Abroad · Planned on request
Sri LankaPlanned on request.
Ancient rock fortresses, hill-country tea trains and colonial forts, currently free of charge for Indian tourists under the ETA scheme.
A closer look
Why people go
A typical Sri Lanka route runs from Colombo (the main entry point) through the Cultural Triangle around Sigiriya — the 5th-century rock fortress built by King Kashyapa — to Kandy for the Temple of the Tooth and Royal Botanical Gardens, on into the tea-country hills around Ella (famous for its scenic train ride), and down to Galle Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed Dutch/Portuguese colonial fort on the south coast.
Read more
Indian citizens travel on a free Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA): as of 25 May 2026, Sri Lanka's Parliament extended fee-free ETAs to 40 nationalities, but India's ETA had already been free before that expansion, under an earlier scheme covering seven countries (China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Russia and Thailand). The ETA still needs to be applied for online at the official eta.gov.lk portal (not a third-party site) before travel; it grants a double-entry, 30-day stay, extendable at Colombo's Department of Immigration up to a maximum total stay of 270 days.
- ETA cost for Indians
- Free — India was already covered by an earlier free-ETA scheme (alongside China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, Thailand); Sri Lanka's Parliament extended the free-ETA scheme to 40 nationalities total from 25 May 2026↗
- ETA duration
- 30-day stay on initial entry, double-entry validity; extendable at the Department of Immigration, Colombo, up to a maximum total stay of 270 days↗
- Where to apply
- Official portal only: eta.gov.lk — third-party sites often add unnecessary charges↗
- Sigiriya
- 5th-century rock fortress built by King Kashyapa, rising about 200 m above the surrounding plain↗
When to go
January-April for the hill country and Cultural Triangle; October-March for the west and south coast beaches — the island has two monsoon systems affecting different coasts at different times.
Getting there
Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo, is reached via direct flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kochi (around 1.5-4 hours depending on city); the free ETA must still be applied for online at eta.gov.lk before travel.
What you will see
- Sigiriya Rock Fortress
- Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, Kandy
- Ella & the hill-country train
- Galle Fort
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Other places
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