Experiences:
- Nature reserves
- UNESCO World Heritage Sites
- Wildlife game drives
- Village visit
- Bullock cart ride
- Spice gardens
- Botanical Gardens
- Temples
- Tea tasting
- Birdwatching
Day 1 Depart London Heathrow on your overnight flight to Colombo.
Day 2 On arrival you will be met and transferred to the Wallawwa Resort, Kotugoda, for overnight. In the afternoon take a boat trip through Muthuajawela Nature Reserve.
The Wallawwa is a restored colonial manor house in three acres of beautiful landscaped gardens, only a short drive from Bandaranaike International Airport.
Day 3 Depart for Sigiriya. In the afternoon take a jeep safari in Minneriya National Park, famous for its many large herds of elephants.
Three nights Vil Uyana, one of the first hotels to construct a wetland system to form its own nature reserve.
Day 4 In the morning climb the Rock Fortress of Sigiriya, which was founded over 1500 years ago.
In the afternoon visit Polonnaruwa: this was the island’s 2nd medieval capital between the 11th and 13th century.
Day 5 Village tour in Habarana with catamaran ride, bullock cart ride and typical village lunch.
Day 6 Depart for Kandy and en route visit Dambulla Rock Temple – a World Heritage Site and the most impressive of Sri Lanka’s cave temples. A stop will also be made at a spice garden. In the afternoon enjoy a half day city tour of Kandy including Upper Lake Drive, and the Royal Botanical Gardens which have more than 5000 species of plants. In the evening visit the Temple of the Tooth, home to Sri Lanka’s holiest Buddhist relic, the tooth of Lord Buddha himself.
Overnight Mountbatten House. Originally the private residence of Lord Mountbatten, this one hundred year old bungalow set amongst tea gardens has been restored as a boutique hotel with only six rooms.
Day 7 Transfer to Nuwara Eliya – through the hill country and tea growing areas. Visit a tea factory and plantation to see the manufacturing process of Ceylon Tea. Continue to Haputale.
Two nights Thotalagala, a luxurious colonial tea planter’s bungalow.
Day 8 Day at leisure. Enjoy the stunning scenery from the bungalow.
Day 9 Drive to Yala and enjoy a jeep safari. Ruhuna National Park at Yala is Sri Lanka’s most popular wild life safari destination and home to leopards, crocodile, elephant, deer, sambar, bear, wild boar, wild buffalo and peacock and many varieties of birds. The uniqueness of the park is its many different habitat diversities.
Two nights Cinnamon Wild Hotel, Yala: a game lodge on a terrain ranging from bush jungle, wooded jungle, beaches, fresh water lakes and scrubland rich in wildlife and birdlife.
Day 10 Morning and afternoon game drives.
Day 11 Early morning visit to Bundala National Park. Enjoy a jeep safari in the wetland which plays host to over 20,000 shorebirds at any given time. From August to April Bundala is the end point of a vast migration of birds from the north. Elephants, deer and wild buffalo roam free here.
Continue to Galle, one of the ancient world’s most strategic ports, and visit the Dutch Fortress – a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Overnight Fort Printers Hotel. Dating back to the 18th century, this elegant mansion was first a college and later the home of a traditional printing company.
Day 12 Transfer to Wadduwa. Three nights Reef Villa Hotel and Spa, an exotic small luxury hideaway with only seven rooms.
Days 13 and 14 At leisure.
Day 15 Transfer to Colombo in time to check in for your flight to London.