Classical Sri Lanka Tour 8 days

Day 1 Airport - Negombo

On arrival, meet & greet at the airport and transfer to the hotel in Negombo. Check-in to the hotel and relax to recover from the jet lag. Dinner and overnight stay at a hotel in Negombo.

Day 2 Negombo - Pinnaweala Elephant Orphanage - Dambulla / Sigiriya

Breakfast at the hotel. Explore the history of the dynamic city of Negombo. Indulge in a diverse experience by visiting the famous fish market in Negombo known as the ‘Llama’. Walk on the beach and watch fishermen untangle their fishing nets and witness the fish being auctioned and sold to retail and commercial customers alike.

Leave for Pinnaweala. Visit the elephant orphanage in Pinnawela, initiated in 1975 to foster care for the abandoned and orphaned baby elephants. These giant yet gentle creatures wander around in the sanctuary, being fed and bathed by their foster human parents. Twice a day the herd is led to the river nearby for a two-hour bath. You are welcome to join and interact with them while feasting your eyes on the largest gathering of tame elephants. Baby elephants are bottle-fed special formula milk by their mahout, the caretaker, and if you are curious you can even join in feeding them at the daily feeding times 9.15 am & 1.15 pm.

Leave for Dambulla. Dinner and overnight stay at hotel in Dambulla / Sigiriya.

Day 3 Sigiriya Rock Fortress - Polonnaruwa Ancient Sites

Breakfast at the hotel. Visit the Sigiriya Rock Fortress.Sigiriya Rock Fortress is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the most dramatic, inspiring, and beautiful historical locations in the world. A mythical past of feuding dynasties suits Sigiriya’s striking setting- it was built in 5th century AD by the king, Kasyapa, as a fortress-palace. The palace complex at the foot of the rock still has the remains of four indoor swimming pools where the king’s 500 concubines bathed. The palace structure was built with complex water arteries in the walls that provided natural air conditioning in the hot climate. On the summit, reached with the help of metal staircases and ladders, you can see the remains of the palace walls, gardens, and ponds.The mirror walls of the Sigiriya rock still retain the world-famous frescoes of the king’s concubines, who originated from all parts of the world.

Later continue on to one of the ruins of ancient Ceylon - the UNESCO World Heritage City of Polonnaruwa, which was the Capital of Sri Lanka from the 11th to 13th centuries. Polonnaruwa was a well-planned medieval city defended by enclosing walls (around 5 km. which still remain), graced by palaces, shrines, monasteries, pavilions, parks, ponds and irrigation lakes. Polonnaruwa is strewn with ruins in a resplendent state of preservation. The ‘Gal Vihara’ which consists of statues of the recumbent, standing, and seated Buddha, has been cut from a single granite wall and rank among few of the true masterpieces of Sri Lankan Art.

Dinner and overnight stay at hotel in Dambulla / Sigiriya.

Day 4 Dambulla Rock Cave Temple - Matale - Kandy

Breakfast at the hotel. Visit Dambulla Rock Cave Temple. Dambulla Cave Temple, also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla. The largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka, the rock from which the caves were carved towers 160 meters (520 ft) over the surrounding plains. A total of 153 Buddha statues, three statues of Sri Lankan kings and four statues of gods and goddesses also stand in the site.

Continue your journey to the hill capital of Kandy. Eminent as the center of Buddhism and the capital of the last Sinhalese kingdom. En-route visit a spice garden in Matale to see many different types of spices Sri Lanka is famous for. You will be introduced to different spices and shown how some of these spices are grown and processed. Gardens are open to visitors, a delightful place to stroll in fragrant greenery and learn about nutmeg, pepper vines, clove trees and curry, cinnamon, and the precious cardamom, a relative of ginger. It grows in the shade of high jungle trees and can only be harvested by hand.

Enjoy a traditional cultural dance performance which is a vibrant and unique fire and Harvest dances accompanied by Ceremonial Drums and the Drum Orchestra rising and falling to the lively tempo. The highlight of the show is definitely the fire walking show, where the artists walk through a specially prepared fire pit, roughly 8 feet by 3 feet covered with red-hot charcoal, completely barefoot.

