Sri Lanka: Boutique and Heritage Stays from Sigiriya to Galle

From the airport to Sigiriya

Bandaranaike International Airport to Sigiriya via Kurunegala and Dambulla, about 165 km

• Lunch on the drive and a welcome dinner
• Nuit : Sigiriya
• Environ 4 h de route

Soir

We go straight there rather than spending a first night by the airport, so all nine nights are in the hotels the trip is built around. The coconut country of the west gives way to rice paddies, reservoirs and the granite outcrops of the dry zone, and we stop halfway for a sit-down lunch of rice and curry. You reach your boutique hotel near Sigiriya in the afternoon, home for two nights, with time to swim or sleep. At about 7 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the days ahead, with every drive time and early start spelled out, then we sit down together for a welcome dinner. If you land late, we can book a night near the airport first.

Compris

• Pick-up at Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB)
• Sit-down lunch on the way
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Welcome dinner

Activités en option

• A pre-trip night near the airport, booked on request

Sigiriya at opening, Pidurangala at sunset

Sigiriya Lion Rock, then Pidurangala Rock in the late afternoon

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Sigiriya
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

An early breakfast, then we are at the Sigiriya gate when it opens, about 7 am, ahead of the heat and the queues that build on the upper stairs from mid-morning. King Kashyapa built his palace on top of this rock in the late fifth century, and it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With a licensed local site guide, the climb of about 1,200 steps passes the water gardens, the painted women of the frescoes, the polished Mirror Wall and the giant stone paws of the lion gate before the summit, nearly 200 metres above the plain, where brick foundations look out over forest and reservoirs.

Après-midi

We are down by about 10 am, and the rest of the day is yours: the pool, a massage or a long lunch. At about 4:30 pm the guide takes anyone who wants to go up Pidurangala, the rock next door, about 30 to 45 minutes on rough steps with a boulder scramble at the top, to watch the sun go down behind Sigiriya.

Compris

• Sigiriya Lion Rock at opening, with a local site guide and entry
• Pidurangala Rock at sunset with your guide

Activités en option

• Massage at the hotel (paid locally)

Dambulla, Aluvihare and the Temple of the Tooth

Sigiriya to the Dambulla cave temple, then Aluvihare and Kandy, about 95 km

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Kandy
• Environ 3 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal on the way, and the driving comes to about three hours in all.

Soir

In Kandy, the last royal capital until 1815, we check in, then visit the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic beside the lake in the late afternoon and stay for the evening ceremony of drums and offerings. After that the evening is free by Kandy Lake.

Compris

• Dambulla cave temple
• Aluvihare rock temple
• Sit-down lunch on the way to Kandy
• Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, with a local site guide and the evening ceremony

Activités en option

• Kandyan dance performance (paid locally)

Tea country, afternoon tea and the train to Ella

Kandy to Nanu Oya by road via Ramboda Falls and Nuwara Eliya, then the train to Ella

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Ella
• Environ 3 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal in Nuwara Eliya, the old hill station at about 1,870 metres, cool enough for a jacket, followed by afternoon tea in one of its colonial-era hotels. At Nanu Oya, the station for Nuwara Eliya, we board the train with reserved seats. For about three hours it climbs past Pattipola, the highest station on the line, then runs down through Haputale and Bandarawela to Ella. The Kandy to Nanu Oya rail section has been closed since Cyclone Ditwah, which is why we drive that part; if the train is cancelled, the vehicle drives you.

Compris

• Ramboda Falls viewpoint
• Working tea factory visit with a tasting
• Sit-down lunch and afternoon tea in Nuwara Eliya
• Reserved seats on the train from Nanu Oya to Ella

Nine Arch Bridge at dawn and Little Adam's Peak

Ella to the Nine Arch Bridge and Little Adam's Peak on foot, then dinner with a local family

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Ella

Matin

Completed in 1921, the bridge curves across a ravine on stone and brick arches about 24 metres high, and your guide will know the morning train times so you can watch one cross. Then we walk on to Little Adam's Peak, about 45 minutes up a path through tea gardens to a grassy ridge with long views down the Ella Gap to the plains. You are back for a late breakfast at the hotel, and the middle of the day is free: a massage, a nap, a book on a balcony above the tea, or a cafe in town.

Après-midi

In the late afternoon a local family shows you how they cook rice and curry at home, dhal, a vegetable curry, coconut sambol and more, ground and stirred by hand, which we then eat together around their table.

