13 Days Sri Lanka Tour: Sigiriya, Kandy, Yala & Bentota

After a relaxed breakfast you leave the coast and head inland towards Habarana, a drive of roughly four hours in total once you add the stops. The road climbs gently through coconut country and small market towns, and your first halt is at Pinnawala, about an hour and a half beyond Colombo on the way up.

Pinnawala is a sanctuary on the bank of the Maha Oya river that opened in 1975 on a 25-acre coconut estate and has looked after orphaned and injured elephants ever since. The herd is led down to the water twice a day to bathe, and that is the moment to be there: dozens of animals wading, spraying and rolling while their mahouts stand by. Calves younger than three are still bottle-fed, so with luck you will see a feed. Plan on a couple of hours, wear shoes you do not mind getting dusty and bring a hat.

Back on the road you reach Dambulla, where five caves sit beneath a huge overhanging rock that rises roughly 160 metres above the plain. A stone staircase leads up to the entrance, and the views behind you open up with every flight. Inside, the ceilings are painted from edge to edge with scenes from the Buddha's life, and the caves hold 153 Buddha figures, three statues of kings and four of deities. UNESCO listed the site in 1991 and worshippers have used the caves for over two thousand years. Take socks for the walk, as the stone is hot and shoes must be left at the foot of the steps. Cover your knees and shoulders.

You arrive in Habarana in the late afternoon, where your lakeside hotel is surrounded by forest. Dinner is your own choice, and the hotel restaurant is the easiest option after a long day. Sigiriya tomorrow means an early start, so most guests turn in sensibly.

Transport: Private air-conditioned vehicle with English-speaking driver-guide

Breakfast is early, because the rock is kindest before the sun gets high. From Habarana it is about 25 minutes to Sigiriya. You begin at the foot, in the symmetrical water gardens laid out by King Kashyapa in the 5th century, with pools, channels and fountains that still work in the rainy season. Boulder gardens and shaded paths lead to the base of the cliff.

Then the real climb starts: a long series of steps and metal stairways, roughly 1,200 in all, rising about 200 metres above the forest. Halfway up, a spiral staircase brings you to the famous frescoes, a gallery of painted women whose colours have survived in the shelter of the rock. Just beyond is the Mirror Wall, once polished so smoothly that the king could see himself in it, and now scratched with visitors' verses from over a thousand years ago. At the Lion's Paws two huge claws mark where a lion-shaped gateway once swallowed visitors on their way to the top. The summit holds the foundations of the palace and a wide view over jungle and tanks. Allow three hours in all. Bring water, a hat and shoes with a grip, and go slowly. Climbers who prefer less effort can stop at the frescoes or the lion's paws and still see the best of it.

You return to the hotel for lunch and a rest. In the late afternoon your guide takes you to a village near Sigiriya for an outing at a gentler tempo. You ride an ox-cart past paddy fields, paddle across the village lake in a traditional outrigger canoe and see a chena plot, a small patch of cleared land worked for seasonal crops. A family then shows you how rice and curry is made over a wood fire, and you sit down to eat it. The food is fresh, mild to hot, and very good.

Back in Habarana, the hotel restaurant is an easy choice for dinner, or your driver can suggest a simple local place.

Transport: Private air-conditioned vehicle with English-speaking driver-guide

Today takes you to Polonnaruwa, the capital that followed Anuradhapura and was Sri Lanka's seat of government from the 11th to the 13th century. It is about an hour to an hour and a half from Habarana. Start early and the ruins are quiet and cool, with monkeys on the walls and bright birdlife in the trees along the Parakrama Samudra reservoir.

The story here is one of water and rice. King Vijayabahu drove out the Chola invaders in 1070 and reunited the island, and later King Parakramabahu, who ruled from 1153 to 1186, built a vast network of reservoirs that fed the fields and turned the country into the granary of the east. The big lake beside the ruins is one of his works and looks more like an inland sea than a tank. Archaeologists consider the site one of the best-planned ancient cities on the island, and as you walk between the monuments you can see how carefully the king organised it.