Dinner and overnight stay at hotel in Kandy.

Day 5 Kandy

Breakfast at the hotel. Visit the Temple of thte Tooth Relic, for the morning ceremony, the stunning 17th century Temple of the Tooth (Sri Dalada Maligawa) is believed to house the left upper canine tooth of the Lord Buddha himself. This precious relic attracts white-clad pilgrims, bearing lotus blossoms and frangipani.

Make a sightseeing tour of Kandy. Visit the upper lake, oriental market place, a bazaar. Visit the Royal Botanical Gardens, at Peradeniya, the largest of Sri Lanka’s botanical gardens displaying over 4 000 different species of plants and is regarded amongst the most superior in Asia. The focal points include the superb Orchid collection and a mighty avenue of Royal Palm Trees. In addition to a plethora of flowering plants, there is also an extensive collection of medicinal plants and spices which can be spotted on your meander across the gardens.

Dinner and overnight stay at hotel in Kandy.

Day 6 Kandy - Nuwara Eliya By Train

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to Kandy Railway station.

Make scenic train trip to Nuwara Eliya, also known as Sri Lanka’s “Little England”, is the prime hill resorts of the country. At a height of approximately 2000 m above sea level, the city has an abundance of lush tea plantations and jaw-dropping scenery. Its nickname comes from the many English style bungalows and buildings still in existence today.

The train journey weaving through the scenic hill country is one of the most beautiful explorations in Sri Lanka. From the edge of soaring mountains, you will oversee the branching valleys from the mist capped mountains, sloping lush green tea plantations, villages dotted with houses, thick forests, and whooshing waterfalls.

Pick up from Nanu Oya Train station. Visit a tea plantation and a tea factory, on the island where the best tea in the world is produced. Watch the tea pluckers pick two leaves and a bud with deft hands. Then to the factory where the all-important conversion to “made” black tea happens. The machinery used is of very traditional British design, some as old as 100 years. The process is a very artisanal one, unchanged for a century. Observe the process of manufacturing tea, tea grading, and taste a cup of pure Ceylon tea.

Dinner and overnight stay at hotel in Nuwara Eliya.

Day 7 Nuwara Eliya - Ella - Yala National Park Jeep Safari

Leave for Tissa/Yala. (Approx. Transfer Time: 4 hours)

Visit the spectacular Ella Gap in the southern mountain wall where the land falls away in a dizzy drop of 3000 ft (915m), to the southern plains and the sea, which is visible in the far distance on a clear day. Visit the Rawana Ella Water Fall. Breakfast at the hotel. Afternoon makes jeep safari at Yala National Park.

Yala national park is the second-largest and most visited national safari park in Sri Lanka with numerous types of wildlife and also known for its variety of ecosystems and rich biodiversity. It is situated in a dry semi-arid climatic region that hosts various ecosystems from moist monsoon forests to freshwater and marine wetlands. Yala is home to 44 varieties of mammal and 215 bird species of whom seven are endemic bird species to the country. Among its more famous residents are the world’s biggest concentration of leopards, majestic elephants, sloth bears, sambars, jackals, spotted dear, peacocks, crocodiles, and wild buffalos.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel in Tissa / Yala.

Day 8 Tissa/ Yala - Galle - Beach Hotel Or Airport

Breakfast at the hotel. Leave for Beach Hotel.

Travel through Tangalle and Matara. See the stilt fishermen on poles in Koggala, which is a traditional method for fishing practiced by most fishermen along the southern coast of Sri Lanka.

Visit the Galle Fort: Galle Fort is the finest and most intact fortified city built by the former European colonial powers in Asia. The narrow streets of Galle Fort are lined with Dutch merchant villas, pillared verandas, carved doors, and windows. British and Dutch period offices are still in use. This is a living world heritage city with residents walking the 300-year-old ramparts at sunset. Strolling along the high rampart walls you will see the Old Dutch and English churches, the Governor's house, the massive VOC warehouses, the Square of Courts, the elegant pillared facade of the Old Dutch hospital, the Portuguese Black Fort, the lighthouse, the Clock Tower and much more.

Visit a turtle hatchery.

Transfer to the airport for onward flight or selected beach hotel for a continued beach holiday.