Rendezvous with A Unique Country – Sri Lanka

Once you reach the Colombo/ Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), Meet & Greet an area representative and transfer to the hotel; Colombo, the commercial capital of Sri Lanka, is a busy and vibrant place with a mixture of modern life and colonial buildings. On arrival, you shall have a short city orientation tour. Later check into the hotel. After freshen up and a quick nap, your driver will drop you near Beira Lake. It’s delightful just having a stroll around the lake. Another peaceful experience shall be a visit to the Buddhist Temple of Seema Malaka. You feel absolutely calm when you come here. With the entrance fees of this temple, you can visit one more Buddhist Temple named Gangaramaya. Here you will feel an atmosphere of worship and religion. 

Stay: Colombo.

After a relaxed breakfast, your chauffeur guide will take you on a half-day Colombo City tour. This tour is about some brief encounters with Colombo’s must-see places. You shall visit Folk Art Centre at Battaramulla. Drive past the Capital of Sri Lanka – Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte, Sri Lanka’s heroes’ Complex Kotte, Bandaranaike Memorial International Center, Town Hall. And the brief halt at Wolfendhel Dutch Church in Kotahena & Devatagaha Mosque.
Post lunch free time for shopping. Colombo has several popular supermarkets, but the must-visit shops are Barefoot & Paradise Road. Barefoot is a store, bookshop, gallery, cafe, performance space, and place to hang out, And Paradise road offers an abundance of things you’ll want to fill your home with. Conclude your tour with a leisurely walk on Marine Drive and dine at one of the famous restaurants serving food of your choice. Or you can try the street food experience, which is interestingly known as the Walk-over Fishtank.

Today after breakfast, we depart for Anuradhapura, well talking about Anuradhapura, a major city of the state and a capital city of North Central Province. The town is one among the traditional capitals of Sri Lanka, popularly known for its well-preserved ruins of an ancient Sinhala civilization. On the way, we visit Wilpattu park. The park is well known for its Leopards population. And also, the park is well-known for the existence of “Willis” (Natural lakes) – Natural, sand-rimmed water depressions that fill with rainwater after a lunch break leaves for Anuradhapura. 

Today after breakfast at the hotel, we visit two of the must-see sights in Anuradhapura. The first one is Mihintale. It is admired because of the birthplace of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. It’s believed that this is the location of a gathering between the Buddhist monk Mahinda and King Devanam Piyatissa, which lead to Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Later visit the second place, Ruwanwelisaya Stupa, the oldest stupas of Sri Lanka, built by King Dutugemunu c. 140 B.C. The stupa is additionally one of the foremost sacred areas for Buddhists everywhere on the planet. After check out & lunch, we leave for Habarana on arrival, check-in at the hotel.

After breakfast at the hotel, proceed to Dambulla to go to the cave temple; speaking of Dambulla, it’s right within the country’s central province, widely popular for its treasure of historical monuments. Therefore the impressive Dambulla cave temple must be first on your list. The Cave Temple is also referred to as The Golden Temple of Dambulla. It is a world heritage site. There are 153 Buddha statues in the cave, three statues of Sri Lankan kings, and four statues of gods and goddesses. These paintings and sculptures are associated with Buddha and his life.
Later, then proceeded by Minneriya park, which a wildlife sanctuary. The park is famous because of the Largest known wild Asian Elephant Gathering at one place within the World. It is an hour’s drive from Dambulla; before that, we have a brief pit stop for fresh up and lunch, later returning to Habarana.

Today is an adventurous day; rise and shine in the early hours. After an early breakfast, we leave for Sigiriya. Today, we climb the Sigiriya Forest Rock. The name refers to a historical and archaeological site dominated by a massive column of rock nearly 200 meters high. It’s one of the best-preserved samples of ancient urban planning. Later return to your hotel for freshening up. Post lunch, you leave for the Polonnaruwa city tour. Visit a once flourishing kingdom, the second most olden of Sri Lanka’s empires. Take some good time to see the remains of ancient shrines, palaces, stupas, buildings, monasteries, tanks, and parks, each one narrating its own story of a glorious past.
Rest of the day, at your disposal.

