15-Day Sri Lanka Heritage and Wildlife Tour with Scenic Train Ride

• On arrival, meet and greet at the airport and transfer to your hotel in Negombo.

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

Dinner and overnight stay at a hotel in Negombo.

• Begin with breakfast at the hotel.

• Explore the history of the dynamic city of Negombo.

• Indulge in a diverse experience by visiting the famous fish market in Negombo, known as the 'Lellama'.

• Walk on the beach and watch fishers untangle their fishing nets, and witness fish being auctioned and sold to both retail and commercial customers.

• Set off on a boat ride in the Negombo Lagoon, an extensive mangrove swamp. The Negombo Lagoon boat ride lets you spot lush mangroves with vast biodiversity, flora and fauna species in the area, as well as water birds such as herons, terns, cormorants, and shorebirds.

• In the afternoon, return to the hotel and relax.

Dinner and overnight stay at a hotel in Negombo.

• Eat breakfast at the hotel.

• Visit one of Sri Lanka's foremost artists, a designer and a maestro in batik creations. The factory premises are located in the city of Marawila, and it is at this workhouse that he created his unique designs and experimented extensively.

• After that, each group member can select a 'design art' from the hundreds of artworks available, or bring your own art design. Once this is done, the mentors will provide you with the correct fabric to suit your selected plan.

• He will then teach you how to engage in the traditional dyeing of cloth using a wax-resist method.

• Take a break from this exciting session while your creations dry, and enjoy the hospitality of his family, who will serve you tea, local cookies, and chocolate cake.

• Later, explore the elegant galleries displaying his unique creations, a fusion of traditional, abstract, and modern art.

• See what almost half a century of expertise has evolved into, and listen to his first-hand account of how his designs have draped beauty queens and former prime ministers, and how he has taken his 'one of a kind' designs around the world to leading art galleries.

• Leave for Habarana.

Dinner and overnight stay at a hotel in Habarana.

• Begin with breakfast at the hotel.

• Visit Sigiriya Rock Fortress. Sigiriya Rock Fortress is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and 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 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 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. The mirror walls of Sigiriya Rock still retain the world-famous frescoes of the king's concubines, who originated from all parts of the world.

Dinner and overnight stay at a hotel in Habarana.

• Early in the morning, proceed to the ancient city of Polonnaruwa for the Monkey Kingdom tour. The Monkey Kingdom Expedition off Polonnaruwa is an engaging activity for those who love observing animal species in their beautiful natural environment. This expedition allows you to get up close and personal with large communities of monkeys. You will be able to observe various social behaviours, including maternal care, playtime, competition for food, grooming, and a rich repertoire of facial gestures, body postures, and vocal signals of these fascinating primates.

• Return to the hotel and eat breakfast.

• Make a village visit in Hiriwaduna. You can experience ancient transportation methods, farming and paddy fields, irrigation systems, chief farmers' houses, and the countryside lifestyle of local people.

• Experience the traditional Sri Lankan transportation system on a 30-minute bullock cart journey through the green paddy fields of Hiriwaduna Village.

• After that, an approximately 15-minute canoe ride will take you to the farmer's house, where you can experience typical Sri Lankan countryside hospitality. Afterwards, you can walk through his farm and see different cultivation methods and vegetables.

• At the end, enjoy a typical countryside cooking demonstration and a Sri Lankan lunch at the farmer's house.

Dinner and overnight stay at a hotel in Habarana.

• Eat breakfast at the hotel.

• Visit Dambulla Rock Cave Temple, also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla. It is the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka, and the rock from which the caves were carved towers 160 meters (520 ft) above the surrounding plains. A total of 153 Buddha statues, three Sri Lankan kings, and four statues of gods and goddesses also stand on 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 of the different spices Sri Lanka is famous for. You will be introduced to other herbs and shown how some of these spices are grown and processed. The gardens are open to visitors and are a delightful place to stroll through fragrant greenery while learning about nutmeg, pepper vines, clove trees, 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, a vibrant and unique fire and harvest dance accompanied by ceremonial drums and a drum orchestra rising and falling to a lively tempo. The show's highlight is the fire-walking performance, where the artists walk through a specially prepared fire pit, roughly 8 feet by 3 feet and covered with red-hot charcoal, completely barefoot.

