UK Package - 18 Days

Day 1 - Airport - Colombo

Arrive in Sri Lanka. You will be met by representatives of Serene Travels and transferred to Colombo. (Travel time approx: 01hr)

Colombo - a drive through the city taking you to the busy commercial areas as well as the tree-lined residential, Cinnamon Gardens. Visit Fort, the former British administrative centre and military garrison, Sea Street - the Goldsmith’s quarters in the heart of Pettah, the Bazaar area, where there is also a Hindu Temple with elaborate stone carvings, and the Dutch Church of Wolfendhal dating back to 1749. Also, visit the BMICH, and see the replica of Avukana Buddha & the Independence Square.

Shopping in Colombo.......visit ODEL Unlimited provides ample opportunity indulge, not only in shopping for designer wear apparel for the whole family, but also take taste buds on a voyage of discovery.

Overnight stay at a Hotel in Colombo

Day 2 - Colombo - Galle

Breakfast at the Hotel

Proceed to Galle (Travel time approx: 06hrs)
En route witness Bentota
Commence Bentota sightseeing

• - Maadu River Ride
• - Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery
• - Bentota Water Sports (Jet Ski, Banana Ride & Tube Ride)

Continue to Galle & leisure @ the hotel

Overnight stay at a Hotel in Galle

Day 3 - Galle

Breakfast at the Hotel

Galle
Sri Lanka’s most historically interesting town is Galle. It was a major port until about 100 years, but still handles shipping and sailing boats in the natural harbour. Stroll around the lighthouse and harbour or visit the old town where you can see the traditional lace makers and wood carvers and purchase some of the finest souvenirs.

The Dutch Fort in Galle
The South Coast’s major city is Galle, whose oldest landmark is the massive Portuguese and Dutch Fort which is a “World Heritage Site” in which the central city is contained. But the city may be much older. Some scholars believe it to be the “Tarshish” of the Old Testament, to which King Solomon sent his merchant vessels, and to which Jonah fled from the Lord. Today, the 90-acre Galle Fort shows no evidence of the Portuguese founders. The Dutch incorporated the Portuguese northern wall in a great rampart in 1663. A second, taller wall was built inside of it. Between the two walls, a covered passage connected the central bastion with the Fort’s two half bastions overlooking the sea. The Dutch also installed a sophisticated drainage system, complete with brick-lined underground sewers that were flushed twice a day by the high and low tides. The original gate to the fort was by the harbor. It is still there, marked by the British Coat-of-arms on the front and the Dutch V.O.C. (Vereenigde OostIndische Compagnie) with the Coat-of-arms with a rooster crest, on the inner side of the Fort.

Overnight stay at a Hotel in Galle

Day 4 - Galle - Yala

Breakfast at the Hotel

Proceed to Yala (Travel time approx: 03hrs)
Do Evening Safari.
Visit Yala National Park Safari - The Ruhunu National Park covers 126,786 hectares including the Strict Natural Reserve (Block II). The most familiar is Block I (14,101 hectares) and these blocks were established in 1938. Yala is famous for its big herds and large number of Elephants, Leopards, Spotted Deer, Sambhur, Crocodiles, Mongoose, Wild Boar, Wild Buffalo, and many other animals. More than 130 bird species are recorded which includes the resident and winter visitors. There are 7 Bungalows inside the Park with few Camp Sites. (The excursion will take approx: 2 hrs by Jeep)

Overnight stay at a Hotel in Yala

Day 5 - Nuwara Eliya - Yala

Breakfast at the Hotel

Proceed to Nuwara Eliya (Travel time approx: 05hrs)
Via Ella,

• 9Arch bridge
• Little Adams Peak

Continue to Nuwara Eliya & leisure at the hotel

Overnight stay at a Hotel in Nuwara Eliya

Day 6 - Nuwara Eliya

Breakfast at the Hotel

Today morning you will be going to Kandy (Travel time approx: 02 & 1/2hrs)

En route visit Ramboda Falls & Tea Factory

Continue to Nuwara Eliya & enjoy the scenic beauty of hill country

Nuwara Eliya- The ‘Little England’ of Sri Lanka, is set against beautiful backdrops of Mountains, Valleys, Waterfalls and Tea Plantations. It is supposed to be one of the coolest places in the Island, but it is really just like an English spring day, although the temperature does drop at night. All around Nuwara Eliya you will see evidence of the British influence, houses like country cottages or Queen Ann style mansions. The Victoria Park, in the middle of the town, is a lovely place for a stroll or a picnic and is also good for Birding as you get some rare birds in this Park. Seasons may be absent elsewhere in Sri Lanka, but here you can read them by the flowers, which bloom in the spring (March to May) and the fall (August and September). These are the “seasons” when low-country folk flock to Nuwara Eliya to escape the sea level heat and humidity.

Visit Hakgala Botanical Garden
Victoria Park
Gregory Lake & Boat Ride
Nuwara Eliya sightseeing

Overnight stay at a Hotel in Nuwara Eliya

Day 7 - Nuwara Eliya - Kandy

Breakfast at the Hotel

Today morning you will be going to Hortain Plains.