After breakfast, we leave for Kandy; Kandy is home of the Temple of Tooth Relic, an area of worship within the Buddhist World. It had been stated a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1988. En-route we make a stop at Pinnawala; Pinnawala is a village in Kegalle District. It’s widely documented for its elephant orphanage. It has the main significant herd of captive elephants on the planet. On arrival in Kandy, we visit a Gem Museum and Kandy Market. This market in Kandy is famous for its spices and herbs that Sri Lanka is hugely documented for. 
(Option… After Pinnawala, you can visit one of the gorgeous garden Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya)

Today is an adventurous day in Kitulgala. A famous adventure sports center located amid thickly forested hills. This place is a favourite for River rafting many adventure sports activities. You shall spend a whole day here. 

After breakfast, We leave for Nuwara Eliya. On arrival, check-in into the hotel and later within the day features a town sightseeing tour. This tour is all about beautiful Green Valleys, Endless waterfalls, Dotted Tea Pluckers & Lake Gregory. One can roam around the lake and can enjoy boating in this serene lake. The lake is a popular spot for a picnic and may also explore the lake by hiring a bicycle.

We take a train from Nuwara Eliya to Ella on this excellent day, which takes around 3-4 hours. This journey is a feast for nature lovers. By comparison, it takes approximately 1.5 hours by car. The train takes a lot longer as to crosses over many mountain ranges, thereby slowing it down. On arrival in Ella, transfer and check into the hotel.

Today post breakfast, we take a tour of the town Ella; Ella is surrounded by hills covered with cloud forests, and tea plantations. The city features a colder climate than surrounding lowlands, thanks to its elevation. Today’s highlight is Nine Arch Bridge. The Arch Bridge also called the Bridge within the Sky, maybe a viaduct bridge in Sri Lanka. It’s one among the excellent samples of colonial-era railway construction within the country. Little Adam’s Park, it’s 1141 m tall, and from the doorway, it takes up to 30-45 min for the climb. Views from the summit are unbelievable 360 degrees panoramic views with clouds rolling in. We conclude this fantastic tour with a visit to Ravana Falls. It may be a popular sightseeing attraction in Sri Lanka. It currently ranks together of the widest falls within the country. Upon returning to the hotel, the rest of the evening is to relax and unwind.

Today you wake up with the sound of chiming Birds. After a leisurely breakfast, we visit Galle via Weligama; you’ll see stilt fishers in Weligama on the way. It is one of the traditional and exciting fishing methods of Sri Lanka for ages. Upon arrival in Galle, have lunch during a classic restaurant, and check out some seafood as it’s an area cuisine. Later transfer and check-in into the hotel. 

After leisurely breakfast, we visit the gorgeous sights of Galle; the town is understood for its UNESCO World Heritage Site, the attractively preserved Galle Fort. It is the most critical and exciting sea fortress in South Asia. First built by the Portuguese and later fortified by Dutch. Galle wears its history on its sleeve. Windswept beaches and nodding palms surround its colonial-era showpiece.

After leisurely breakfast, the rest of the day is at your disposal. You can go for a guided tour to admire some architecture work Dutch. They left their impressions with some beautifully designed heritage buildings. Or you can go shopping within the Galle fort where you’ll stroll around the little streets and buy local souvenirs. The more noticeable product that you’ll find is that the Sri Lankan gems and jewellery. It is worth visiting the Dutch Hospital Shopping Complex. This Old Colombo Dutch Hospital is considered the oldest structure in the Galle Fort area dating back to the Dutch colonial era in Sri Lanka. It has now been developed into a shopping and dining precinct. 

Our tour concludes today after breakfast at the hotel. On the way to the airport, we take a short halt at the Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery. And if time permits, you may get some time for last-minute shopping in Colombo. Dropping at the Colombo International airport & tour concludes.