12-Day Sri Lanka Highlights Tour with Safari and Whale Watching

• Pick up from Bandaranaike International Airport and travel to Anuradhapura.
• Check in at a hotel in Anuradhapura and spend the rest of the day relaxing at the hotel.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.

• Pick up from the hotel and explore the well-preserved ruins of an ancient Sri Lankan civilization in Anuradhapura, one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Visit the religious sites of Theravada Buddhism in the city, also known as the home of an offspring of the Bo tree where Buddha found enlightenment.
• Explore Ruwanwelisaya, Thuparamaya, and Lovamahapaya.
• Continue to Mihintale, a mountain peak near Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka believed to be the site of a meeting between the Buddhist monk Mahinda and King Devanampiyatissa.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.

• Pick up from the hotel in Anuradhapura and travel to Polonnaruwa, the second most ancient Sri Lankan kingdom.
• Explore this ancient city, which to this day remains one of the best-planned archaeological relic cities in the country, standing as testimony to the discipline and greatness of the kingdom's first rulers.

Dinner and overnight stay at a hotel in Polonnaruwa.

• Pick up from the hotel in Polonnaruwa and visit the Polonnaruwa archaeological site, including Vatadage, Nissanka Latha Mandapaya, and other highlights.
• Continue to Minneriya National Park, situated in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka.
• See the catchment of the Minneriya tank and the wildlife in the surrounding area.
• Look for large numbers of Sri Lankan elephants that are attracted to the grass fields on the edges of the reservoir during the dry season.
• Head to Sigiriya and check in at a hotel.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.

• Pick up from the hotel early in the morning and head to Sigiriya Rock Fortress on a bullock cart.
• Witness Sri Lankan rural life and have an Ayurvedic massage in one of the villages on the way.
• Arrive at the fortress, the most exquisite example of ancient Sri Lankan art, architecture, and landscaping, built over 1,600 years ago.
• See the beautiful frescoes of semi-naked nymphs and a large gatehouse in the form of a lion that guarded the entrance to the innermost sanctum of the city, the Sky Palace.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel in Sigiriya.

• Pick up from the hotel in Sigiriya and travel to Kandy.
• Visit the Dambulla Cave Temple, Sri Muthumari Amman Kovil Hindu Temple, and a spice garden on the way.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel in Kandy.

• Pick up from the hotel in Kandy and travel to the Temple of the Tooth Relic, one of the most sacred places of worship in the Buddhist world that houses the relic of Lord Buddha's tooth.
• Visit the Peradeniya Royal Botanical Garden, renowned for its collection of orchids, spices, medicinal plants, and palm trees.
• Continue to the Gem Museum in Kandy and head to the Kandy View Point.
• Walk around Kandy Lake and enjoy a shopping excursion around the city.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel in Kandy.

• Pick up from the hotel in Kandy and travel to Nuwara Eliya.
• Discover Ramboda Falls and a local tea factory en route.
• Arrive in Nuwara Eliya and check in at a hotel.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.

• Pick up from the hotel in Nuwara Eliya and travel to Tissamaharama.
• Stop by Ravana Falls on the way, one of the widest falls in the country, cascading from an oval-shaped concave rock outcrop.
• Continue to Yala National Park for a game safari.
• Arrive at Tissamaharama and check in at a hotel.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.

• Pick up from the hotel and drive to Mirissa, stopping by Weligama on the way to watch the stilt fishermen.
• Arrive in Mirissa, check in at a hotel, and have lunch.
• Go snorkelling and scuba diving at Mirissa Beach.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel in Mirissa.

• Pick up from the hotel at 5:30 am and travel to Mirissa Beach to enjoy a whale and dolphin watching tour, one of the most thrilling water activities in Sri Lanka.
• Spot blue whales, Bryde's whales, sperm whales, fin whales, common dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, and sometimes killer whales.
• Look for spinner dolphins, Risso's dolphins, and sometimes striped dolphins.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel in Mirissa.

• Pick up from the hotel in Mirissa and travel to Galle Dutch Fort.
• Enjoy a boat safari on the Madu Ganga River and continue to the Meetiyagoda Moonstone Mine.
• Head to Bandaranaike International Airport.

End of the tour.