9 DAYS : The Highlights of Sri Lanka

On arrival you will be welcomed by Chauffeur Guide Mahinda and will offer you assistance at the Airport. Proceed to Colombo and check in to the hotel. (40km, approx.1hr).

*Meeting time is flexible. Please kindly give your flight information. I'll give you a precise time to meet.

Afternoon City Tour of Colombo including visit to the Commercial, Residential and Bazaar areas. Today, Colombo is the trade capital and a fascinating city with a happy blend of east and west, past and present with charm of its own. The main seaport of Sri Lanka is in

Colombo and adjoining it, is Pettah, which is local bazaar and trading area. Other places interest are the beautiful Buddhist temples, Hindu temples, Islamic mosques, the historic Wolfendhal Church, the main residential area- cinnamon gardens and the BMICHInternational Conference Hall and Fort, the commercial area.

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Return to the hotel (Apporx 2hr).

Dinner and overnight stay at Ozo hotel, Colombo.

After breakfast leave for Mirrissa. (190km, approx. 2hrs, via express way).

Enroute visit a Turtle Hatchery in Ahungalle where turtle eggs are hatched and baby turtles nurtured until they are released in to the ocean. (Approx 30 min).

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Continue to Mirrissa on route visit the Dutch Fort in Gall, The southern capital of Sri Lanka.

Here you’ll view the famous Dutch ramparts in the Gall Fort with a Portuguese emblem on the southern wall. This Fort is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the best-preserved colonial sea fortress in Asia. The Fort was built and modified over four centuries started by the Portuguese then the Dutch and eventually by the British. Protected with its wall is a complete town with narrow streets, churches and cloistered inner court yards of shuttered mansions which clearly bear the testament of their colonial past. (Approx 1hr).

Proceed to Mirrissa and check in to hotel.

Mirrissa is the closet point to where blue whales are inhabited because it has appropriate environmental conditions to live theses giants. It is reported five types of whales( Blue Whale, Bryde’s Whale, Sperm Whale and Pilot Whale) and four kinds of Dolphins (Spinner Dolphins, Bottle Nose Dolphins, Stripped Dolphins and Rissoo’s Dolphins) in Mirrissa.

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Dinner and overnight stay at Randiya Hotel Mirrissa.

Early morning 6.30 am drive to jetty to sail off to the deep blue seas for an adventure that you will never forget: Whales and Dolphin watching. (Time duration may be 04 to 07 hrs). Afterwards, proceed to Thissamaharama and check in to hotel.

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Dinner and overnight stay at Kithala Hotel, Thissamaharamaya. (110km, approx. 2hrs)

Leave early morning at 5.30 am with a packed breakfast for Yala National Park where you can see Sri Lankan wild animals in their natural state…Inside the park you will come across Wild Boar, Deer, Leopards, Elephants, Bears, Peacocks, Flamingoes and many more animals roaming freely as nature intended them to live. The elephants gather at the water wholes for drinking and you may watch them bathing their young immersing themselves in the river. They can also be sighted at close range some times. You may also see leopards sunning themselves on rocks in the park. Herds of deer will roam keeping a wary eye on the predators. Peacocks flaunting their colorful feathers strut around and flamingoes are a breathtaking sight.You will find Yala a delightful place to survey our wild animals.

(Approx 3hrs). Return to the hotel around 9.30 am.

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Afterwards leave for Nuwara Eliya. Enroute stop at the Ella Ravana Falls.

Ella Ravana Fall - On the Wallawaya-Ella Road six km before Ella village by the side of the road is this water fall.1080ft in height, the fall has several leaps.

OPTIONAL TRAIN RIDE ELLA TO NANUOYA (The nearest rail way station to Nuwara

Eliya).(Approx 3hrs and 30 mins).

Proceed to Nuwara Elliya and check in to the hotel.

Nuwara Elliya - The ‘little England’ of Sri Lanka is set against backdrops of Mountains, Valleys, Water Falls and tea Plantations. It is supposed to be one of the coldest places on the island, but is really just like and England spring day although the temperature does drop at night. All around Nuwara Elliya you will see evidence of the British influence. Houses are like country cottages or Queen Ann style mansions.

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Dinner and overnight stay at the Oak Ray Summer Hill Breeze hotel, Nuwara Eliya.

After breakfast leave for Kandy. (82km, approx. 3hrs).

Enroute visit tea plantation and factory to watch the process of turning the raw green leaf in to the familiar black/brown final products, there after walk through the tea plantation.

Afterward, proceed to Kandy passing through tea plantations, spectacular view of beautiful green hillsides and rushing water falls. Checking to the hotel.

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Afternoon Kandy City tour.

