Urban Landscape to Paradise

Day 01 : Arrival – Relax

A warm welcome to Sri Lanka by our representative / your guide, at the Bandaranaike International airport, 30 KMS North of Colombo, the Island’s capital. You will be transferred to your beach hotel in Negombo. Enjoy your first glimpse of the color and culture of Sri Lanka as your travel to the coastal town of Negombo. Rest of the day is at leisure to relax and unwind by the Indian Ocean. The beach is at its most picturesque around sunset time when local fishermen mend their nets and prepare their boats ahead of night fishing trips. The strip of restaurants and cafés behind the beach, is lively after dark and a great place to sample local seafood.

Day 02 : Negombo Sight-seeing Tour

Enjoy a relaxed breakfast before leaving on a city tour of colorful Negombo predominantly a catholic town and also known as “Little Rome”. Many Roman catholic churches could be found within a few hundred meters, the largest of its being the St. Mary’s Cathedral at Grand Street in the town center. Visit the town center, colorful bazar, the St. Mary’s Cathedral, Fish market and the auction etc. See the local life style. Drive through Dutch period remaining, a fishing village etc. Make a boat trip in the Dutch period Hamilton Canal and the Lagoon. Spend the afternoon relaxing by the pool side of your hotel or the sandy Indian Ocean beach.

Day 03 : Dambulla Cave Temple / Jeep Safari in the Minneriya National Park

Enjoy the breakfast and leave for the cultural triangle area. This area formed the heartland of the powerful Sinhalese Kingdoms who ruled the Island for most of its history, and who left in their wake some of Asia’s most remarkable monuments. Make a stop at Dambulla Cave Temple and yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sri Lanka’s greatest cave-temple complex, the walls and ceiling of this Buddhist site are resplendent with frescoes and there are hundreds of statues of Buddha, Dambulla is located on a huge granite outcrop in the Dry Zone, with views extending over the tropical canopy to distant Sigiriya and beyond. Check in at your hotel where you will stay the next 3 nights to explore the UNESCO-listed monuments of the Golden Triangle. Optional - Later take a Jeep Safari in Minneriya National Park. Its renowned for large herds of elephants. The Minneriya Tank, a reservoir built by an ancient civilization, attracts large herds of elephants, deer, and water buffalo to its shores, particularly during the dry season (June to September) when Minneriya National Park gains fame for the “the Gathering”, when you as many 300 wild elephants around the reservoir.

Recommended Activities: Exploring Minneriya National Park

Day 04 : Sigiriya Rock Fortress / Village Visit with a Cookery Demonstration

Enjoy an early breakfast and visit the UNESCO-listed 5th century site of Sigiriya. Accessed by a steep 600 feet hike up to the ancient natural rock fortress that dominates the surrounding landscape. Make a pause at the huge lion paws carved in to the rock, the original gateway to the fort. Marvelous views across the countryside of the Cultural Triangle are your reward for the haul to the top. Make a visit to a nearby village and get a glimpse of an authentic local experience, gaining insight into the daily activities of the villagers, and enjoying a catamaran ride on the lake. Take a tuk-tuk ride to a village house where you will interact with a local family and learn the art of preparing an authentic Sri Lankan lunch. Tasty traditional sweet meats for dessert and warm Ceylon tea will enrich the experience. Spend the afternoon relaxing by the pool side of your hotel.

Day 05 : Polonnaruwa Ancient Sites / Beach at Nilaveli

Enjoy the breakfast and visit Polonnaruwa, ranged around a huge man-made lake, Polonnaruwa, is the most impressive and compact of the island’s ancient sites. Its vestiges – comprising finely sculpted statues, frescoes, colossal Buddha images and immense stupas. Look out for the famous Gal Vihara or “Rock Temple” where you will see four colossal statues of the Buddha cut into the stone, reflecting peace, serenity, and strength. Optional - Cycling around the sites 3-4 KMS is an ideal way to explore the historic site Later leave for Trincomalee the east coast of the island. Make a quick visit to the Lover’s leap, well known Hindu Kovil, Dutch period Fort and the Kinya Hot water springs. Check in at your hotel in Nilaveli, where you will stay 3 nights and relax by the sand beach.

Day 06 : Beach at Nilaveli

Enjoy a leisurely breakfast and spend the days relaxing by the Indian Ocean. Optional visit to close by Pigeon Islands and a deep-sea whale watching boat trip are recommended.

Day 07 : Beach at Nilaveli

Enjoy a leisurely breakfast and spend the days relaxing by the Indian Ocean. Optional visit to close by Pigeon Islands and a deep-sea whale watching boat trip are recommended.

