Overview
A fun-filled adventure with elephant encounters, Sigiriya Rock, and village tours, perfect for families exploring wildlife and culture.
Itinerary
Arrival at the airport. Transfer to Negombo (½ hour drive)
Afternoon city tour of Negombo.
Accommodation - Hotel in Negombo / Meals - Dinner & Breakfast
On arrival at the airport, transfer to the hotel in Negombo, a beach town near the international airport. Evening leisure.
Accommodation - Hotel in Negombo / Meals – Dinner & Breakfast
Millennium Elephant Foundation – shelter for captive elephants (2½ hour drive)
Transfer to Dambulla (2½ hour drive)
Accommodation - Hotel in Dambulla / Meals - Dinner & Breakfast
Check out of the hotel and drive to the ‘Millennium Elephant Foundation’ in Rambukkana, a certified, non-profit organization working with captive elephants in Sri Lanka. During your visit you would get to bathe elephants in the near-by brook, and to experience an exhilarating drenching shower as the jumbo shoots water at you (advised to bring a change of clothes). Visit the unique paper factory where paper is produced out elephant droppings. Set out on the famous ‘walk with the elephant’ where you walk by an elephant while it freely roams through the woods in its natural space.
Continue on to your hotel in Dambulla.
Accommodation - Hotel in Dambulla or Sigiriya / Meals – Dinner & Breakfast
Climb Sigiriya Rock – UNESCO World Heritage Site. Enjoy a boat ride in the Lake.
Experience a local village tour in tuk tuk, followed by a traditional lunch.
Accommodation - Hotel in Dambulla / Meals - Dinner & Breakfast
After an early breakfast climb the 5th-century 'Lion Rock' fortress of Sigiriya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, built by King Kashyapa (477-495 AD), a citadel of unusual beauty that rises 200m from the low jungle. The rock was the innermost fortress of the 70-hectare fortified city. A moat, rampart and water gardens, surround the base of the rock. Visit Sigiriya's renowned 'Heavenly Maidens' wall paintings, which are known among world’s oldest paintings. Through the giant paws of a huge carved lion, continue to the top of the rock where you will see the ruins of the palace of the V century monarch.
Later on, we take a delightful village tour in a rural village. This excursion, is one of the best ways to experience the traditional Sri Lankan way of life. Hop in a tuk-tuk for a thrilling ride through the village and take a boat ride on Habarana Lake.
Visit a village house to experience the local hospitality. The host will show you the house and demonstrate how to cook a traditional Sri Lankan dish on wood fire on earthen pots. At the end, enjoy on a traditional lunch with the local family.
In the afternoon, enjoy an exciting jeep safari through Minneriya National Park. The annual dry period runs from July to September and, especially in August, visitors can witness the famous natural phenomenon of the Minneriya elephant gathering, the largest concentration of wild elephants in the world, sometimes reaching 200 elephants. The Park is also home to spotted deer, sambar, leopards, sloth bears, saltwater crocodiles, pythons and monitor lizards.
Accommodation - Hotel in Dambulla or Sigiriya / Meals – Dinner & Breakfast
Visit the cave Temple of Dambulla – UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Transfer to the city of Kandy – UNESCO World Heritage Site (2.5-hour drive)
Enjoy a city tour in Kandy. In the evening enjoy a cultural show. Visit the Temple of Tooth Relic in Kandy.
Accommodation - Hotel in Kandy / Meals - Dinner & Breakfast
Check out of the hotel. Visit the Golden Cave Temple of Dambulla, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Climbing up the steps toward the top of the Rock, you will see the 2000-year old cave temple carved in the enormous isolated rock mass. Visiting inside the caves you will be amazed as you would not find a single empty space on the rock wall or the ceiling which is not picturesquely covered by amazing mural painting, with each of them narrating a story.
Later on, transfer to the city of Kandy, which is another UNESCO world heritage site. En route, visit the spice garden in Matale. Gain an insight into how spices that you have used to flavor your food at home, and many other tropical herbs that you have known or heard of, are grown.
On arrival, set out on a city tour of Kandy. Kandy was the last capital of the Sri Lankan kings and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site it still dearly holds many of the legends, traditions, and folklore. Stroll around Kandy Lake, built by the last Sinhalese king, Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, in 1807. Visit the bustling Kandy town, the crafts center, a gem museum, and a lapidary.
At 17:00 enjoy a cultural dance performance which showcase traditional dances, drums, and colorful costumes, followed by a firewalking display. Visit the Temple of the Tooth Relic which houses the most revered Buddhist relic on the island – a tooth of the Lord Buddha.
Accommodation - Hotel in Kandy / Meals – Dinner & Breakfast
Visit a tea plantation and the Tea Factory. Proceed to Colombo. (3.5-hour drive)
Visit Colombo City the commercial capital of Sri Lanka.
Accommodation - Hotel in Colombo / Meals - Dinner & Breakfast
In the morning, visit a Tea plantation and a tea factory. At the factory, experience the finest process of manufacturing the world class Ceylon tea. On completion proceed to Colombo, the commercial capital of Sri Lanka.
On arrival at Colombo enjoy a brief visit in Colombo city, a mixture of colonial and modern architecture. As you drive through, learn the interesting stories of the Colonial history of Sri Lanka, in which Colombo and its port played a significant role. Visit Colombo Fort area, which was originally built by the Portuguese in 16th century, old parliament, Galle face, Dutch hospital, town hall and Independent Square.
Accommodation - Hotel in Colombo / Meals – Dinner & Breakfast
Transfer to the international airport (1-hour drive)
Transfer to the airport for departure. Reach 3 hours before the flight.
• This tour itinerary is completely customizable according to your preferences.
• To book this tour, we will need the names of the clients, number of pax (ages if any kids) and arrival dates.
• We will proceed to book the hotels. If any hotels are sold-out, we will propose alternatives of the same standards for your approval before proceeding to book.
• Once all hotels are booked (this may take up to 3-5 working days), we will issue an invoice to you. All bank charges are at the expense of the payer. Our invoices are in US Dollars.
• If you wish to cancel the trip after payment, no cancellation fee/penalty will be charged up to 04 weeks prior to the arrival (this period can be longer, up to 06 weeks during peak or festive seasons). We will refund your payment in full (bank charges will be deducted from the refunding amount).
• Any cancellation within 04 weeks prior to arrival may incur penalties from hotels up to 100%, depending on the hotel.
• Sri Lanka Tourist Visa can be applied through the official ETA government website about a month prior to arrival.