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7-Day Sri-Lanka Highlights Tour

  • Tour Category

    Group Tour

  • Tour Types

    Safari, Culture, Sightseeing

  • Duration

    7 Days

  • Language

    Arabic, English, French, German, Mandarin

  • Activity Level

    Easy

Description

Explore Sri Lanka's major attractions in seven days with an abundance of hospitality, personal touch, and smiling faces. Visit the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Dambulla Cave Temple, Sigiriya lion’s rock, and Temple of Tooth Relic. Explore Royal Botanical Gardens, Ramboda (Twin Waterfall), Tea Plantation, Yala National Park and Galle Dutch Fort. Get an insight into Sri Lankan culture by experiencing cultural events including Kandy's cultural dance.

Highlights
  • Visit the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage and Dambulla Cave Temple
  • Climb Sigiriya Lion’s Rock and Temple of Tooth Relic
  • Walk through the Royal Botanical Gardens and tea plantations in Kandy
  • Explore the history and architecture of Galle Dutch Fort
  • Day 1 - Arrival expand_more

    • Arrival at Bandaranayke International Airport.

    • After arrival, be transferred to the arrival terminal. Clear immigration & visa formalities, collect the baggage and proceed to the arrival lounge.

    • Welcome at the airport and proceed towards Colombo or Negombo hotel.

    • Enjoy Colombo evening city tour and nightlife as it is the island's biggest commercial city.

  • Day 2 - Proceed to Dambulla via Pinnawala expand_more

    • Explore Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, which was started in 1975 by the Department of Wildlife on a twenty-five-acre coconut property on the Ma Oya river at Rambukkana. The orphanage was primarily designed to afford care and protect the many baby elephants found in the jungle without their mothers. Initially, this orphanage was at the Wilpattu National Park, then shifted to the tourist complex at Bentota and then to the Dehiwala Zoo.

    • Visit Dambulla Cave Temple, which harks back to the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. Even before making the complex, it was well established as one of the largest monasteries in Sri Lanka. The credit of converting the caves into a temple in the 1st century BC goes to King Valagambahu. In the course of several centuries, the caves became a major religious centre.
  • Day 3 - Proceed to Kandy expand_more

    • Go to Sigiriya Lion’s Rock, located in the central province of Sri Lanka. The word Sigiriya literally means 'Lion Rock'. The town is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Sri Lanka and is declared a world heritage site. Sigiriya contains the ruins of an ancient palace complex, built during King Kashyapa in the 5th century AD. The palace is surrounded by beautiful gardens, pools, and fountains. Sigiriya displays the best-preserved architectural tradition of Sri Lanka. The Sigiriya rock is the hardened magma plug that has emerged out of an extinct and long-eroded volcano. The rock rests on a steep mound and is 370m high.

    • Watch Kandy Cultural Dance, the most popular dance form that originated from an ancient purification ritual, the Kohomba Yakima or Kohomba Kankariya. The dance was propitiatory, never secular, and performed only by males. The elaborate “Ves” costume, particularly the headgear, is considered sacred and is believed to belong to the deity Kohomba.

    • Explore Temple of the Tooth Relic, the most venerated Buddhist shrine of the island. The temple was originally built by King Vimaladharmasuriya I (1592 - 1603) in two stories. Nothing remains of the original building built around 1600. During King Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe (1747- 1781) the temple was modified and rebuilt. 

    • See the Cultural dance and Royal Botanical Garden of Peradeniya. 

    • Visit Bogambara Lake, Gem Lapidary and take a panoramic view of Kandy city, and the city's tour.

  • Day 4 - Proceed to Royal Botanical Gardens expand_more

    • Stroll through Royal Botanical Gardens, which is sixty-seven hectares of exquisite beauty and botanical treasurers containing more than 4000 species are the haven for scientists and every nature lover. 

    • See Ramboda, the twin waterfalls and natural pools.

    • Pay obeisance at the Hanuman Temple.

    • Go to numerous waterfalls. The mountains of Sri Lanka abound with waterfalls of exquisite beauty. Sri Lanka has recorded more waterfalls than any other country.

    • Visit Tea Plantations. Sri Lanka is the world's fourth-largest producer of tea, and the industry is one of the country's primary sources of foreign exchange. The humidity, cool temperatures, and rainfall in the country's central highlands provide a climate favouring high-quality tea production. 

  • Day 5 - Proceed to Nuwara Eliya expand_more

    • Take a Nuwara Eliya city tour. It has a much cooler climate than Sri Lanka's lowlands, with a mean annual temperature of 16° C. 