Kandy – A lovely city, and the hill capital and last stronghold of the Sinhala kings retain an aura of grandeur, which time has not affected. Encircled by hills, with a tranquil lake in its center, it is the site of the renowned “Temple of the Tooth Relic” and the Royal Botanical Garden home to one of the best collections of Orchids. Kandy and its satellite villages is the center of the island handicraft industry and its traditional dances are the most spectacular in the country. Late evening witness a cultural dance performance in Kandy.

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Return to the hotel. (Approx 2hrs and 30 mins).

Dinner and overnight Stay at hotel SENANI, Kandy.

After breakfast transfer to Dambulla. (80 kms approx 2hrs)

Enroute visit a Spice Garden in Matale and Dambulla Cave Temple.

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Spice Garden at Matale

You will see many spice gardens at Matale where Cinnamon, Cardamom, Pepper Creepers and all other spice trees, plants and creepers are planted for visitors to see them. Spice products are also available for those who like to buy them. At all spice gardens visitors are taken round explaining each tree and plant and at the end explaining the use of them in food preparations.

Continue to Dambulla.

Dambulla Cave Temple is the vast isolated rock mass 500 feet high and a mile around the base. Here is found the famous Rock Temple dating to the first century BC. The caves of Dambulla sheltered king Walagamba during his 14 years of exile from Anuradhapura. When he regains the throne, he built the most magnificent of Rock Temples to be found in island. In the first cave is the recumbent image of the buddha 47ft long cut out of the rock. There are images of deities associated with Buddhism all around. The frescoes on the walls and ceiling are the oldest here but they are over painted in the Kandy period. In the second cave the finest and largest of all, there are 150 life size statues of the buddha in various postures with few statues of Gods and kings. The ceiling is also covered with frescoes which depict great events in the life of buddha and landmarks in the history of the Sinhalese people. (Approx 2 hrs).

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Continue to the hotel and check in.

Dinner and overnight stay at Palvehera Village Resort, Dambulla.

After breakfast set off to Sigiriya. (11km, 20min).

This UNESCO World Heritage Site, spectacular Rock Fortress, is one of Sri Lanka’s major attractions. The most impressive facets of the unique complex are the Water Gardens, the frescoes of beautiful maidens, the Mirror wall with ancient graffiti, the Lion flatform and the Summit of 1.6 ha, which was completely covered by buildings during the period of Sigiriya’s glory. Built by King Kashyapa (477-495 AD), the Lion Rock is a citadel of unusual beauty rising 200m from the scrub jungle. The Rock was the innermost stronghold of the 70-ha fortified town and the base is ringed by a moat, rampart and extensive gardens.

The world- renowned frescoes, (Originally 500, of which only 19 remain today) which are in a sheltered pocket of the rock approached by a spiral stairway are painted in earth pigments on plaster. The old stairway to the top led through the mouth of a crouching lion but today only the huge paws remain giving an indication of the massive proportion of the head. (Approx 2 hrs).

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Continue to Polonnaruwa which is the second ancient capital of Sri Lanka. (70km, 1hr and 30 mins).

This medieval city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, rose to fame as the capital (10th-12th century) after the decline of Anuradhapura (the first ancient capital of Sri Lanka). The entire landscape of the region is punctuated by huge man-made reservoirs, the most famous of which is the Parakrama Samudra or the Sea of Parakrama. The monuments are relatively well preserved and give clear evidence of the glory of Sri Lanka’s past.

Highlights are the Royal palace Complex including the King’s Palace and Audience Hall, the Quadrangle with its concentration of ancient heritage and the spectacular Gal Vihara Complex of four massive images of the buddha, cut from a single slab of granite, a highlight of ancient Sri Lankan rock carving. Some of the best examples of the Hindu influence- the temple of Shiva, intricate statues of Hindu Gods, fascinating Buddhist temples, the Lankathilaka and Watadage, the remains of a former temple of the Tooth Relic are other impressive sights. (Approx 2 hrs).

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(Optional visit to Minneriya National Park enroute).

Return to the hotel.

Dinner and overnight stay at Palvehera village resort, Dambulla.

After breakfast transfer to Negambo. (129km, approx. 3hrs).

Negambo is the small fishing village with a largely Roman Catholic population. It is particularly picturesque in the early morning and the evening when the fishing boats come in to the land their catch on the North shore of the town, where the market is also situated.

The white golden sand beach is dotted with fishing boats and the inland resort road offers a selection of restaurants and bars. Negambo being situated close to the international airport, makes a convenient rest stop before heading inland to explore or before onward flight.

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Dinner and overnight stay at Golden Star Hotel, Negambo.

Transfer to the airport to take your return flight home or beach extension at your choice.

*Ending time could be flexible according to your flight schedule.