Horton Plains National Park

(The excursion will take approx. 2-3hrs by feet)

20 miles (32 km) from Nuwara Eliya via Ambewela and Pattipola, is the Horton Plains only 3160 hectares in extent. Known to Sri Lankans as Mahaeliya, it became Horton Plains after Sir Robert Horton, British Governor from 1831- 1837. Horton Plains became a Nature Reserve in 1969 and upgraded as a National Park in 1988 due to its unique watershed and bio-diversity values of the “Cloud Forest Reserve”. Its flora has high level of endemism. The hills are covered with diverse wet low evergreen forest with even large trees grown flattened to the ground on the higher windswept slopes. Horton Plains harbors 52 species of resident birds and 11 species of migrant birds. More then 2,000 to 3,000 Sambhur, Bear Monkey, Leopard, Barking Deer, Giant Squirrel, Fishing Cat, Wild Boar and Hares roam in the forests and grasslands but only seldom they could be seen other than the Sambhur in the evening and morning. Two escarpments- “World’s End” and “Little World’s End” falling from the Horton Plains 1000 feet and 3000 feet respectively, to the land below and the Baker’s Falls are places you should visit. This is the only National Park where visitors could walk on their own on the designated tracks.

Return to Nuwara Eliya

Overnight stay at a Hotel in Kandy

Day 8 - Kandy

Breakfast at the Hotel

Visit Peradeniya Royal Botanical Garden

Visit Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic - ever since the 4th Century A.D, when Buddha's Tooth was brought to Sri Lanka hidden from sacrilegious hands in an Orissan princess' hair, the Relic has grown in repute and holiness in Sri Lanka and throughout the Buddhist world. It is considered Sri Lanka's most prized possession.

Kandy City Tour

Overnight stay at a Hotel in Kandy

Day 9- Kandy - Sigiriya

Breakfast at the Hotel

Today morning you will be transferred to Sigiriya (Travel time approx: 02 & ½ hrs)

En – route visit Matale Spice Garden

Gem Gallery visit

Overnight stay at a Hotel in Sigiriya

Day 10- Sigiriya

Proceed to Dambulla

Dambulla Cave Temple- Dambulla cave is a 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 B.C. The caves of Dambulla sheltered King Walagamba during his 14 years of exile from Anuradhapura. When he regained the throne he built the most magnificent of Rock Temples to be found in the Island. In the first Cave is a 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 the ceiling are the oldest here but they are over painted in the Kandy period. In the Second Cave, the finest and the 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 the Buddha and landmarks in the history of the Sinhalese people. (The excursion will take approx: 1 & 1/2hrs for climb and decent)

Visit Sigiriya - Sigiriya is a “World Heritage Site” and the 5th Century “Fortress in the Sky” which is perhaps the most fantastic single wonder of the Island. It is also known as Lion Rock because of the huge lion that used to stand at the entrance to the Palace on the summit of the 600-foot-high rock. On its summit are the foundations of the Royal Palace, Water Tanks to supply water and all other buildings and at the edges the guardhouses. On one of the stairways the only known ancient work of Sinhala secular painting survived in the form of Frescoes of 21 life sized damsels still shining in their original colors. The Water Gardens, Fountain Garden, Summerhouses, Boulder Gardens and the Caves within the enclosed area should not be missed (The excursion will take approx: 3hrs for climb and decent)

Overnight stay at a Hotel in Sigiriya

Day 11 - Sigiriya - Polonaruwa Excursion

Breakfast at the Hotel

Polonnaruwa - is the 2nd capital of Sri Lanka. Built in the 11th and 12th centuries A.D, and is a world heritage site. Here you can see the ruins of the Royal Palace, the Gal Viharaya (3 splendid statues of the Buddha in upright, sedentary and recumbent postures carved out of rock). The audience hall, the lotus bath, the Polonnaruwa statue (12th century) and the Parakrama Samudra tank (lake) built by king Parakramabahu the great. There are also ruins of famous places of worship such as the Shiva temple, the Lankatileka, the Watadage, the Galpotha, the Kiri Vihare Dagoba and the remains of a former temple of the tooth.

