Day 1 Departure from London Heathrow
Your adventure starts in the evening at Heathrow with complimentary drinks and snacks in the Executive Lounge, as you meet your Tour Manager – who is with you throughout your journey and fellow travelling companions. Then, relax on your Sri Lankan Airlines overnight flight to Colombo.
Meals: Inflight
Day 2 Arrival into Colombo
We arrive at Colombo early afternoon. After freshening up there’s welcome drinks and a get together before dinner.
Meals: Inflight, Dinner
Hotel: Cinnamon Grand
Day 3 Colombo
This morning you tour Colombo. There’s the historic Fort area, with its gracious old buildings, the famous Clock Tower, Pettah Bazaar, crammed with shops and stalls selling everything from vegetables to gemstones, a Hindu Temple, and Wolfendahl, an old Dutch church. Later, explore this pretty, bustling, harbour city with its aura of the bygone Empire – or just take it easy.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: Cinnamon Grand
Day 4 Colombo to Dambulla
You leave Colombo for Dambulla, the archaeological treasure at the heart of Sri Lanka’s cultural triangle. Here your hotel is gloriously situated between two UNESCO World Heritage sites. Unwind amidst the stunning scenery for the rest of your day.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: Heritance Kanadalma
Day 5 Sigiriya & Polonnaruwa
This morning you really should explore your hotel’s magnificent grounds. Or if you’re an early riser, why not take an optional excursion to Sigiriya, the Lion Rock fortress? This afternoon see Polonnaruwa – the capital a thousand years ago. It is amazingly well-preserved with unique statues of Buddha – the Gal Vihare – and other stone sculptures dating from the 12th century. Later, enjoy a relaxing evening.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: Heritance Kanadalma
Day 6 Minneriya National Park
After a peaceful morning you visit Minneriya National Park for your first Jeep Safari. This vast park is famous for its huge herds of elephants – you often see 100 to 150 at a time – and over 300 different birds, animals, fishes, butterflies and reptiles have been sighted here including the rare purple-faced leaf monkey. If the weather is unsuitable you visit Kaudulla National Park instead of Minneriya.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Hotel: Heritance Kanadalma
Day 7 Dambulla to Kandy
This morning you visit Dambulla where the ancient King Valagambahu hid from Indian invaders for 14 years. Its astonishing 1st century BC Cave Temples contain over 150 subtly-lit images of Buddha struggling against evil. In contrast you then visit a Batik Factory and a Spice Garden to watch a Sri Lankan curry cookery demonstration. There’s a brief tour of Kandy before you reach your hotel for a free evening.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: Earls Regency
Day 8 Kandy
Kandy, set by a lake, was the last royal capital of Sri Lanka. In the morning comes a visit you will long remember. At Pinnawela they look after orphaned and abandoned elephants. It is very touching – one is blind and another lost a foot when it stepped on a mine. Then you see Sri Lanka’s greatest religious relic, the left upper canine tooth of Buddha, in ‘Dalada Maligawa’ – the Temple of the Tooth. Your day ends with a cultural dance show on Kiri Samudraya island in Kandy Lake.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Hotel: Earls Regency
Day 9 Kandy to Nuwara Eliya
If you love flowers you will adore the 147 acre Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, which date back to 1374. Created for the Kings of Gampola and Kandy they have an avenue of coconut palm trees, giant bamboos, rubber trees, and a giant Javan fig tree which covers 1,600 sq metres. The centrepiece is the Orchid House, with over 300 varieties of Orchids - and the Spice Garden. Then it’s off to Nuwara Eliya – “City of Light” - where the old colonial atmosphere lives on. It’s known as "Little England" for its English country style houses and gardens overlooking a pretty lake. En-route you visit the Blue Field Tea Factory and see how the leaves become specially blended tea.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Hotel: Tea Factory
Day 10 Nuwara Eliya
In the morning there’s an optional visit to Horton Plains – a high, rolling plateau quite different from all other Sri Lankan National Parks. In the evening we visit Hakgala Botanical Gardens. 10,000 species of flora are planted here. It is famous for roses, orchids and tree ferns and quite different from Peradeniya, being the highest of the three Gardens on Sri Lanka.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Hotel: Tea Factory
Day 11 Nuwara Eliya to Yala National Park
Today we leave for Sri Lanka’s largest National Park, Yala – where you stay for two nights. In the afternoon, you tour this wonderfully scenic park. Like the other parks it has great herds of elephant and also spotted deer, sloth bears, jackals, crocodiles, mongoose, wild boar, wild buffalo, and if you’re lucky, leopards. More than 130 bird species are recorded.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Hotel: Yala Village
Day 12 Udawalawe
After a morning of relaxation we drive to Udawalawe National Park for another Jeep Safari. This park has some 500 elephants, wild buffalo, spotted deer, barking deer, wild boar, sambhur, hare, mongoose, crocodile - and 30 species of snakes. A barbecue dinner awaits you tonight.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Hotel: Yala Village
Day 13 Yala National Park to Galle
Today there’s a heart-warming visit to a rural school, part of the Responsible Tourism Partnership, which helps local people. Then, off to the Durable Car Company – actually the Morris Minor Factory – in a traditional Sri Lankan building, with coconut palms on the roof and reed matting walls. It may seem strange that Sri Lanka has a thriving industry making parts for a car that ceased production in Britain 33 years ago, but many here still drive the 'Moggie'.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: The Lighthouse
Day 14 Galle
Today there’s an early start with a packed breakfast before we go whale watching at Mirissa. The south coast of Sri Lanka is one of the best places in the world for spotting blue whales on their migratory path, and you can also see pods of sperm whales further out to sea. After this excitement you have the rest of the day to enjoy the wonderful location of your hotel. Depending on the group’s size, half of us may enjoy these activities today while the other half spends a day at leisure, and goes whale watching tomorrow – but, whichever day it is, you won’t forget it quickly.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: The Lighthouse
Day 15 Galle to Mount Lavinia
Your last full day in Sri Lanka is free before you head north, along the coast, to Colombo, where your historic, colonial hotel, overlooks the ocean. In the early evening there’s a farewell gala dinner – raise a glass to new friends and lasting memories. Freshen up in your room before it’s off to the airport for your Sri Lankan Airlines flight.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Hotel: Mount Lavinia
Day 16 Arrival into London Heathrow
You land in London in the morning, bringing this wonderful tour to a close.
Meals: Inflight