Your guide leads you through the main sights in a sensible order: the council chamber and royal palace of Parakramabahu, the circular Vatadage with its carved moonstones and guardian steps, and the Quadrangle, a raised terrace crowded with shrines. The highlight for most guests is Gal Vihara, four Buddha figures cut from a single granite wall, one seated and two standing and one reclining, with a calm that is hard to put into words. The area is large and mostly flat, so you can walk it with a guide or hop on and off the vehicle. Shade is limited, so bring a hat and water, and remember to cover your shoulders and knees at the shrines.

After lunch you return to Habarana and have the late afternoon free. In the drier months, a jeep safari to Minneriya or Kaudulla, where wild elephants gather beside the reservoirs, makes a fine optional extra. Your driver can arrange it, and the cost is separate. Otherwise sit by the lake at your hotel and watch the birds as the light fades.

Transport: Private air-conditioned vehicle with English-speaking driver-guide

You say goodbye to Habarana after breakfast and drive towards the hill capital, a journey of roughly three hours of road time that you break up on the way. The scenery changes as you leave the dry plain and climb into greener country with banana trees and small plantations along the road.

The first stop is a spice garden at Matale, around 25 kilometres short of Kandy. A guide walks you through the beds and shows you the plants behind the flavours: pepper climbing up its supports, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon bark and cardamom, which grows in the shade and has to be picked by hand. You also learn how spices are used in Ayurvedic remedies, and you can try a head massage or a herbal balm if you like. You are under no obligation to buy anything, though the spices make good gifts.

You reach Kandy in the afternoon and check in. The city sits around a small lake and was the last royal capital of the Sinhalese kings, and UNESCO protects it today. The centre of it all is the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, where the Buddha's tooth is kept. According to tradition the relic reached the island in the 4th century hidden in the hair of a princess from Kalinga. The shrine is a place of daily worship, so you will see people bringing lotus and temple flowers and hear the drums at the evening offering. Dress modestly, remove your shoes and expect crowds at the busiest moments.

The evening ends with a Kandyan dance show, usually around five o'clock for an hour. Drummers, acrobatic dancers in headdresses and fire-walkers fill the stage, and the performance is as colourful as it is loud. For dinner, your hotel restaurant is the easy choice, though Kandy has plenty of other places to eat.

Transport: Private air-conditioned vehicle with English-speaking driver-guide

Kandy gets a whole day of its own, and the pace is leisurely. After breakfast you drive to a tea estate in the hills outside town. Tea arrived here with the British in the 19th century, and your guide explains how the first plants came from China and were tried out at the Peradeniya gardens before spreading across the highlands. You walk beside the bushes, see how leaves are withered, rolled, fermented, dried and sorted in the factory, and then sit down to taste the result, often with a view over green terraces.

Next is a gem museum and workshop. Sri Lanka has been known for sapphires and other stones since ancient times, and the exhibit shows a reconstructed mine, rough and polished samples and the cutters at work. There is a showroom, but you are welcome to look and leave. If you do wish to buy, ask about certificates and take your time.

After a rest and lunch, you head west to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya, about five kilometres from the centre. The gardens lie in a loop of the Mahaweli river at roughly 460 metres above sea level and cover 147 acres. Royal gardens existed here as far back as 1371, and the present layout began in 1821 under Alexander Moon. More than 4,000 plant species grow here, including orchids, spices, medicinal plants and enormous palms along long avenues. The gardens even served as an Allied headquarters for the region in the Second World War. Late afternoon is lovely: the light softens, fruit bats hang in the big trees and families come out for a stroll.

Return to your hotel and decide where to have dinner, perhaps in the hotel restaurant after a rest. You have a full day of train travel tomorrow, so an early night helps.