Overnight stay at a Hotel in Sigiriya

Day 12 - Dambulla - Trincomalee

Breakfast at the Hotel

Proceed to Trincomalee (Travel time approx.: 02hrs)
Visit Thirukonneshwaram Temple Thirukonneshwaram is a wonderful temple located on a rock promontory of Trincomalee. It was built by Rishi Agastya on the instructions of Lord Shiva who was impressed by the devotion of King Ravana. This place is unique in this respect because the Lord built a temple for his devotee as a reward for his devotion. Lord Rama is believed to have offered his prayers here, too, in order to get rid of the malediction of killing Ravana who was a Brahmin, meaning Brahmahasthi Dosham. The famous temple built here during the glorious era of the Tamil Pallava and Chola and Pandya empires, was destroyed by bigoted Portuguese Christians between 1622 and 1624.
Sri Shankari Devi Shakthi Peedam - Adjacent to Trincomalee's famous Koneswaram temple there is another shrine; it is small in size but of some significance for Hindu pilgrims. This Shankari Devi temple is a reconstruction at a new place. The original Shankari Devi temple, said to be built by Ravana, was the first in the list of Ashta Dasha (18) Shakti Pitas written down by Adi Shankara, but its whole cliff was destroyed by Portuguese cannon balls. Only a pillar for commemoration is placed on that spot now. And it is believed that the original idol of the Goddess has been preserved and replaced, being venerated now in this nearby new Shankari Devi temple.
Kanniyai - The hot wells of Kanniyai or Kanniya are close to the main road to Anuradhapura only about 10 kms from Trincomalee town. Pilgrims believe in their healing power. There are many different versions of the myth on how these curative hot water wells came into existence; most of them are connected to Ravana. One legend about Kanniya’s origin has it, that this is the place where King Ravana carried out the last rites for his mother. When he was unable to find water to duly perform the rites, he in anger pierced his Trishula into the ground seven times. Water started gushing out immediately. The very hot water cooled down to the present degree when Ravana's anger calmed down. The temperature of the water is different in all the seven wells.

Overnight stay at a Hotel, Trincomalee

Day 12 - Trincomalee

Breakfast at the Hotel

Pigeon Island
Leisure at the Naively Beach

Day 13 - Trincomalee  - Anuradhapura      

Breakfast at the Hotel

Proceed to Anuradhapura (Travel time approx: 02 -03hrs) 

Anuradhapura - is located in the north central part of the Island, it was the first capital and undoubtedly the grandest city of ancient Sri Lanka. It is the home of two world heritage sites. Many places of historical and archeological interest could be visited. Sri-Mahabodhi (sacred Bo-tree), brought as a sapling of the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, it is over 2,200 years old and is the oldest historically documented tree in the world. Brazen palace (2nd cent. B.C.) the 1600 stone columns you see are all that is left of a magnificent multi-storied residence for monks. RuwanweliSeya (2nd cent. B.C). This is the most famous of all the Dagobas. It originally depicted the perfect “water-bubble” shape that modern restoration has not been able to accurately reproduce. Samadhi Buddha (3rd cent. b.c.), one of the most famous statues, depicting the Buddha in a state of “Samadhi” or deep meditation. Isurumuniya rock temple (3rd cent. b.c.) Well known for its rock carving of “the lovers”. Kuttam Pokuna - twin ponds (3rd cent. b.c.) used by the monks of old as a bathing pool. Thuparama Dagoba (3rd cent. b.c.), the oldest Dagoba in the island. It enshrines a relic of the Buddha. The sacred city of Anuradhapura, now in picturesque ruins, was once a major center of Sri Lankan civilization. The fascinating ancient ruins include huge bell-shaped stupas built of small sun-dried bricks, temples, sculptures, palaces, and ancient drinking-water reservoirs.

Overnight stay at hotel – Anuradhapura 

Day 14  - Anuradhapura         

Pack Breakfast at the Hotel

Early Morning

Wilpattu safari

Wilpattu National Park is one of the largest and oldest national parks in Sri Lanka, located in the northwestern part of the country. Here are some key points about Wilpattu National Park:

Size: It covers an extensive area of approximately 1,317 square kilometers, making it the largest national park in Sri Lanka.

Landscape: The park is characterized by a mix of dense forests, scrublands, grassy plains, and numerous natural lakes known as "villus." These villus are essential water sources for the park's wildlife.

Wildlife: Wilpattu is renowned for its diverse wildlife, including species like leopards, sloth bears, elephants, water buffaloes, spotted deer, crocodiles, and various bird species. It's a popular destination for wildlife enthusiasts and birdwatchers.

Flora: The park features a variety of plant species, and its diverse ecosystems support a rich array of vegetation.

Cultural Heritage: Wilpattu National Park also has historical and cultural significance. It contains ancient ruins and sites, including Buddhist temples.

Best Time to Visit: The dry season, from February to October, is considered the best time to visit Wilpattu, as wildlife congregates around the park's water sources, making them easier to spot.

Evening Leisure at the Hotel

Overnight stay at hotel – Anuradhapura 

Day 15 - Anuradhapura - Negombo 

After Breakfast at the Hotel

Transfer to your hotel in Negombo.

Relax and unwind after your journey.

Optionally, explore the nearby Negombo Beach and enjoy the sunset.

Overnight stay at hotel – Negambo

Day 16 - Negombo   

Breakfast at the Hotel

Visit the Dutch Fort in Negombo, which dates back to the colonial era.

Explore the vibrant Negombo Fish Market and witness the bustling activities of local fishermen.

Take a boat ride on the Dutch Canal, a network of picturesque waterways.

Visit St. Mary's Church, a historic and beautiful place of worship.

Enjoy a seafood dinner at one of the many seaside restaurants.

Overnight stay at hotel – Negambo

Day 17 - Negombo - Airport

After breakfast you will be transferred to the airport for your departure flight back to Your Country .