Discover Sri Lanka
OVERVIEW
The perfect offer for an avid traveller with a passion for unique cultures, lush green valleys, wildlife, and golden sandy beaches with an endless view of the azure Indian Ocean.Discover Sri Lanka at your own pace;our flexible tours cater to your needs and expectations.
Duration
This is one of the best Sri Lanka holiday deals,designed for 07 nights/08 days. As we always cater to our valuable clients,simplyrequest a customtour to meet your needs. Our schedule is your schedule!
TOUR PLAN
Negombo
Negombo is at the heart of Sri Lanka’s fishing industry. Catamarans and the ocean are the backdrop of Negombo. The city is renowned for its fish market, quite possibly the island’s best. Shrines and picturesque churches dominate the city due to its Roman Catholic population. St Mary’s Church is a most impressive building with its pastel coloursand amazing ceiling paintings.
Negombo offers some of the better beaches in west Sri Lankadelightingtourists stopping over for the dayen route to or from the airport.
Overnight stay at the hotel in Negombo.
The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Est. 1975, started with seven orphans. Today some of these orphans enjoy the fortune of seeing their grandchildren born in the same location. The original objective of establishing the orphanage inclined more towards tourism, but it soon became a conservation and educational centre. With the help of local and foreign elephant experts, Pinnawala started a scientific breeding programmefor elephants.
Proceed to Dambulla. Visit The Golden Temple of Dambulla in the evening.
Dating back to the 1st century B.C.,and a proud UNESCO World Heritage Site (149 km from Colombo, 16 km west of Sigiriya), the Dambulla Rock Templeholds five cave shrines. Among its highlights are pre-Christian rock inscriptions, sculptures (including a 14.3-metre long rock-cut reclining Buddha) and Buddhist murals which cover more than 2000 sq. m of cave walls and ceilings, the largest antique painted surface in the world. Ancient drip-ledge drainage still keeps the caves free of seeping water. The Golden Temple of Dambullais graced with valuable images. The ancient mural paintings show the Buddha and depictions of his life,as well as various murals that adorn the cave shrine, showing the ingenuity and expression of the artists, drawing visitors daily to witness the shrines’ historical value and beauty.
Overnight stay at a Dambulla Hotel.
Sigiriya (166 km from Colombo) is the magnificent 5th century A.D. rockfortress citadel of a fugitive king, where history merges with melodrama. A fresco gallery of shapely bejewelled maidens still glows with vibrant colour. These paintings are believed to depict the “Apsaras” or spirits and some say they representlightning and clouds. Another distinctive feature of Sigiriya is the Mirror Wall,located just below the paintings. The well-polished surface iscovered with writings in the form of poetry known as “Sigiri Graffiti”.The Lion Staircase leads to the summit and the special feature of this is the massive Lion Paw carved out of rock. The brick wall is still preserved in its original form. Under the Cultural Triangle Project,UNESCO has taken to Sigriya’s current excavation and, according to various sources, is most likely to be declared as a Wonder of the World.
We proceed to Matale and walk around bountiful spice gardens.
Visit a special garden in Matale to see Sri Lanka’sfamous spices. Just 25 km from the hill capital of Kandy, the Matale spice gardens are among the best on the island. You will be introduced to different spices and shown how some of these spices are grown and processed.
Proceed to Kandy and check in to the hotel. Evening visit to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.
115 km from Colombo, Kandy is Sri Lanka’s scenic highland capital, and last barricade of the Sri Lankan kings against European conquest. Its 16-19th-century relics are the sanctuary of traditional culture, and the island’s most visited tourist destination.
Kandy’s main attraction is the Dalada Maligawa, the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha, brought to Sri Lanka in the 4th century AD. This sacred relic has since been symbol for its sovereign rulers and is always enshrined in great splendour . If you are visiting Kandy during July-August, the Esala Perahera is definitely a must see. Sometimes called”Asia’s grandest pageant”, this spectacular annual event is held to honour the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha and to obtain blessings of the guardian deities of Sri Lanka.
Overnight stay at the hotel in Kandy.
Six kilometres from Kandy, at Peradeniya, are the magnificent 57-hectare Royal Botanical Gardens. Landscaped in 1832, they are among the finesttropical flora gardens in the world: fine collections of orchids; aromatic spices; medicinal herbs; palms and rare, endangered plant species.
Proceed to Nuwara Eliya. On the way visit a tea plantation. Check in to the hotel and in the evening take a city tour in Nuwara Eliya.
Nuwara Eliya, “city on the plain (table land)” or “city of light”, is a town in Central Province, Sri Lanka with a pastoral landscape and temperate climate. Nuwara Eliya’s climate lent itself to becoming the prime sanctuary of British civil servants and planters in Ceylon. Nuwara Eliya, called “Little England” then, was also a hill country retreat where the British colonialists could practise their pastimes, including fox hunting.
Due to the high altitude, Nuwara Eliya has a much cooler climate than the lowlands of Sri Lanka, with a mean annual temperature of 16°C. But the temperature changes and sometimes it can be as low as 3°C. In the winter months it is quite cold at night, and there can even be frost, although it rapidly warms as the tropical sun climbs higher during the day.
Proceed to Yala via Bandarawela and Ella. In the evening go for a jeep safari in Yala. Overnight stay at a hotel in Yala / Tissamaharama.
Surrounded by hills and tea plantations, the town of Bandarawela is the perfect complement to Sri Lanka’s tropical heat. The town enjoys spring-like weather throughout the year. A favourite retreat of the British during colonial times, Bandarawela is dotted with English country style houses and rolling gardens.
Yala is by far the most popular national park in Sri Lanka and renowned for its wildlife, especially the leopards, largely characteristic of dry zone, tropical thorn forest and fine coastline and associated coral reefs. A large number of important cultural ruins vow to an earlier civilization,showing that much of the area was populated and well developed, with an irrigation system supplying water to the surrounding paddy fields, including those of Yala.
Overnight stay at a Hotel in Yala.
After breakfast, transfer to a beach hotel on the southern coast.
(Tangalle / Ahangama / Weligama / Mirissa / Unawatuna / Koggala / Galle / Hikkaduwa / Bentota / Beruwala)
After breakfast, proceed to Colombo, the most happening city in Sri Lanka.
Colombo is the commercial capital of Sri Lanka—the traditional gateway to the Orient.
With a population of over a million, distributed over fifteen zones, Colombo has three main zones, each of which has its own distinct character: Fort, the centre of metropolitan activity; Pettah the bustling bazaar area, and the old Cinnamon Gardens, now fashionably known as Colombo 7 with its spacious mansions and better residential areas.
Take a city tour and shop!
Evening check in to the hotel in Colombo for an overnight stay.
Breakfast at the hotel and transfer to the airport for the departure flight home.
