Sri Lanka Highlights: Smart Saver

Six days and five nights through the best of Sri Lanka, arranged privately for your party alone and kept to the essentials: clean, comfortable three-star hotels with breakfast, your own air-conditioned car or KDH van for the whole route, and a friendly English-speaking driver-guide. It is the value way to see the island and suits families and groups of friends travelling together. The same route is offered with four-star hotels and dinners as our Classic Comfort plan, and with five-star hotels, a premium vehicle and a senior guide as the Luxury Escape.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Into The Cultural Triangle

You are welcomed at the airport with a name board and driven north to the cultural triangle, the region of ancient capitals and rock temples at the heart of the island, for the first night in Sigiriya. On the second morning you climb Sigiriya rock, the fifth-century fortress built on a 200-metre column of granite above the plain, past its water gardens, the mirror wall and the painted frescoes, to the lion's paws at the final stairway and the ruins on the summit. From there you continue to Dambulla, where cave shrines cut into a hillside hold painted ceilings and rows of Buddha statues, and you stop at a spice garden on the road south to see cinnamon, pepper, cardamom and vanilla growing. The night is spent in Kandy.

Kandy And The Tea Country

Day three begins at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic beside Kandy Lake, the island's most revered Buddhist shrine, and then climbs into the hill country. The road winds up through tea estates to a working tea factory, where you see the leaf withered, rolled and dried and taste the result, and passes Ramboda Falls on the way to Nuwara Eliya, the cool, colonial-era town the planters built at nearly 1,900 metres. The night is spent in Nuwara Eliya.

Down To The Coast

On day four you descend to the south-west coast at Bentota. The day's programme takes in a boat safari on the river through the mangrove channels, a turtle hatchery where eggs collected from the beaches are protected until the hatchlings can be released, and time on the beach. The river safari is among the inclusions of our Classic Comfort and Luxury Escape plans but not of this one. The night is spent in Bentota.

Galle, Colombo And Home

Day five follows the coast south to Galle for a walk around the fort, a walled town of Dutch ramparts, a lighthouse and colonial streets, then turns north to Colombo for a city tour and time for shopping. The last night is in Colombo. On day six you are driven to the airport in time for your flight, which is where the services end.

YOUR HOTELS (OR SIMILAR)

Sigiriya: Elephas Resort. Kandy: Sandriyana Lake View. Nuwara Eliya: Queensbury. Bentota: Mangrove Cave. Colombo: Nelli Marine. Hotels are named as a guide and may be replaced by similar ones, subject to availability.

GOOD TO KNOW

This is a private tour, quoted on request on the basis of two adults sharing a double room; groups of four or more are quoted at lower rates, and the plan can be changed, any day, hotel or pace, when you ask for your quote. Included are five nights in three-star hotels with breakfast daily, a private air-conditioned car or KDH van, an English-speaking driver-guide, airport pickup and drop-off, bottled water every day, government taxes and WhatsApp support throughout the trip. Dinners can be added as half board. Not included are flights, the Sri Lanka visa, entrance fees, camera permits, tips and personal expenses. Cancellation is free up to 21 days before arrival. Rates are quoted for travel until 30 April 2027; the standard rates do not apply from 20 December to 5 January or on festival dates. See also our other Sri Lanka packages and the rest of our holiday packages.