no-one is the 'Consumer'. This means there is no 'cooling-off' period and the order cannot be cancelled once processed.

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Cancellations - personalised/bespoke and 'On-Demand' items

Where an order is placed for an item which is to be personalised or is bespoke or printed only on-demand, cancellation is not possible once production has started and these are expressly excluded from The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (formerly the Distance Selling Regulations).

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