Compris

• Nine Arch Bridge before 7 am with your guide
• Little Adam's Peak walk
• Cooking and dinner with a local family

Activités en option

• Ayurvedic massage (paid locally)

Down to Yala for an afternoon safari

Ella to Ravana Falls, Buduruwagala and Tissamaharama, then Yala National Park, about 110 km

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Tissamaharama
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Matin

We leave Ella after breakfast and drop through the Ella Gap, stopping at Ravana Falls by the roadside, to the dry lowlands at Wellawaya. Just south of town, Buduruwagala is a quiet forest site where seven figures were carved into a rock face around the tenth century, the central standing Buddha about 15 metres tall.

Après-midi

From there the road runs south through scrub and reservoirs to Tissamaharama, about 110 km and two and a half hours of driving in all, and a sit-down lunch at the lodge, home for two nights. At about 2:30 pm we head into Yala National Park by open jeep, with no more than six guests to a jeep so everyone has a window. Yala's grassland, scrub and lagoons by the sea hold elephants, water buffalo, crocodiles, spotted deer, peafowl and many water birds, and the park is known for its leopards, which are seen on some drives but never promised.

Soir

We stay out until the park closes near sunset, then have dinner at the lodge.

Compris

• Ravana Falls
• Buduruwagala rock carvings
• Sit-down lunch at the lodge
• Afternoon jeep safari in Yala National Park, with park fees
• Dinner at the lodge

Yala at dawn, a free afternoon

Yala National Park at the 6 am opening, then the lodge

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Tissamaharama

Après-midi

Mid-morning we stop at a permitted spot for a picnic breakfast, then carry on until late morning and head back to the lodge for lunch and a quiet afternoon by the pool through the heat.

Soir

In the late afternoon your guide can take anyone who wants to go to Tissa Wewa, the old reservoir at Tissamaharama, where egrets and cormorants come in to roost at dusk, or to the large white stupa in the town. Dinner is at the lodge again, the second of two nights here, so there is nothing to pack until the morning.

Compris

• Dawn jeep safari in Yala National Park, with park fees
• Picnic breakfast in the park
• Lunch and dinner at the lodge
• Tissa Wewa reservoir at dusk with your guide

Activités en option

• Evening puja at the Kataragama shrines, about 20 km away (ask your guide)

Along the south coast to Galle

Tissamaharama to Mirissa, Koggala and Galle, about 150 km

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Galle
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Matin

After breakfast we drive west along the south coast, past fishing harbours, salt pans and the beaches of Tangalle, about 150 km and three and a half hours with stops.

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal by the sea at Mirissa, a curved bay with a fishing harbour. Further on, at Koggala, you will see the stilt fishermen on their poles in the shallows. Few of them fish this way now; most pose for photos in return for a tip, and your guide will explain how it works. We reach Galle in the late afternoon and check in to a heritage hotel inside the fort walls or within a short walk, home for two nights. Galle Fort was first built by the Portuguese in 1588 and greatly expanded by the Dutch from the 1640s, and its walls still enclose a whole town of churches, warehouses and quiet lanes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As the sun goes down we walk the ramparts with your guide to Flag Rock.

Soir

The evening is free.

Compris

• Sit-down lunch in Mirissa
• Stilt fishermen at Koggala
• Sunset walk on the Galle Fort ramparts with your guide

Galle Fort on foot, a free afternoon

Galle Fort walking tour, then Galle at your pace

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Galle

Après-midi

By late morning you are on your own, with lunch at one of the cafes inside the fort. Spend the afternoon by the hotel pool, browse the small shops and galleries, swim at Jungle Beach near Unawatuna, a short tuk-tuk away, or sleep.

Soir

In the evening the group meets for a farewell dinner inside the walls to look back over the trip.

Compris

• Galle Fort walking tour with your guide
• Farewell dinner

Activités en option

• Whale watching from Mirissa, December to April, about 6 am to midday (paid locally)
• Cooking class or massage (paid locally)

Back to Colombo airport

Galle to Bandaranaike International Airport or a Colombo hotel, about 150 km

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Matin

A slow last morning: breakfast at the hotel, a walk on the ramparts or a swim. At about 11 am we drive north on the Southern Expressway, the fast inland road from the south coast towards Colombo, then by the Outer Circular and the airport expressway to Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) at Katunayake, about 150 km and two and a half hours. We aim to reach the airport by about 2 pm, with a margin for traffic around Colombo.

Soir

Book a flight leaving after about 5 pm; many long-haul flights from Colombo leave in the evening or overnight. If yours is late, we can arrange a later departure from Galle or a day room where the hotel allows it. If you are staying on in Colombo, we drop you at your hotel in the city instead, and we can book extra nights before or after the trip on request.

Compris

• Drop-off at Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) or a Colombo hotel