9-Day Sri Lanka Cultural Tour with Knuckles Hike and Yala Safari

• You are picked up from the airport and driven to Polonnaruwa.

Overnight stay at Hotel Sudu Araliya or a similar hotel in Polonnaruwa.

• Visit Polonnaruwa during the morning hours. This ancient city was the capital of Sri Lanka for about 200 years until the kingdom was transferred to Dambadeniya and Polonnaruwa was conquered by the Indian king Kalinga Magha. You can visit the archaeological museum, royal palace, audience hall, swimming pool, sacred quadrangle, Shiva Devale, Pabalu Vehera, Rankot Vihara, Kiri Vihara, the Buddha statue at Lankatilaka, the Buddha figures at Gal Vihara, and more. It normally takes 5 to 6 hours to tour the entire kingdom of Polonnaruwa. Then, drive to Sigiriya.

Overnight stay at EKHO Sigiriya or a similar hotel in Sigiriya.

• Begin at 7:00 AM with a visit to the world's eighth wonder, an isolated rock kingdom rising 200 metres high and famous for its Sigiri paintings. Spend 2.5 hours here.
• Next, visit the Dambulla temple complex, the largest and best-preserved cave temple in Sri Lanka. It houses 153 Buddha statues and murals and is spread over 2100 square metres. You will need 1.5 hours to tour the complex.
• Enjoy a Kandyan dancing event in the evening between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM.
• Visit the Temple of the Tooth Relic, where the most sacred molar tooth of Lord Buddha is placed under a golden ceiling.

Overnight stay at Ceyloni Inn Kandy or a similar hotel in Kandy.

• At 7:00 AM, begin the hiking trip to Knuckles Valley. You will pass tea estates, waterfalls, cloud forest, and pygmy rains, while watching the many animals and birds around you.

Spend the night in a jungle camp, where you are served BBQ for dinner.

• Start climbing downhill through tea plantations. There are sparkling waterfalls along the way, where you can enjoy a halt beside them. You are dropped back at your hotel in Kandy by the evening.

Overnight stay at Hotel Queens or a similar hotel in Kandy.

• Soon after breakfast, you are taken to visit the Temple of the Tooth Relic, which is situated in Kandy city. The most sacred molar tooth of Lord Buddha is placed in seven golden caskets under a golden ceiling.
• You can see the royal palace of the last king who ruled Sri Lanka until 1815. There are also four Hindu temples, as well as the Buddhist and archaeological museums, situated on the Maligawa premises, and you may visit these. Then go to the Ambuluwawa Tower, which stands at a height of 48 metres on an isolated mountain.
• Drive to Nuwara Eliya, passing waterfalls, high-grown tea plantations, and world-reputed tea factories.

Overnight stay at Lourdes Hotel or a similar hotel in Nuwara Eliya.

• Begin your day at 05:00 AM and drive to Horton Plains, the highest plains in Sri Lanka, laid out with a 9 km circular walking track. After spending 3 to 4 hours at what seems to be the end of the world, leave this highly sensitive natural zone behind.
• Next, visit Baker's Falls and proceed to your hotel in Ella.
• Stop by Little Adam's Peak to enjoy a breathtaking view of the sunset.

Overnight stay at Ellas Edge Resort or a similar hotel in Ella.

• Drive to Tissamaharama to see the wonderful Ravana Ella, which is the widest fall in Sri Lanka as well as one of the most attractive. By 1:30 PM, you can join the Yala safari, a popular event among tourists, as Yala is the second-largest wildlife reservoir in Sri Lanka. It contains a higher density of leopard population than any national park in the world.

Overnight stay at EKHO Safari or a similar hotel in Yala.

• Drive to see the Hummanaya blowhole, which pumps seawater up to 40 feet during the south-west monsoon season. Next, visit the turtle conservation project at Rekawa.

Overnight stay at Thaproban Beach House in Unawatuna.