Do you mainly need to get between hotels, or do you want someone to explain the places you visit? Start there, rather than with the words driver-guide in an advertisement. A friendly conversation on the road is welcome, but it is not proof of a guide qualification or a promise of an included tour.
Open the LankaTransfers app and add your dates, hotels, passengers and bags. Start with the journeys you know; ask for any extra arrangements before confirming.
Build your transport plan →Tourist driver: start with the transport
For a transfer, agree pickup, destination, stops, vehicle, luggage and waiting. Sri Lanka Tourism maintains a separate authorised tourist driver directory. If someone claims that registration, check it there; do not treat a driver listing as evidence of a guide licence. Ask separately about the language used for practical communication and the exact service being sold.
Chauffeur guide: ask about both roles
Sri Lanka Tourism lists Chauffeur as a guide category and describes it as serving smaller groups travelling by car or van. Check the person in the guide directory, including the stated category, language and licence validity where shown. Agree which visits include guiding and when the driver will park or rest rather than accompany you.
A separate guide can be the better fit
The official guide directory also has National, Area and Site categories. If your main interest is one heritage visit, ask about suitable guiding for that place instead of adding a guide to every transfer. Confirm the guide’s scope, meeting point, language, duration and fee, and whether admission is separate. A vehicle booking alone does not settle any of those details.
Choose your transfer days in the app. Tell us where you want sightseeing stops, the same driver between dates or a station handover, so the arrangements can be checked together.
Request your private transfers →Write the expectation into the request
A useful request says: hotel pickup, transfer to the next hotel, one agreed stop, four passengers and three large bags; guided interpretation at the stop requested separately. Add your preferred guiding language. Ask who will provide each part and what happens if the named person changes. Check any claimed replacement credentials again, rather than relying on the original profile.