Welcome to paradise in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka offers magnificent landscape of natural habitats, lush green mountains, breath taking valleys and white sand beaches. This tour is designed to experience the ancient cities and UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya and Dambulla. Relive the days of the British Raj in the evocative hill station of Nuwara Eliya, set in wonderful mountain scenery amidst tea plantations. Also be one of the first to visit the eastern coast at Trincomalee. This splendid itinerary includes some easy trekking and nature safaris and offers an excellent all-round introduction to Sri Lanka.
Day 01: Arrive Negombo
Arrive at Colombo international airport, meet – greet with our office representative & transfer to Negombo. Once you will reach your hotel our representative will handover you the travel documents and explain your entire plan in details.
Overnight stay at hotel
Day 02: Dambulla / Habarana / Anuradhapura
After breakfast travel to Ritigala to see the distinctive ruins and walk through the monastic complex. Ritigala is an ancient Buddhist monastery in Sri Lanka. The ruins and rock inscriptions of the monastery date back to 1st century B.C. It is located 43 km away from the ancient monastic city of Anuradhapura. Ritigala is the Highest Mountain in northern Sri Lanka. Ritigala mountain range, a 3776-acre (1582 ha) strict nature reserve, one of the well inventoried bio diversity hot spots in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka and is managed by Department of Wildlife of Sri Lanka together with Forest Department of Sri Lanka. Continue the journey to Anuradhapura, an ancient mighty Sinhalese Kingdom.
Overnight stay at hotel
Day 03: Wildlife & Polonnaruwa
After breakfast enjoy your excursion and wildlife trip to the ancient city of Polonnaruwa, which remains one of the best planned archaeological relic sites in the country, a standing testimony to the discipline and greatness of the Kingdom's first rulers. Its beauty was also used as a backdrop to film scenes for the Duran Duran music video Save a Prayer in 1982. The ancient city of Polonnaruwa has been declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO.
Polonnaruwa is the 2nd largest city in north central province and it is known as one of the cleaner and more beautiful cities of the country. The green environment, amazing ancient constructions, Parakrama Samudraya (a huge lake built in 1200 A.D.), attract many foreign and domestic travellers. Today you will witness a collection of rich architecture, extraordinary ancient irrigation methods along with huge man made reservoirs. In the afternoon enjoy your jeep safari to witness herd of wild elephants and various other wildlife species in Minneriya National Park. Enjoy Habarana lake excursion along with a local fisherman.
Overnight stay at hotel
Day 04: Trincomalee
Enjoy an early morning easy walk for 2.5 hours around the small villages to see the daily life of farmers. The guided walk goes along side Hiriwaduna lake giving chance to spot birds and land monitors and cross a little jungle rivulet by Catamaran and reach a farmers simple “wattle and daub” house to enjoy your packed breakfast with tea. Enjoy a bullock cart ride through paddy field and village before travelling by car to Trincomalee.
Trincomalee is a natural deep-water harbour that has attracted seafarers like Marco Polo, Ptolemy and Sea Traders from China and East Asia since ancient times. Trinco, as it is commonly called, has been a sea port since the days of the ancient Sri Lankan Kings. The earliest known reference to the port of Gokanna is found in the Mahavamsa stating that in 5th century BC, when King Vijaya who having failed to convince his brother to come to Sri Lanka as his successor, got down his youngest son Panduvasdeva, who landed at Gokanna and was subsequently enthroned at Upatissagama.
King Parakramabahu I used Gokanna (Trincomalee) as his eastern port, to launch a successful invasion of Burma in the 12th Century. An English sea captain and historical chronicle writer named Robert Knox came ashore by chance near Trincomalee and surrendered to the Dissawa (official) of the King of Kandy in 1659. Hence, it was an important trade city between Sri Lanka and the outside world, and one of the British Empire's most important ports in Asia during the Second World War.
Overnight stay at hotel
Day 05: Trincomalee
The day is at leisure to enjoy the beautiful white sandy beaches at Trincomalee. For those wishing to do further sightseeing there is the option of a half day tour to visit Fort Frederick, Kanniyai Hot wells and the Lover’s Leap.
Overnight stay at hotel
Day 06: Kandy
After breakfast today we travel to Kandy via Habarana, stopping en-route at Sigiriya rock fortress and the magnificent 2nd century B.C. cave temples of Dambulla. Kandy is a city in the center of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is one of the most scenic cities in Sri Lanka; it is both an administrative and religious city. It is the capital of the Central Province (which encompasses the districts of Kandy, Matale and Nuwara Eliya) and also of Kandy District. Kandy is the home of The Temple of the Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa) one of the most venerable places for the Buddhist community of Sri Lanka and all around the world. It was declared a world heritage by the UNESCO in 1988.
Overnight stay at hotel
Day 07: Kandy
After breakfast enjoy an excursion to the elephant orphanage at Pinnewala. In the afternoon enjoy the city tour and visit the Market Square, Botanical Gardens and the fascinating temple of the Tooth Relic. Evening is free for you to explore the city.
Overnight stay at hotel
Day 08: Nuwara Eliya
Nuwara Eliya is a mountain station at 1,868 m (6,128 ft) of altitude, in a splendid landscape. The city pretends to be particularly well-kept and neat, and the always green grass gives to the locality an aspect of “colonial British style". Nuwara Eliya was built entirely during the 19th century and its architecture mimics that of an English country town, with red-brick walls, country house like hill club and mock-Tudor half-timbering. After breakfast enjoy the train ride through the mountains and the tea gardens to Nanu- Oya in the air conditioned observation coach and continue the journey to Nuwara Eliya. Visit a tea plantation and a factory to witness the complete process of turning raw green leaf in to the finished product.
Overnight stay at hotel
Day 09: Tissamaharama / Yala
Leave Nuwara Eliya this morning after breakfast, traversing the high misty plateaus of Horton Plains to Yala National Park. Tissamaharama is a town in south-eastern Sri Lanka. It used to be the capital of the Sinhalese Kingdom of Ruhuna as early as the 3rd century B.C. Only few buildings from that period can still be seen today. The large artificial Tissa Wewa Lake, which was a part of a sophisticated irrigation system, also dates from that time. Today, the town mainly serves as a starting point for visits to Yala National Park and Kataragama. Evening is free for you to explore.
Overnight stay at hotel
Day 10: Wildlife Safari
Today we proceed for a morning wildlife safari in Yala National Park to spot vast verities of wild animals, birds and reptiles including the leapords, elephants, langurs and crocodiles. Afternoon is kept free for you to relax or alternatively enjoy a log walk.
Overnight stay at hotel
Day 11: Yala - Colombo
Return today to Colombo with an early start. En route follow the beautiful coastal route along to Galle or one of the southern beach resorts for a lunch break (at own expense). The total travel time is approximately 7 hours. The roads are quite narrow so progress is quite slow. Afterwards there will be a tour of Galle, lasting approximately 2 hours, with its many Dutch colonial buildings and the UNESCO Galle Fort. Continue your journey to Colombo (for those wishing to extend then a night or two can be arranged and perhaps a beach stop as well).
Overnight stay at hotel
Day12: Colombo Departure
After a leisurely breakfast the tour finishes with a direct transfer to the international airport to board your return flight. (B)
!! BACK HOME WITH SWEET MEMORIES!!
