8-Day Sri Lanka Highlights Tour with Sigiriya, Kandy and Bentota

• Arrive at Bandaranaike International Airport where you will be warmly welcomed by our representative.

• From here you will be transferred to your hotel in Colombo.

• On arrival in Colombo, check-in to your hotel and settle in. In the evening, do a city tour to discover some of the famous monuments and temples, and drop in to a couple of Colombo’s shopping malls and department stores.

• Overnight in Colombo.

• After breakfast, drive to Sigiriya. Stop by for tea and coffee stop in the small city of Ambepussa.

• Transfer to Mahameunawa Buddhist ashram and visit the ashram, then travel to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. The orphanage was established to feed, nurse and house young elephants abandoned by their mothers and displaced from their natural environment due to development projects. Most orphans cannot be introduced back to the wild as other elephant family groups will not accept them. They enjoy a good life with their human parents and many find good foster homes in zoos around the world.

• Have lunch in Pinnawala and travel to Habarana visiting Dambulla rock and Golden temple en route.

Check in to the hotel for dinner and overnight stay in Sigiriya.

• Have breakfast and leave for Polonnaruwa. En route, visit the famous Sigiriya rock fortress.

• This is one of Asia's most important archaeological sites, dating back to prehistoric times. This massive rock in the green scrub jungle is perhaps the most memorable place for visitors to Sri Lanka. The site was known from ancient times as a Hermitage for Buddhist monks. A well planned monastic complex includes caved temples, bathing pools, lovely ponds and Asia's oldest surviving landscaped gardens.

• Enjoy a sightseeing tour of Polonnaruwa. This was the medieval capital of Sri Lanka, and today it is one of the most beautiful centers of our cultural heritage. With its comparatively brief history and a dozen rulers, it is a far more completely preserved ruin city than Anuradhapura.

• Visit the ancient ruins and the Gal Vihara complex, where three gigantic Buddha statues are carved out of a single rock. Lunch in Polonnauwa, Back to Habarana and go for an elephant back safari ride (optional 30 USD per person).

• If time permits, you will also be able to go for a village safari in one of the villages near hotel, (optional 20 USD per person) and get live lessons of cooking to get an idea of Sri lankan village food.

• Experience the bullock cart ride, boating in a lake and tuk-tuk transport systems in Sri Lanka during the village safari.

• Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight stay in Sigiriya.

• Breakfast in the hotel and check out with the bags as you now proceed for Kandy, a beautiful historical city in the citadel of the country. It is not only known for its great kings who ruled the city for almost 225 years until the British took over in 1815, but it is also the place where the Sacred Tooth of Lord Buddha is laid in a magnificent temple.

• En route, visit a spice garden at Matale and a batik factory where the ancient process of making batik by using wax as the main component could be seen.

• Upon arrival in Kandy, check in to the hotel.

• You will be taken to the center of the city where an artificial lake 4 km in circumference and surrounded by a balustrade of grey stone is seen. The rich flowering trees growing around the lake, the surrounding mountains and blue skies reflect on the waters of the lake.

• At around 17:00 hrs, witness the Kandyan dance, a traditional Sri Lankan dance which flourished in the hill country during ancient times. The dancers are attired in frilled costumes with glistening head-dresses and breastplates. They skip and whirl to the beat of the drums executing astonishing acrobatics in mid-air. The highlight of the performance is the fire walking at the end of the pageant.

• Visit Temple of the Tooth Relic. This is where the sacred tooth relic is placed and preserved and is undoubtedly the greatest attraction of the city. It is one of the most sacred places for Buddhists all over the world.

• At around 19:00 hrs, watch the traditional rituals performed daily by the religious dignitaries of the temple in keeping with the cultural heritage of the country.

• Finally, you will visit the Raja Wasala - the Royal Palace complex where the council chamber known as the Magul Maduwa is seen. This is a unique wooden pillared hall dating back to 1784 and the Devale complexes are housed inside.

Dinner and overnight stay in the hotel in Kandy.

• Breakfast in the hotel.

• Check out from the hotel, in the morning part of the day you will visit the famous Ceylon Gem Factory and outlet, also little time for the shopping as well.

• Transfer to Ramboda and have lunch.

• Post lunch, leave for Nuwara Eliya, which means the "city of lights" is also known as the city of eternal spring, where the air is pure, cool and distilled up through 1,884 meters. A journey through narrow passes, beside deep ravines and over gushing streams to the hill country of Sri Lanka is a very enjoyable one.

• En route, visit a tea factory. See the process of tea being manufactured and buy unblended, high-grown tea here. Check in to the hotel and enjoy free time.

Dinner and overnight stay in Nuwara Eliya.

• Breakfast in the hotel and check out with the bags and leave for Bentota.

• En route, visit waterfalls and tea stop in the center of Mlesna, do white water rafting in Kithulgala (Optional 20 USD per person).

• Have lunch in Kitulgala and slowly proceed to Bentota.

• Arrive in Bentota and check in to the hotel in front of a golden beach.

Overnight stay in Bentota.

• Breakfast in the hotel.

• Free time on the beach and if there is an interest to go for whale watching in the ocean it will be possible during your stay in Bentota.

• Whale watching in the Indian Ocean (Optional: 50 USD per person)

Overnight stay in the hotel.

• Have breakfast.

• Enjoy leisure time until it is time for you to get transferred to the international airport.

• Board your flight back home.

End of the tour.