11-Day Sri Lanka Highlights Tour with Jaffna and Wilpattu Safari

• On arrival, meet & greet at the airport and transfer to hotel in Anuradhapura.

• Check in to the hotel and relax to recover from the jet lag.

Dinner and overnight stay at a hotel in Anuradhapura.

• Eat breakfast at the hotel.

• Visit Mihintale Temple. Mihnitale is the place where Arahath Mahinda Thero encountered King Devanampiyatissa. The landmark in the reception of Buddhism as a religion to Sri Lanka holds an important place among the Buddhists and Sri Lankan Culture.

• Step into the Mihintale temple premises for the fantastic setting of the temple. At one side of the temple is the entrance to the Aradhana Rock, on the other hand, there is the KaluDiya Pokuna (Blackwater Pond), and further down, there are a set of caves like aramayas (Monasteries), which were used by the monks back then.

• In the afternoon, go for a jeep safari at Wilpattu National Park. Wilpattu National Park is situated along the Northwest coast lowland dry zone of Sri Lanka. It comprises a unique complex of lakes called Villus, which are natural basins that are filled up with rainwater and are surrounded by open grassy plains set within the dense scrub jungle. The biggest draws in Wilpattu are Leopards and Sloth bears. Alongside these, it is possible to see Asian Elephants, Spotted Deer, Barking Deer, Wild Pig, Asiatic Buffalo and Mugger Crocodiles. Endemic birds include the Ceylon Junglefowl, Brown-capped Babbler, Ceylon Woodshrike and Black-capped Bulbul in riverine habitats. Muntjac or Barking Deer are more easily seen in Wilpattu than in any national park. Butterflies recorded include the Great Eggfly, Great Orange Tip, Glad-eye Bushbrown, Blue Mormon, Common Mormon, Common Rose and Crimson Rose.

Dinner and overnight stay at a hotel in Anuradhapura.

• Rise up for breakfast at the hotel.

• Leave for Jaffna. Jaffna is an ancient port city, which is one of the most densely populated areas of Sri Lanka, spread over an area of 2560 square km. The peninsula is almost an island except for the narrow neck of land occupied by the Chundikkulam Bird Sanctuary and the causeway known as Elephant Pass which connects Jaffna with the rest of Sri Lanka. Most of the area of Jaffna is dry and sandy. A good amount of area of Jaffna district is covered by shallow lagoons. Jaffna has a thick population of the Tamil people, who are an ethnic minority in Sri Lanka, consisting of Christians & Hindus. When compared with other provinces of Sri Lanka, the people of Jaffna have a different culture, similar to that of Tamil Nadu in south India.

• Enjoy some of the interesting points such as the Public library, Jaffna fort, Point Pedro including a visit to St. Anthony’s church ruins & Cemetery etc.

Dinner and overnight stay at hotel in Jaffna.

• Start with breakfast at the hotel.

• Visit Kantharodai, which is the first archaeological site found in the Jaffna. Nearly 62 dagobas were found during the excavation, and they were built using limestone. According to archaeologists, these stupas are date back to the 2nd century. In legends, it is stated that the stupas consist of buried fossils related to the number of Buddhist monks who lived in Jaffna at that time and expired due to hunger.

• Proceed to the bottomless well Nilaveri which is geometrically square-shaped. As the water of the Nilavari well is fresh and drinkable, nearby farmlands use this water for irrigation. Also, the well never gets dried up even in heavy drought is another reason for the usage. According to the surveys done by the Sri Lankan marine department, the first 40ft of the well is freshwater and then turns salty in respect to the depth.

• See the famous Hindu temple in Keerimalai. At Keerimalai, the spring water floor is of great value, and bathing in its waters imparts healing medicinal benefits to the human body. The freshwater comes from an underground spring source.

Dinner and overnight stay at hotel in Jaffna.

• Begin the day with breakfast at the hotel.

• Leave for Trincomalee/Nilaveli. Trincomalee town itself is mildly attractive and is situated around several picturesque bays and rocky peninsulas. Its economic trump card is a superb deep-water port, considered one of the world's finest.

Dinner and overnight stay at hotel in Trincomalee/Nilaveli.

• Savour breakfast at the hotel.

• Make a city tour of Trincomalee. See the Foul Point Lighthouse, an Old Dutch fort.

• Visit Thirukoneswaram Temple; Thirukoneswaram is one of the five Eswarams- Sivan temples in Sri Lanka. The temple is situated on the topmost pinnacle of the Swamy rock. And it's known as the Southern Kailasam. You can see the devotees entering the temple as the temple's chief priest, Sivasri, Sivakugarajah Kurukkal, explains the old and new statues that the devotees worship, the "Pancharaththi", which is lit on camphor, etc.

• Go to Kinniya Hot Water springs. 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 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 could not find water to perform the rituals duly, he, in anger, pierced his Trishula into the ground seven times. Water started gushing out immediately. The boiling water cooled down to the present degree when Ravana's fury calmed down. The temperature of the water is different in all seven wells.

Dinner and overnight stay at hotel in Trincomalee/Nilaveli.

