4-Day Sri Lanka Cultural Tour with Sigiriya and Kandy

• Meet your tour guide upon arrival at Bandaranayake International Airport. Leave Colombo in the morning and drive along busy highways into the interior of the island.
• Visit the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, where about eighty elephants are cared for after being found abandoned by their herds in different parts of the country. You can watch milk feeding for baby elephants and their daily bath in the nearby river.
• After this, continue to the old royal city of Kandy, beautifully nestled among green hills. In Kandy, visit the Temple of the Tooth Relic, the holiest shrine in Sri Lanka, where the tooth relic of Lord Buddha is highly venerated.
• Enjoy a visit to Kandy Lake. In the evening, you will have the opportunity to watch a dance performance featuring the famous Kandyan dances, as well as up-country and devil dances.

Overnight stay at a hotel in Kandy.

Distance: 123 km

• Have breakfast and visit the world-famous Botanical Garden in Peradeniya. The park dates back to 1371, during the reign of King Vikrama Bahu III, when he held court here. The English laid the foundation of the present garden in 1821. Here, you will find a large variety of orchids, palms, bushes, tropical plants, and flowers of all kinds.
• Leave Kandy and proceed north. Along the way, you will see paddy fields, coconut groves, rubber plantations, and spice gardens.
• Stop at one of the spice gardens, where you can see many spice plants, bushes, and crops.
• Visit the Dambulla Cave Temple. This temple complex consists of five separate caverns with numerous statues of the Buddha and Hindu deities.

Overnight stay at a hotel in Sigiriya.

• Have breakfast, then visit Sigiriya Rock. This impressive monolith rises 200 meters out of the jungle and was transformed in the 5th century by King Kashyapa into a fortress, which became his capital. Here, you will see the frescoes of the Sigiriya Maidens.
• In the afternoon, drive to Polonnaruwa to visit the well-preserved remains of the city, which served as the capital of Sri Lanka from the 11th to the 13th century. You will see the excavations, including temples, dagobas, the royal palace, the royal library, and more.
• Visit the Gem Museum and enjoy activities such as a bullock cart ride or an elephant ride. A spa herbal treatment will also be available for you to relax.

Overnight stay at a hotel in Sigiriya.

• Have breakfast, then leave for Anuradhapura to visit the first ancient capital of Sri Lanka. You will see some of the most famous and tallest dagobas in Sri Lanka, as well as remains of palaces, temples, monasteries, ceremonial baths, and the temple of the holy Bo-tree.
• Leave for Colombo. On the way, you will pass paddy fields and coconut plantations. You will reach Colombo or the airport in the evening.