Transport: Private air-conditioned vehicle with English-speaking driver-guide

This is the day many guests remember most. After breakfast your driver takes you to Kandy station, helps you board and sends your luggage on by road, then meets you at the other end. You ride the line from Kandy towards Ella as far as Nanu Oya, the station for Nuwara Eliya, a journey of roughly four to five hours.

The track follows the route the British built in the 1860s to carry tea and coffee down from the hills, and it is still a working railway as well as a tourist attraction. The train winds up through small stations, rice terraces, and tunnels, then climbs into tea country, where women pick leaf on slopes so steep that they seem to cling to them. Waterfalls appear beside the carriage and the air cools as you rise. Ride with the door open if your carriage allows it, keep your camera strap short and your bag close, and carry a snack and water. Seats are booked in advance and fill quickly, so we reserve what is available for your date and will explain the class options beforehand. If seats are full, your driver can take you by road in three to four hours with scenic stops.

At Nanu Oya your driver is waiting with the vehicle for the short transfer up to Nuwara Eliya, a hill town at about 1,900 metres nicknamed Little England. You check in, warm up with a cup of tea and have the rest of the afternoon free. Evenings are cold, so bring a jumper or light jacket. The hotel restaurant is a good place for dinner, where an open fire is common.

Transport: Private air-conditioned vehicle with English-speaking driver-guide

A day to enjoy Nuwara Eliya without a long drive. Breakfast is unhurried, and mornings in the hills are often the clearest, so go out early if you can. The town is a mix of colonial bungalows, clipped hedges, flower beds and busy bazaar streets, with tea estates in every direction.

Your guide starts with a short city circuit: the market, where vegetables from the hill farms are piled high; the lake, where you can walk the shore path; and Victoria Park, which is at its best when the flowers and birds are active. Then it is on to Hakgala Botanical Gardens, a short drive away. The gardens climb a terraced slope beneath a sheer rock face and are known for roses, tree ferns and orchids that love the cool mountain air. Monkeys and blue magpies are often seen among the trees. A little further along the road stands the Seetha Amman Temple, a bright Hindu shrine linked to the Ramayana, whose carved and painted figures are very photogenic.

If you want to see how this region makes its tea, ask your driver to include a stop at a factory on the way back. The staff will take you through the same steps as in Kandy, in a hill setting at greater altitude.

The afternoon is free. Many guests choose a long lunch, a book by the fire or a quiet walk. If you want a high-altitude walk, ask us about adding a night so that Horton Plains and World's End can be done at first light, when the views are clearest. Dinner is your choice tonight, and the hotel restaurant keeps it simple on a cold evening.

Transport: Private air-conditioned vehicle with English-speaking driver-guide

Today you leave the cool hills and travel south and east to the dry zone. Plan on about eight hours in total, including stops, with the driving split into sections: roughly three hours by road from Nuwara Eliya to Ella and about two more from Ella down to Tissamaharama. Breakfast is early so that you can see Ella while the light is soft.

The road drops through tea slopes and then pine and eucalyptus, with views that open and close at every bend. In Ella, a relaxed hill village set in a gap in the mountain wall, you stop first at the Nine Arch Bridge near Demodara. Completed in 1921 under British rule, it is built of stone blocks and cement with no steel reinforcement, and it curves across a green gully in a graceful sweep. Locals and visitors line the embankment when a train is due, and when the blue carriages glide across the arches the scene is hard to beat. Your guide can check the timetable so that you arrive in good time.

Next is Ravana Falls, a broad cascade that drops about 82 feet over a smooth rock beside the main road. In the wetter months its shape resembles a drooping areca flower, and in the dry season it thins considerably. Local stories link the area with the legendary king Ravana. A short stop for photos and a cold drink is enough, and Ella has good cafés if you want a proper lunch.

From Ella the road runs down to the plains, and the temperature rises as the greenery turns to scrub and paddy. You arrive in Tissamaharama by late afternoon, a quiet lakeside town beside the Tissa Wewa reservoir. Check in, rest, and have dinner early, in the hotel restaurant or somewhere close by, because the safari alarm is set for before dawn.

