5 NIGHTS / 6 DAYS PROGRAMME
DAY 1 → AIRPORT / SIGIRIYA
Arrival, welcome by a representative of our team, who may also be your driver, and leave for Sigiriya, a four-hour drive.
Checked in to your hotel if you so wished you would have been given a choice of hotels beforehand, ranging from 5-star hotels to simple guest houses or jungle lodges. In the afternoon, visit the nearby Dambulla cave temples, considered to be the most extensive painted caves in the world, with more than 22,000 square feet of painted surfaces. You will see many paintings and sculptures of Lord Buddha and his disciples, and of many kings and gods. Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight stay.DAY 2 → SIGIRIYA / MINNERIYA/ SIGIRIYAY
Checked in to your hotel if you so wished you would have been given a choice of hotels beforehand, ranging from 5-star hotels to simple guest houses or jungle lodges. After breakfast, set off on a one-hour climb of the sensational rock fortress of Sigiriya, built by King Kasyapa in the 5th century AD and a royal citadel for only 20 years. Highlights of the climb are the frescoes, contemporary with the paintings in the Ajantha caves in India, as well as the ‘Mirror Wall’ and the ‘Lion's Paw’.In the afternoon undertake a jeep safari of the beautiful green Minneriya National Park surrounding a lake, not far from Sigiriya. Here you are very likely to see wild elephants, maybe in large numbers, along with many birds and other animals including crocodiles.
Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight stay.
DAY 3 → SIGIRIYA / MATALE / KANDY
Checked in to your hotel if you so wished you would have been given a choice of hotels beforehand, ranging from 5-star hotels to simple guest houses or jungle lodges. After breakfast leave for a three-hour drive to Kandy - the hill capital of Sri Lanka.On the way go on a conducted tour of a spice garden to get some knowledge about the growth and uses of spices in day to day life. The trade in spices was a very early source of Sri Lankan wealth. In a Batik-making factory, see how wonderfully the village girls turn out beautiful coloured cloths with colourful designs for different purposes.
Check in to your hotel. In the afternoon, undertake a city tour that includes the Upper Lake Drive, from where you can enjoy a bird's eye view of the city below. Then on to the Gem Museum to see how the valuable gems that you see in a jeweller’s shop are turned out from a raw stone and learn some of their background history.
In the evening watch an enthralling performance by traditional Kandyan dancers and drummers that includes devotional ‘Fire Walking’. Then walk across at dusk to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic of Buddha, one of the world’s most important places of worship for Buddhists, in time for the remarkable evening ceremonies.
Maybe under a starlit sky, return to the hotel for dinner and overnight stay.
DAY 4 → KANDY / NUWARA ELIYA
Checked in to your hotel if you so wished you would have been given a choice of hotels beforehand, ranging from 5-star hotels to simple guest houses or jungle lodges. After breakfast drive for about three hours through the Ramboda Pass to Nuwara Eliya – sometimes called ‘Little England’ – with its temperate climate and breathtakingly beautiful landscapes of rolling hills covered with the ‘green carpets’ of tea gardens and cascading waterfalls.On the way, visit a plantation and tea factory to witness the manufacturing process of the world famous ‘Ceylon Tea’ and to enjoy a cup of the pure unblended factory-fresh tea before it is sent to auction in Colombo and onwards for export.
The evening is free for walks or a tour around the town, the important places being Victoria Park, Gregory Lake, the golf course, the market, and many buildings that will remind you of Sri Lanka’s colonial past.
Dinner and overnight stay.
DAY 5 → NUWARA ELIYA / KITULGALA / COLOMBO OR NEGOMBO
Checked in to your hotel if you so wished you would have been given a choice of hotels beforehand, ranging from 5-star hotels to simple guest houses or jungle lodges. After breakfast leave for Colombo, a five-hour drive.Enjoy the natural beauty on this mountainous and then descending route passing the Devon and St. Claire’s waterfalls. You will also pass close to the location of David Lean's award-winning film ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’. You may be lucky to find the ‘jungle boy’ who will be willing to escort you to the site.
In the afternoon go on a tour of Colombo that could include the Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple, the Dutch Wolvendhal Church, a Hindu Temple, the Town Hall, the BMICH (Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall), the prime residential Cinnamon Gardens, or maybe the throbbing Pettah market and the nearby crowded and historic Fort area with its Dutch Hospital oasis of restaurants and attractive shops. Instead of your last night being in Colombo, it could be at the bustling beach resort of Negombo with its large choice of hotels and restaurants and its proximity to the airport.
Dinner and overnight stay.