Discovery of Sri Lanka - Guaranteed Departure

Trip Description

Accomodation

Stay program

• day 1

  AIRPORT - NEGOMBO

  Arrival at Colombo/Bandaranayake International Airport. Welcome with flower garland and departure for Negombo. Check-in at the hotel. Free time to rest, recover from jet lag, and enjoy the beach. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

• day 2

  NEGOMBO - SIGIRIYA - DAMBULLA

  

  Breakfast at the hotel, then drive to Sigiriya. Lunch en route, then visit the Citadel of Sigiriya or "Lion Rock": an ancient, romantic, and grandiose site, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and renowned for its frescoes of the "Maidens of Sigiriya". (Possibility of an elephant ride: price ranging from 12 to 15 € for one hour.) Drive to Dambulla. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

• day 3

  DAMBULLA - HIRIWADUNA - POLONNARUWA - DAMBULLA

  Breakfast at the hotel. Very early departure for Hiriwaduna, a small village on the edge of a reservoir that you will reach on foot (about 45 min, easy level). You will walk through a banana plantation, taste a local drink, and continue the walk through the fields to discover the many crops and spices of the region. An ox cart ride, and you are seated for a typical lunch prepared by a Sri Lankan family, served on a banana leaf, by the water. Departure for Polonnaruwa. Visit of the site by bike. Depending on the heat and the physical ability of each participant, you may leave the bikes at any point along the route and continue the visit by bus following the same itinerary. Discovery of a wood carving workshop. Return to Sigiriya. On the way, a walk through a rice field (about 10 minutes, easy level). (Possibility to take an elephant ride: price ranging from 12 to 15 € for one hour.) Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

• day 4

  DAMBULLA - MATALE - KANDY

  

  Breakfast at the hotel. Visit of the rock and the Golden Temple of Dambulla. Inside this rock is a complex of caves that house the historic Dambulla temple, one of the oldest Buddhist shrines in the country. In the Mahavamsa, the most important chronicle of the island's history can be found. It is called the Jambukola Vihara. Continue to Matale to visit a spice garden, a specialty for which Sri Lanka is very well known. This is an opportunity to learn more about the culture of spices and the different processing methods. Tasting of spiced tea. Enjoy a massage (about 10 min) of the feet, head, or shoulders. Then, you can learn how to make curry powder and take part in preparing a dish colored by spices… Free time in the shop (sale of spices and herbal products). Lunch in the garden, with the Sri Lankan national dish "rice & curry". Drive to Kandy (about 1 hour drive), the capital of Buddhism listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, beautifully located at 350 m altitude in a green valley (between the last rice fields and the first tea plantations). It is bordered by low hills, naturally arranged around the Sacred Lake. The country's cultural center, the city fell into the hands of the English as early as 1815. Kandy remains a center of crafts, music, and dance. Charm, splendor of the past, and serenity describe the city in a few words. Visit of the Temple of the Tooth or "Dalada Maligawa" which houses the sacred relic of the Buddha's Tooth. In the evening, show of Kandyan dances with fire walking. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

• day 5

  KANDY - PERADENIYA - NUWARA ELIYA

  Breakfast at the hotel. Visit to the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens: among the most beautiful in the world, they have the finest tropical species of trees, spices, flowers, and fruits, over nearly 60 hectares. Lunch in Ramboda. Departure via the famous Tea Mountain Road towards Nuwara Eliya. You will discover the "land of tea" where the plantations give the landscape a very unique appearance. Connoisseurs know that the flavor and quality of tea depend on the altitude at which the plant was grown. The harvest is always carried out by women. The pickers, dressed in brightly colored "longhis", go from bush to bush, skillfully stripping the young buds and tender leaves with one hand and then, with a quick gesture, tossing them into the basket attached to their shoulders. Visit to a tea factory and plantation, then tasting and free time in the shop to make some purchases. Continue to Nuwara Eliya, also called "Little England". This mountain resort (1,900 m altitude) stretches out in an ellipse-shaped valley at the foot of Mount Pidurutalagala (2,520 m altitude), the highest peak in Sri Lanka. Short walk in the famous climatic resort, created by the English. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

• day 6

  Nuwara Eliya-Tissamaharama

  Breakfast at the hotel, then departure for Tissamaharama. On the way, discover the Ella Rawana waterfall. Lunch en route. Discover the Yala reserve, dedicated to the protection and preservation of wildlife and wild vegetation; you will certainly have the opportunity to spot elephants, bears, deer, wild buffalo or crocodiles in the coastal lagoons. The luckiest may come across the majestic leopard. This reserve is a national park, located between Nuwara Eliya and the west coast, renowned for its herds of elephants. The visit is done in a vehicle adapted for safari. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

• day 7

  Tissamaharama - Weligama - Galle - Koggala

  

  After breakfast at the hotel, departure for Galle via Weligama, renowned for its fishermen perched on stilts in the sea. Visit of Galle, a peaceful city of 76,000 inhabitants that was the main Dutch trading post in Ceylon, whose port was once very active and the hub of the spice trade. The old town, whose ramparts dating from the Dutch occupation are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has a delightfully nostalgic colonial charm. Here you can admire antique houses and the Groote Kerk, a church dating from 1754. Lace makers still sell their work on the ramparts, perpetuating a tradition inherited from the Portuguese. Discover the fort and ramparts, the church, and the colonial houses… Lunch in Galle. Continue along the coast towards Koggala. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

• day 8

  Koggala - Colombo - Airport

  Breakfast at the hotel and free morning to get some color and enjoy the immense beach. After lunch at the hotel, departure for a visit to the capital: Colombo. Known since the 8th century by Arab, Persian, and Chinese merchants, this village nestled between two dunes served as a trading post on the spice route. The Portuguese, eager to control trade in the Indian Ocean, settled there and built a fort in 1518 for their prospecting, as well as a civil and military town, rich in churches, schools, and hospitals. Today, Colombo is the political and economic center of the country. Dinner at your leisure. Transfer to Colombo airport. Assistance with check-in formalities for your return flight.