Day 08 : Matale Spices – Kandy

Enjoy breakfast and later depart for Kandy. Enroute to Kandy, in Matale visit a Spice Garden to see how the local Spices including cinnamon, cardamom, pepper creepers and other spice trees grow, their numerous forms of use. Later in the day check in at your hotel in Kandy where you will stay the next two nights. Optional - Those who prefer a morning activity can make a short walk in the Uda watta kele sanctuary. A 103-hectare Udawatta Kele eco-tourism site is located north of Kandy Lake. Making the Bird watching & trekking in Udawatta Kele Sanctuary extraordinary this garden is blessed with exclusive collections of avifauna also recognized as one of the most beautiful bird sanctuaries in Sri Lanka.

Day 09 : Kandy Sight-seeing

Enjoy your breakfast and depart on a city tour of Kandy, the island’s cultural capital and the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy, Kandy is encircled by jungle-covered hills. Located in the refreshing highlands, Kandy is easy to fall in love with. Stop at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, the island’s most revered Buddhist shrine. Pilgrims dressed in white clothes come to worship throughout the day, carrying lotus blooms and frangipani flowers to present at the shrine. Proceed exploring Kandy’s colorful Bazar, Upper Lake, arts centers, museums etc. Visit the Kandy’s Royal Botanical Gardens famed for the world-class collection of orchids, palms and, the real showstopper, a giant Javan fig tree. Later attend a cultural dance performance. Optional - Make a visit the Elephant orphanage at Pinnawala. Visitors can view the care and daily routine of the elephants, such as bottle-feeding of elephant calves, feeding of all other elephants, and bathing in the Ma Oya River.

Day 10 : Nuwara eliya by Train

Enjoy the breakfast and board the train from Peradeniya railway station to Nanuoya, nearby to Nuwara eliya, on a scenic three and a half-hour train journey (dependent on the local railway regulations) through Sri Lanka’s beautiful highlands. The drive is scenic, nature rich, with mountains covered with tea bushes. Your driver guide will meet you at Nanuoya and bring you to the hotel for the night’s stay.

Day 11 : Tea Experience / Ella / Yala

Enjoy your breakfast and make a visit to a tea factory to learn how the region’s most fragrant brews are produced. The Tea experience starts with a guided tour of a local tea factory, where you’ll be shown how the top best leaves are picked and processed. Taste a cup of freshly brewed pure Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Tea. You can also buy fresh tea from the factory outlet. Explore the city center to see the colonial buildings, Race Course, Hill Club Hotel, Gregory Lake and Sita Amman Kovil. Leave for Yala with a stop in Ella. Look out through Ella Gap, a deep valley connecting the city of Ella with the low country. See the beauty of the broadest Rawana Ella water fall. Later check in at your hotel in Yala for the night’s stay.

Day 12 : Morning Game Drive in Yala National Park

Make an early start on a Jeep Safari in the Yala National Park, country’s oldest and most popular reserve covering an area of 1500 sq km and has one of the highest densities of leopards in the World. Here you can spot three of country’s Big Five which include; leopard, sloth, and the Sri Lankan elephant. The Park is home to variety of wildlife including spotted deer, crocodiles, wild boar, wild buffaloes, langurs, peacocks and over 200 Spices of birds. Chances of spotting herds of roaming elephants and the elusive sloth bear are high. Most visitors come here to see the leopards. There are an estimated 350 of them among the highest population densities anywhere in the world. The leopards tend to seek shade in the midday heat. For this reason, early morning and late afternoon are the best times to see them. Enjoy a late breakfast. Take the rest of the day at leisure enjoying by the pool side of your hotel. Wild life lovers can also opt for an afternoon game drive.

Day 13 : Galle Fort / Beach (south coast) ( Mirissa / Unawatuna / Hikkaduwa / Benthota)

It’s time to be rewarded with the beach again. Enjoy the breakfast at leisure and drive to Galle. A stop at Kataragama Hindu Temple where both Buddhist and Hindu devotees worship is suggested. Explore the Southern capital city of Galle, Sri Lanka's finest colonial treasure, and once the greatest port in Ceylon. Galle Dutch Fort is a UNESCO World Heritage listed site, It mixes the exotic with the colonial. The architectural legacies of Portuguese and Dutch settlers alongside more traditional Sri Lankan styles are visible. Visit the Galle Fort, the Light House, the Maritime Museum, the ancient Dutch Reformed Church, the Sun and the Moon bastions and many other fascinating sights. Later after wandering the narrow streets in the Fort, dotted with Dutch colonial villas, museums, restaurants, pubs and antique shops, leave for your beach hotel in the south / west coast. Sri Lanka’s serene south / west coast is a non-stop parade of beautiful, wave-lashed beaches, backed by stands of gently inclined coconut palms and pretty, low-rise fishing villages and resorts. Stop at a turtle Hatchery and release a few baby Turtles to the sea.

Day 14 : Beach (south coast)

Enjoy a leisurely breakfast and spend the days relaxing by the Indian Ocean. Short excursions to neighborhood interests can be arranged.

Day 15 : Transfer to Airport for onward flight

Enjoy your breakfast and later make the transfer to the airport for your onward flight