6-Day Sri Lanka Heritage Tour with Sigiriya and Minneriya Safari

• Meet your tour guide upon arrival in Sri Lanka and transfer to a beach hotel in Negombo.
• Spend the rest of the day at your leisure. Negombo is a characteristic fishing town north of Colombo, located 6 km from the international airport. It is a gourmet paradise with seafood in plenty and old-world fishing craft, like the outrigger canoe and the catamaran. Seer, skipjack, herring, mullet, amberjack, lobster, and prawn are caught in the lagoon.

Overnight stay in Negombo.

Approximately: 26 minutes / 17 km

• Have breakfast, check out of the hotel, and leave for Anuradhapura. En route, take a short break to visit the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. This institution has been looking after orphaned or injured elephants that would otherwise have surely died. You can then watch the elephants bathe in the river after the youngest babies are milk-fed.
• Travel to Anuradhapura and visit its cultural sites. Anuradhapura is the birthplace of the Sinhalese civilization and one of the world's largest archaeological sites. It is considered the greatest monastic city.

Approximately: 3 hours 35 minutes / 168 km

• Have breakfast and visit Mihintale Rock, believed by Sri Lankans to be the site of a meeting between the Buddhist monk Mahinda and King Devanampiyatissa, which inaugurated the presence of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. It is now a pilgrimage site and the location of several religious monuments and abandoned structures.
• Travel to Polonnaruwa and visit its cultural sites. Polonnaruwa was the capital of Sri Lanka from the 11th to the 13th century AD. This ancient city is today one of the most beautiful centres of the island's cultural heritage. In its prime, the city housed hundreds of thousands of people inside its 3-mile-strong encircling walls.

Overnight stay at Polonnaruwa.

Approximately: 2 hours 5 minutes / 103 km

• Enjoy breakfast, check out of the hotel, and leave for Sigiriya.
• Visit the Sigiriya Rock Fortress, one of Sri Lanka's most fascinating UNESCO World Heritage Sites. No matter how often you climb to the summit of this one-time hilltop fortress of the maverick Sinhalese king Kassapa, the pleasure barely diminishes because of the spectacular views from the summit. You can also go for an elephant ride at Sigiriya.
• In the afternoon, hop on a jeep safari through Minneriya National Park, looking for elephants, deer, peacocks, boars, and many kinds of birds. In the evening, go to a forest Buddhist monastery.

Overnight stay in Sigiriya.

Approximately: 1 hour 10 minutes / 56 km

• Travel to Kandy via Dambulla and Matale. En route, visit the Golden Rock Temple. Golden Rock is a cave temple dating back to the 1st century BC. Its rock ceiling is one large sweep of colourful frescoes depicting Buddhist mythology and tales of the Buddha's previous births. The caves house the largest collection of Buddha statues in one place.
• Drive to Matale to visit the Nalanda Gedige Temple. This small building is designed like a Hindu temple, with a mandapa, an entrance hall originally roofed, a short passage to a bare cella, and an ambulatory around the holy centre. There is no sign of Hindu gods. The temple is said to have been used by Buddhists. It is one of the earliest stone-constructed buildings in Ceylon.
• Visit the Matale spice garden.
• Reach Kandy and visit the Temple of the Tooth. View a cultural dance in the evening.

Overnight stay at a hotel in Kandy.

Approximately: 2 hours 30 minutes / 90 km

• Transfer to the airport in time for your flight. En route, enjoy a city tour of Colombo. Colombo is the capital of Sri Lanka, as well as its largest city and main port. It is also the commercial and financial centre of the country. A bustling metropolis, the city is an attractive blend of old and new, with the lazy charm of a bygone era combined with the verve and vivaciousness of a modern city.
• Visit important places in the capital city of Colombo, such as the Parliament, Gangaramaya Temple, Independence Square, Galle Face Green, the museum, and the World Trade Center.
• Reach the airport in time for your flight.