Itinerary

1. Day 1: Airport - Negombo

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

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

   Overnight stay at a hotel in Negombo.

2. Day 2: Negombo

   • Start with breakfast at the hotel.

   • Indulge in a diverse experience by visiting the famous fish market in Negombo with your culinary guide, known as the ‘Lellama’ (except Sunday because here the population is predominantly Christian).

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

   • Let your culinary guide choose the fish you will prepare together for lunch with you.

   • In return, experience how the fish is cut, marinated with ingredients and cooked for lunch.

   • Afternoon at leisure.

   Overnight stay at a hotel in Negombo.

3. Day 3: Negombo - Habarana - Minneriya National Park

   • Eat breakfast at the hotel.

   • Continue to a coconut plantation to discover why this ‘superfood’ is so central to life in Sri Lanka. Learn how all three parts play an essential role in daily life, sip the water of a king coconut, watch ‘toddy tappers’ extract the palm wine from the coconut sap and taste the results.

   • Leave for Minneriya.

   • See why afternoon makes thrilling jeep safari at Minneriya National Park. The park is home to the large and ancient Minneriya Tank, and it boasts an enormous variety of habitats and wildlife, covered in dry tropical forest, grasslands and wetlands.

   • In Safari, often spot large numbers of Sri Lankan Elephants gathering around grass fields on the edges of the reservoir during the dry season, offering visitors an unforgettable sight. These elephants gather to socialize, bathe, feed and mate. Minneriya also hosts more than 160 species, a few of which are endemic to Sri Lanka, such as the Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot, the Sri Lanka Jungle Fowl, and the Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill. Large mammals, including sloth bears, sambar deer, axis deer, and smaller mammals such as the Purple-Faced Langur, Toque Macaque, and the Grey Slender Loris, Saltwater crocodiles and other reptiles, including monitor lizards and snakes, add another dimension to this rich ecosystem.

   Overnight stay at a hotel in Dambulla / Sigiriya.

4. Day 4: Sigiriya Rock Fortress - Village Tour

   • Breakfast at the hotel.

   • Visit the Sigiriya Rock Fortress. Sigiriya Rock Fortress is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the most dramatic, inspiring and beautiful historical locations globally. 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 visit in Hiriwaduna.

   • Experience ancient transportation methods, Farming and Paddy fields, irrigation systems, Chief Farmer’s houses, and countryside living styles.

   • Encounter the traditional Sri Lankan transportation system, and it is 30 minute Bullock cart journey through greenish paddy fields in Hirwaduna Village.

   • After that, approx. 15-minute canoeing ride, you will reach the Famer’s house, and you can experience typical Sri Lankan countryside hospitality at his house after you can walk through his farm. You can experience different types of cultivation methods and vegetables.

   • In the end, you can experience a typical countryside Sri Lankan lunch at Famer’s house.

   Overnight stay at a hotel in Dambulla / Sigiriya.

5. Day 5: Dambulla Rock Cave Temple - Matale Spices - Kandy

   • Savour 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 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 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. 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.

   • Join a family for a cooking class and Sri Lankan dinner in the evening. Try your hand at crafting the perfect hopper. Learn to make a chicken curry with spice-infused coconut milk, lunu miris (chilli & onions) and pol sambol (shredded coconut, chilli & lime).

   Overnight stay at a hotel in Kandy.

6. Day 6: Kandy

   • Consume breakfast at the hotel.

   • Visit a local house to prepare two traditional sweets. These traditional sweets are made in homes with precise techniques and hard labour, not a regular make at home treat.

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

   • Enjoy a traditional cultural dance performance, a vibrant and unique fire and Harvest dance accompanied by Ceremonial Drums and the Drum Orchestra rising and falling to the lively tempo. The highlight is 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.

   Overnight stay at a hotel in Kandy.

7. Day 7: Kandy - Nuwara Eliya

   • Wake up to breakfast at the hotel.

   • Leave for Nuwara Eliya, also known as Sri Lanka’s “Little England”, the prime hill resort of the country. At approximately 2000 m above sea level, the city has an abundance of lush tea plantations and jaw-dropping scenery. Its nickname comes from the many English style bungalows and buildings still in existence today.

   • Visit a tea plantation and factory. Generally, start in the plantation itself to learn how tea is cultivated, then visit the factory where old machines pre-dating the industrial revolution wither, roll and dry the tea.

   • At the end of the tour, go for a tea tasting, either of one specific type of tea or various specialities of that particular factory. Like a wine tasting, a traditional tea tasting would involve drinking tea, swilling it around the mouth to get the taste, and then spitting it out into a spittoon.

   • In the evening, visit a traditional Indian restaurant to taste conventional Tamil cuisine with Dosa, a crispy rice pancake, and idli, a savoury steamed rice cake served with curry sauces or chutneys.

   Overnight stay at a hotel in Nuwara Eliya.

8. Day 8: Nuwara Eliya - Kitulgala - Galle

   • Rise for breakfast at the hotel.

   • Travel through a beautiful landscape & see the widest waterfall of Sri Lanka, “St. Clair”. Enjoy the rich nature.

   • At Kitulgala, visit the famous site where the Oscar award-winning film “Bridge on the River Kwai” was filmed.

   • In the evening, go on an excursion in a tuk-tuk to engage in a village tour to enjoy a Rotti Night of Sri Lanka. You can enjoy a village walk and engage in a culinary activity to prepare all Roti types like Pol Roti, Kothu Roti, Kurakan Roti, etc.

   Overnight stay at a hotel in Galle.

9. Day 9: Galle

   • Enjoy breakfast at the hotel.

   • Visit the 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, carved doors and windows, and 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.

   • 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.

   • Continue visit to the bustling Galle market, and you will meet your host chef, who will talk you through the core ingredients of Sri Lankan cuisine such as curry leaves, coconuts, local fruit and veg, pandan leaves and spices.

   • Travel to a local house for the experience of a traditional cooking class. Here, you will learn how to prepare for your favourite challenge.

   Overnight stay at a hotel in Galle.

10. Day 10: Galle

    • Begin with breakfast at the hotel.

    • Day at leisure.

    Overnight stay at hotel in Galle.

11. Day 11: Galle - Airport

    • Appreciate breakfast at the hotel.

    • Transfer to airport for onward flight.