• Eat breakfast at the hotel.

• Continue to Polonnaruwa to explore the ancient sites by bicycle. One of the ruins of ancient Ceylon - the UNESCO World Heritage City of Polonnaruwa, which was the capital of Sri Lanka from the 11th to 13th century. Polonnaruwa was a well-planned medieval city defended by enclosing walls (around 5 km. which still remain), graced by palaces, shrines, monasteries, pavilions, parks, ponds and irrigation lakes. Polonnaruwa is strewn with ruins in a resplendent state of preservation. The ‘Gal Vihara’ which consists of statues of the recumbent, standing and seated Buddha have been cut from a single granite wall and rank among few of the true masterpieces of Sri Lankan Art.

• Leave for Dambulla/Sigiriya.

Dinner and overnight stay at hotel in Dambulla/Sigiriya.

• Consume breakfast at the hotel.

• Visit the Sigiriya Rock Fortress. Sigiriya Rock Fortress is a UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most dramatic, inspiring and beautiful historical locations in the world. A mythical past of feuding dynasties suits Sigiriya’s striking setting- it was built in the 5th century AD by a king, Kasyapa, as a fortress-palace. The palace complex at the foot of the rock still has four indoor swimming pools where the king’s 500 concubines bathed. The mirror walls of the Sigiriya rock still retain the world-famous frescoes of the king’s concubines, who originated from all parts of the world. The palace structure was built with complex water arteries in the walls that provided natural air conditioning in the hot climate.

• On the summit, reached with the help of metal staircases and ladders, you can see the remains of the palace walls, gardens and ponds. 

• Make a village tour in a bullock cart, one of the oldest modes of transport still prevalent in certain parts of the island.

• Step off the cart to hike across the village through the paddy fields and home gardens. At each step of your way, you will be met with the genuine smile of the unpretentious villagers.

• Walk along the banks of the lake until you meet your next mode of transportation; a Canoe ride.

• Paddle through the lake on the homemade Canoe as you watch small exotic birds hopping from one aquatic plant to another. You will be invited to a cup of tea.

• Here you have the opportunity to experience the local cooking guided by a lady. Let yourself learn the traditional cooking a delicious and equally enticing Sri Lankan meal in clay pots over an open hearth.

• Enjoy Sri Lankan village lunch.

Dinner and overnight stay at hotel in Dambulla/Sigiriya.

• Rise up for breakfast at the hotel.

• Visit Dambulla Rock Cave Temple. Dambulla Cave Temple, also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla. The largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka, the rock from which the caves were carved towers 160meters (520ft) over the surrounding plains. A total of 153 Buddha statues, three statues of Sri Lankan kings and four statues of gods and goddesses also stand in the site.

• Continue your journey to the hill capital of Kandy. Eminent as the centre of Buddhism and the capital of the last Sinhalese kingdom.

• En-route, visit a spice garden in Matale to see many different types of spices Sri Lanka is famous for. You will be introduced to different spices and shown how some of these spices are grown and processed. Gardens are open to visitors, a delightful place to stroll in fragrant greenery and learn about nutmeg, pepper vines, clove trees and curry, cinnamon and the precious cardamom, a relative of ginger. It grows in the shade of high jungle trees and can only be harvested by hand.

• Enjoy a traditional cultural dance performance which is a vibrant and unique fire and Harvest dances accompanied by Ceremonial Drums and the Drum Orchestra rising and falling to the lively tempo. The highlight of the show is definitely the fire walking show, where the artists walk through a specially prepared fire pit, roughly 8 feet by 3 feet covered with red-hot charcoal, completely barefoot.

Dinner and overnight stay at hotel in Kandy.

• Start with breakfast at the hotel.

• Visit the Temple of tooth relic for the morning ceremony; the stunning 17th century Temple of the Tooth (Sri Dalada Maligawa) is believed to house the left upper canine tooth of the Lord Buddha himself. Every day, this precious relic attracts white-clad pilgrims, bearing lotus blossoms and frangipani.

• Make a sightseeing tour of Kandy by visiting the upper lake, oriental marketplace, and a bazaar.

• Visit the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, the largest of Sri Lanka’s botanical gardens displaying over 4 000 different species of plants and regarded amongst the most superior in Asia. The focal points include the superb Orchid collection and a powerful avenue of Royal Palm Trees. In addition to a plethora of flowering plants, there is also an extensive collection of medicinal plants and spices, which can be spotted on your meander across the gardens.

Dinner and overnight stay at hotel in Kandy.

• Enjoy breakfast at the hotel.

• Visit the tea plantation and a tea factory on the island where the best tea in the world is produced. Watch the tea pluckers pick two leaves and a bud with deft hands.

• Then to the factory, where the all-important conversion to “made” black tea happens. The machinery used is a traditional British design, some as old as 100 years, and the process is very artisanal, unchanged for a century. Observe the method of manufacturing tea, tea grading and taste a cup of pure Ceylon tea.

• Transfer to the airport for an onward flight or select a beach hotel for a continued beach holiday.