Dinner and overnight stay at a hotel in Kandy.

• Start with breakfast at the hotel.

• Visit the Temple of the 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 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 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 among the finest in Asia. The focal points include the superb orchid collection and a striking 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 stroll through the gardens.

Dinner and overnight stay at a hotel in Kandy.

• Rise for breakfast at the hotel.

• Leave for Nuwara Eliya, also known as Sri Lanka's

• Refresh with breakfast at the hotel.

• Explore some of the following possible adventures.

  • Option 1: Visit Little Adam's Peak.

  • Option 2: Trek to Ella Rock.

  • Option 3: View the Nine Arch Bridge.

  • Option 4: Proceed to Dowa Temple.

  • Option 5: Fly on the Rawana Mega Zipline.

  • Option 6: Ride the Rawana ATV (quad bike) trails.

Dinner and overnight stay at a homestay in Ella.

• Energise with breakfast at the hotel.

• View the spectacular Ella Gap in the southern mountain wall, where the land falls away in a dizzying drop of 3000 ft (915 m) to the southern plains and the sea, visible in the far distance on a clear day.

• Visit Rawana Ella Waterfall.

• Leave for Uda Walawe.

Dinner and overnight stay at a hotel in Uda Walawe.

• Begin with breakfast at the hotel.

• Visit the Elephant Transit Home. Human-elephant conflict is a significant threat to the survival of elephants in Sri Lanka, with many elephants being orphaned or lost, and this is where the Elephant Transit Home comes in. The elephant calves are taken in, nurtured, and cared for back to health. The elephants are free to roam around and are never chained - Elephant Transit Home ensures that human contact is kept to a minimum to maximize their chance of survival when they are returned to the wild.

• In the afternoon, proceed for a jeep safari at Uda Walawe National Park. The park is a mixture of abandoned teak plantations, grassland, scrub jungle, and riverine 'gallery forest' along the Walawe Ganga and Mau Ara. Uda Walawe is probably the best place to see wild herds of elephants, consisting of tightly knit family groups of up to four generations of related adult and sub-adult females and young. The park is also home to spotted deer, monitor lizards, sambar deer, wild boar, the common langur, jackal, toddy cat, and the endemic toque macaque. The Sri Lankan leopard has also been sighted here.

Dinner and overnight stay at a hotel in Uda Walawe.

• Eat breakfast at the hotel.

• Leave for Tangalle, famous for its beautiful and virtually untouched coastline. It is favoured by those seeking a romantic beach getaway and is perfect for seeing endangered marine turtles at Rekawa Beach.

• Day at leisure.

• At night, go on a tuk-tuk ride where you can observe marine turtles in their natural habitat. Five out of the world's seven marine turtle species are found here and come ashore in Rekawa to lay eggs, including green, loggerhead, hawksbill, olive ridley, and leatherback turtles. During the high season, from April to July, you can see 5-15 turtles each night, whereas during the low season, from October to January, it is approximately 1-2.

Dinner and overnight stay at a hotel in Tangalle.

• Consume breakfast at the hotel.

• Day at leisure.

  • Optional: Dolphin and whale watching tour (November to April).

Dinner and overnight stay at a hotel in Tangalle.

• Start with breakfast at the hotel.

• Leave for Negombo.

• See the stilt fishers on poles in Koggala, a traditional fishing method practised by many fishermen along the southern coast of Sri Lanka.

• Make a cycle tour in Galle Fort. Galle Fort is the finest and most intact fortified city built by the former European colonial powers in Asia. The narrow streets of Galle Fort are lined with Dutch merchant villas, pillared verandas, and carved doors and windows. British and Dutch period offices are still in use. This is a living World Heritage city, with residents walking the 300-year-old ramparts at sunset.

• While strolling along the high rampart walls, you will see the old Dutch and English churches, the Governor's House, the massive VOC warehouses, the Square of Courts, the elegant pillared facade of the Old Dutch Hospital, the Portuguese Black Fort, the lighthouse, the Clock Tower, and much more.

Dinner and overnight stay at a hotel in Negombo.

• Enjoy breakfast at the hotel.

• Transfer to the airport for your onward flight.