    • Explore Sitha Amman Temple Hakgala and Hakgala Botanical garden.
    • Visit Ella Gap, a beautiful small sleepy town on the southern edge of Sri Lanka's Hill Country located 1000 M above sea level. See the beauty of Ella Gap up to the southern coastal area covering Giant tanks built by ancient kings. It is situated in the middle of beautiful countryside, with small vegetable plots in the valleys, tea plantations on the hill slopes and forests on the tops. See Mini Adam’s peak, Namunukula mountains, Mini world’s end and Bogoda wooden bridge from Ella.
  • Day 6 - Proceed to Yala National Park expand_more

    • Explore Yala National Park, well recognised as one of the world's best parks to observe and photograph leopards. The park covers an area of over 100,000 hectares and is divided into five blocks. Yala West consists of scrub jungle, brackish lagoons and stunning rock monoliths scattered throughout the park; the South East coast bounds its eastern edge.

    • Go for Dolphin watching in Mirissa Sea. See world-famous Hikkaduwa corals, Galle Dutch Fort and relax at Bentota Sunny beach along with water sports in Bentota River. The beach is a superb stretch of golden sand. Find one of the best beaches and Unawatuna reef for a safe bath and nocking.

    • Visit Galle Dutch Fort, one of the primary tourist attractions of the city. The design of the fort calls for acclaim, as, even after so many years the fort looks new and polished. The fort is listed among the top tourist attractions in Galle. 

  • Day 7- Proceed to Colombo expand_more

    • Go to the Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery, operated by the Wild Life Protection Society of Sri Lanka. It was established in 1981 to protect Sri Lanka's turtles from extinction. The hatchery pays fishers for eggs that they collect at night along the sandy beach.

    • Visit Kande Viharaya, the tallest sitting Buddha statue in the world (48m / 160ft). It was initiated way back in 1734 by the Ven. Thousands of devotees flock the holy grounds of the Kande Viharaya daily, seeking mental & spiritual relief from all the troubles & worries of day to day life.

    • Proceed to Colombo city tour covering Galle face green, Viharamahadevi Park, Bere lake, Gangarama Temple, Presidents house, Old parliament building.
    • See Colombo's nightlife and shop around the city.
    • Proceed to Bandaranayke International Airport Katunayake (BIAK) for departure. 
What's Included

  • Full-time sedan car or 7-seater duel A/C passenger van with adjustable seats

  • Experienced English-speaking chauffeur-guide

  • Unlimited fuel

  • Driver's salary, his food, and accommodation

  • Airport chargers & public parking charges

  • All government taxes and vat

  • Insurance charges




What's Excluded

  • Pre-paid SIM card to use during the stay in Sri Lanka

  • Water bottles
  • Accommodation cost
  • Cost of refreshments for the tour
  • Entrance fee for special sites
  • Cost of the camera and video permits at special sites
  • Tips & portage chargers
Meeting Point

Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), Canada Friendship Rd, Katunayake, Sri Lanka

Cancellation Policy

For cancellations upto 2 days before the tour -

Refund of 80% of the tour price.
Tour Reviews
  • David

    It was a last minute decision to take our holidays in Sri Lanka and so we had around 10 days to plan everything for a 2 week visit. Fortunately Sarath too care of everything and proposed a great itinerary for our budget and requirements.  Comfortable hotels and guest houses and a itinerary that gave us plenty of time to relax while still covering four locations in 12 days. Our driver, Ruwan, was discrete and polite and we soon became good friends with him, we even met his family as we passed closed by his home village during the tour! Ruwan's knowledge of the island and the major tourist spots meant we got to see some wonderful, but less-well-known sites as well as getting the best experience at the tourist hotspots by visiting at quieter times for example. He also took us to some fantastic restaurants, and even found a hotel on our last day where we could rest and shower near the airport before our 3am flight - which was not on the original plan. Really excellent service and experience!!

  • Martin

    Dumi was our guide on our 3 days trip into the mountains. The first and very nice surprise was when we saw large and ACed minibus - much larger than our group of 8 people needed. This made our trip very compfortable. Dumi is a true professional - always helpful, knowlegeable, funny.  Thanks a lot, Dumi! The trip was unforgetabble!

  • Ramesh

    Sarath's Guide & driver "Dumi" was an incredible young man. Our Sri Lanka trip started on 19th Jan 2020 from Colombo Airport afternoon where Dumi came to greet us with a warm welcome smile. He was with us throughout our journey from 19th to 26th January of 2020. He treated me and my wife as his own uncle & auntie. Took care of us as if he took care of his patents. He was very friendly, enjoyable and amazing guide & driver. We rate him as well as Sarath  "5 out of 5 Stars"  for their incredible services provided during our entire tour. We Strongly recommend both and encourage other future tourists of Sri Lanka...Thank you Dumi & Sarath

    Ramesh Parikh

  • Saibal

    My experience was similar to what another reviewer (Suman) had. I was expecting a knowledgeable guide and we just got a driver and car.  Driver, Dumi, took us to No.11 (Geoffrey Bawa's house without reservation and one hour before it opens), which clearly shows how knowledgeable this agency is.