Transport: Private air-conditioned vehicle with English-speaking driver-guide

A very early start: your driver collects you in the dark with a breakfast pack, and you reach the gates of Yala for the first light. A tracker rides in an open 4x4 jeep with you, and the next three hours or so are spent on slow, quiet tracks among scrub, rock outcrops, lagoons and grassland. Yala is the island's most visited wildlife park and has one of the densest populations of leopards anywhere, though sightings can never be promised. Elephants, sloth bears, crocodiles, buffalo, peacocks and dozens of bird species are all regular sights, and there is a good chance of seeing several of them. Bring a hat, sunscreen and binoculars, and wear neutral colours.

By late morning you leave the park and begin the long transfer to the coast. This is a full day, so each stop is kept short. The first is the blowhole at Hummanaya, near Dickwella, where waves force a jet of seawater up through a rock vent, and next come the stilt fishermen off Weligama, perched on poles above the surf.

The drive from Tissamaharama to Galle is about three hours, and the late light on Galle Fort is kind. The Portuguese began the fort in 1588 and the Dutch strengthened it from 1649. A stroll along the ramparts past the lighthouse and the old church takes about an hour. After that you take a boat on the Madu River, which winds between mangrove islands, with stops at a cinnamon-peeling demonstration and a fish spa. The wetland covers about 915 hectares, includes 64 islands and has been a sanctuary since 2006. A short way down the coast the Kosgoda hatchery protects turtle eggs and cares for young turtles before they are released.

You arrive in Bentota in the evening, roughly an hour beyond Galle. Have dinner wherever you like, and you will sleep well after a day outdoors.

Transport: Private air-conditioned vehicle with English-speaking driver-guide

Today the schedule is blank. Breakfast comes whenever you want it, and the only plan is to enjoy Bentota, a wide beach town at the mouth of the Bentota river. The sea can have a strong swell, so ask at the hotel where swimming is safest and follow the flags.

If you feel like doing something, there are easy options, all of them optional and paid on the spot. The river is calm and good for kayaking, a banana-boat ride or a jet-ski session. Bentota has a long Ayurveda tradition, and your hotel spa can arrange a massage or a herbal treatment that helps stiff legs after the climbs and train rides. A short drive away are the gardens created by the Bawa brothers, a landscaped estate of terraces, statues and shaded lawns that rewards a quiet hour. Your driver can take you and wait.

Otherwise, this is a day for a long swim, a book and a late lunch of fresh fish. Evenings on this coast are pleasant for a walk on the sand at sunset, when the fishermen's lights start to appear on the horizon. Dinner is your own choice tonight, and your driver can point you to somewhere good nearby. If you would prefer a more active day, tell us in advance and we can plan a trip along the coast.

Transport: Private air-conditioned vehicle with English-speaking driver-guide

Another day with nothing fixed. Sleep late, eat a long breakfast and decide on the day as you go. Some guests spend it entirely on the sand. Others use it for a half-day outing: a cooking class, a yoga session on the beach, a turn on the river or a visit to a nearby temple. Your driver can arrange transport on request.

If you are visiting between roughly November and April and would like to go to sea, whale watching from Mirissa is possible as a long day trip, though it means a very early start and a drive each way. Otherwise keep it simple. Pack a little in the afternoon so that tomorrow is calm, and enjoy a last sunset from the beach before choosing somewhere for dinner.

Transport: Private air-conditioned vehicle with English-speaking driver-guide

Your last day begins with breakfast and a slow morning. You may swim, walk on the beach or simply sit and watch the waves, and you can stay in your room until the check-out time agreed with the hotel.

When it is time, your driver collects you for the transfer to the airport, about two hours up the coast, with the departure timed to your flight. Many guests leave in the evening, which gives a full relaxed day before the journey. Let your driver know your flight time in advance so that you can leave with a comfortable margin, and say thank you for the days on the road.

Transport: Private air-conditioned vehicle with English-speaking driver-guide