    We waited for 20 minutes before the car showed up to pick us up at the airport after I had contacted Sarath. And his response was to defend himself instead of saying that the driver should have been there ahead of time. I expect the same defensiveness from him for this review.

    I really wish ContextTravel had operations in Colombo. This is terrible!

    The car had issues as well - seat belt torn, A/C struggling to cool.  

  • Peter

    Thank you very much to Dumi for being such a wonderful guide and chauffeur for us over our 8 days in Sri Lanka . He was really great and helping with so many arrangements and ensured that we had so many interesting experiences and visited amazing places. Would highly recommend him to anyone  

    Many thanks Dumi

  • William

    We spent 8 days with our driver Kody who spoke perfect english, and from start to finish, he has provided a highly valuable help at every step of our journey. We have been truly lucky to have him as a driver and guide during these holidays, as he is are definitely a great professional. He provided support to adjust our plans to different opportunities along the way, shared with us insights about the best moments to visit places, helped us making some bookings for hotels or tours, etc etc.

    I was truly grateful about his services as he made a huge difference for these holidays, and ensured that we made the best of our stay in Sri Lanka.

    I very highly recommend him.

  • Nick

    Upali, was a kind and well mannered driver, who showed us Sri Lanka through a locals eyes. He was very informative and we enjoyed his company. 

    He was thoughtful and kind, we thoroughly recommend him as a driver 

    Best regards 

    Nick 

  • Nandini

    Service was beyond our expectations. Very friendly and helpful too in helping with communications 

  • Alexander Smolov

    It was wonderful journey to Sri-Lanka in the end of April 2018 with 8 different hotels and a lot of interesting places. Mr.Sarath made the route taking into account  our wishes and that children with us, and he have booked all required hotels for us.

    We are family of 4  including two kids. Our chauffeur guide Duminda  pick up us from airport and accompain us all 15 days.  We saw a lot of different nature places, temples, museums, a lot of animals in national parks,  whales and sharks, tea factories, spices garden. We had a train trip as well.  And all of this with two kids! But all this activities was arranged in so stressless manner so we didn`t have any fatigability. Duminda arranged for us celebrations of two birthdays and little local wedding ceremony.  He solved all issues rised during our journey.  Children very like to play with Duminda. 

    We are very grateful to Sarath and Duminda for excellent holidays!

  • Dorota Komorowska-Grabowska

     We spent wonderful time at Sri Lanka. We are 4 persons family including 5 years old girl. We were lucky to have our tour guide Dumi with us. Thanks to his professionalism, and very clam and friendly attitude - a journey through Sri Lanka went very well, we had a chance to see both acient and nature places, had safari, enjoyed warm and friend attitude at the chosen places and hotels. We have beautifil memories. We would like to thank Dumi personally. He was always on time, hotels were good and our special requests, specially from our (little spoilt) daughter always met. She sends many kisses to Dumi. We can recommend Dumi to all who, as us, want to spend wonderful time at Sri Lanka. Dorota from Poland

  • Valeriya

    We visited Sri Lanka in February 2018. Our guide Asoka met us at the airport and accompanied our journey for 2 weeks. Thank him very much. It was a journey of discovery. The travel company provided us with a comfortable car, booked good hotels. The hotel rooms were spacious and some with magical views of the sights.  Also the staff of company helped us to make a good route of travel. It was a wonderful vacation!! Many thanks to Asoka and Sarath!!

  • truptik20

    Thanks Mr. Sarath for the services in Sri Lanka.

    It was good to visit srilanka.We have been allocated Mr. Ashoka as a tourist guide and he was really good. 

    It was great to have holiday in Sri Lanka with your services.

    Car was also neat and clean. 

    Will surely refer to family /friends if visiting to Sri Lanka.

    Thanks &  Regards 

    Dinesh & Trupti

  • Mohamed

    Actually, my friend who visited Sri Lanka recently recommended another guide. We were discussing the rates. He was not agreeable with the same rates offered to my friend. However, since my friend recommended his driver as very good, I decided to proceed with the pricing. However, the agent was not very responsive to queries via email and whatsapp. So i did not feel very comfortable. So i decided to look for other agents and guide on the internet. Based on pricing, I narrow to about 3 guides. One of them is Mr Sarath.  When I emailed my queries, he responded very promptly. He also give further discounts when I negotiated. The best part is he was offering a big vehicle which can seat about 9-10 passengers with huge luggage space. However, the other agent recommended by my friend who charged higher only offer a 6 seater van. 

    Before confirming with him, I also spoke with him over the phone. He was very polite and his English was very good. I was having a 10 day tour which require me to book 10 different hotels. My initial intention was to book them myself via booking.com. Sarath suggested some hotels based on the locations i am visiting and within my budget. I compared his pricing with booking.com. His price was cheaper than booking.com. After reading some reviews on the hotels, I took the hotels through him as well. It saved me a big headache of looking for 10 different hotels. 

    When i arrived in Colombo, I was received by Driver Wickerama. He was very knowledgable. He is a experienced driver and guide. He was able to communicate in English and very friendly with my children. He stayed up late to accomodate to all our request. We didnt want to have the dinner in the hotels due to the pricing. Wickerama brought us to good local restaurants.  

    I am happy with both of them. I will definitely recommend them to my friends. Probably I will visit Sri Lanka again and use their services. 

  • Rounak

    We had an wonderful trip to Sri Lanka, thanks to Mr. Sarath's tour services. The response from Sarath was quick and the rates were reasonable. Saman was a very professional and safe driver, as well as a very kind person and nice to talk to. He was an excellent local guide and we learnt a lot about the country from him. Even though it was a short trip to visit Galle, Kandy and Colombo, I really loved the whole experience in Sri Lanka and would definitely like to come back again for a longer holiday. Saman deserves all the commendations possible. He was always there waiting for us, never late, and always tried his best to help us in whatever way he could. I will recommend Saman and your company to anyone who wishes to visit Sri Lanka. Best wishes of the new year from me to the people of your amazing country.

  • Hazel

    Mr Dharma was my guide cum driver during my period in Colombo and Kandy in Nov 17. He is a very patient, safe and skilful driver. He has also taken a lot of initiative to introduce me Sri Lanka and always so obliging with my request. I will certainly consider his service again in the future.

    Also thank you to Mr Sarath who addressed all my questions patiently and promptly prior to my arrival. 

  • Alen & Tracey

    After some search in the internet, my wife and I decided to choose "Sarath's Tour Operator" business. We made this decision based on his good understanding of our needs, quick respond for emails and reasonable price. Thank you very much for your wonderful English speaking driver/guide,  'Ranjan'.  Ranjan was always well presented, punctual , pleasant, kind, trustworthy and very informative throughout our travels - sharing so much knowledge about the country he loves. Nothing was too much trouble for Ranjan and we felt very safe.    He was very flexible and had high respect for the times we needed some free time, personal space or privacy.  His recommendations regarding things to see and visit, helpful tips/hints, shopping  etc. - even organizing our train tickets from Nuwara Eilya to Ella, - were over and beyond our expectations.  He is a credit to the business.  Ranjan made our fantastic 15 day holiday an amazing holiday we will never forget.  Should we ever return to Sri Lanka in the future,  we will not hesitate to go through Sarath's Tour Operator business again and, of course, request 'Ranjan' as our driver/guide.  We will definitely recommend the services of this company to our families and friends, should they decide to visit beautiful Sri Lanka one day.  Thank you. 

  • Suman

    This is the first time I am using tourHQ.  I asked for a proposal for a guide in Sri Lanka for our trip.  Based on Sarath's initial proposal, I requested him to provide the transportation himself.

    It turns out that though Sarath has listed himself as a tour guide, he is actually a tour operator.  We were expecting Sarath himself to be available to guide us through our trip.  Instead, he sent us a driver but we had to hire our own guides at each of the location.   After we asked him about it, he paid for the guide in the last location.  However, we had to pay for two guides on our own.  The bigger issue was that we didn't get good guides and they were of average caliber.  This was disappointing.

    The driver, Dhumil, was excellent.  He helped us during a hotel reservation hiccup.  I would highly recommend Dhummil and we will go on a tour with him anytime.

    Regarding Sarath, you need to ensure what has been promised to avoid misunderstanding.  The tourism industry in Sri Lanka is very immature and communications are not very clear.

  • Ralf

    After some search in the internet I decided to choose Sarath. I made this decision based on his good understanding of our needs, quick respond for emails and reasonable price. Thank you very much for the very good tour at Sri Lanka with your driver Dumi. Dumi did his very best. He is friendly and helpful. He knows a lot about his country and gave many tips and hints. This decision was really very good. We spent 18 fantastic days of holidays.

  • Fritz

    We had this driver recommended by a friend who was traveling through Sri Lanka the year before. 

    This summer our family spent two weeks in Sri Lanka and the driver was perfect again.

    It had been a really nice trip and I can recommend the service of this company.

  • PHAN

    I went on a personal meditation retreat to Paramita and the service provided ie transfer from airport to Paramita Meditation Centre and then from Paramita to Colombo where the driver kindly waited for me in Colombo before I went to the airport. The driver, Mr Ashoka was excellent: he was kind and considerate and helpful. I truly enjoy the service provided and would recommend this guide to anyone.

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USD 250.00 / adult

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