9-Day Sri Lanka Heritage and Wildlife Tour from Colombo

• Meet your tour guide upon arrival in Sri Lanka and transfer to Colombo city. Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, has a long history as a port on ancient east-west trade routes and was ruled successively by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. That heritage is reflected in its architecture, which mixes colonial buildings with high-rises and shopping malls. The imposing Colombo National Museum, dedicated to Sri Lankan history, borders the sprawling Viharamahadevi Park and its giant Buddha.
• Visit places such as the National Museum, Gangarama Buddhist Temple, Galle Face Green, Red Mosque, and a local shopping market.

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Enjoy a delicious breakfast at your hotel. Spend the day in Bentota, where the breathtaking sandy beach transforms dreams and visions of a tropical paradise into an everyday reality.
• Take part in water sports, visit a turtle hatchery, and enjoy a safari on the Madu River.

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Enjoy a delicious breakfast at your hotel. See Galle Fort, in the Bay of Galle on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka, which was first built in 1588 by the Portuguese and then extensively fortified by the Dutch during the 17th century from 1649 onwards.
  • It is a historical, archaeological, and architectural heritage monument which, even after more than 432 years, maintains a polished appearance due to extensive reconstruction work carried out by the archaeological department of Sri Lanka. The fort has a colourful history and today has a multi-ethnic and multi-religious population. The Sri Lankan government and many Dutch people who still own some of the properties inside the fort are looking at making this one of the modern wonders of the world. The heritage value of the fort has been recognized by UNESCO, and the site has been inscribed as a cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site under criterion iv for its unique exposition of "an urban ensemble which illustrates the interaction of European architecture and South Asian traditions from the 16th to the 19th centuries." The Galle Fort, also known as the Dutch Fort or the "Ramparts of Galle," withstood the Boxing Day tsunami, which damaged part of the coastal area of Galle town. It has since been restored.
  • The most common moonstone is made of the orthoclase feldspar mineral adularia, named after an early mining site near Mt. Adular in Switzerland, now the town of St. Gotthard. A solid solution of the plagioclase feldspar oligoclase +/- the potassium feldspar orthoclase also produces moonstone specimens. Deposits of moonstone occur in Armenia, mainly from Lake Sevan, Australia, the Austrian Alps, Mexico, Madagascar, Myanmar, Norway, Poland, India, Sri Lanka, and the United States. Historically, the most valuable transparent moonstones with a strong blue sheen came from Myanmar. Today, most commercial moonstones come from Sri Lanka.
• After visiting the Galle Dutch Fort, continue to the Blue moonstone mine.

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Have a delicious breakfast at your hotel. Enjoy a safari at Yala National Park. Yala National Park is a huge area of forest, grassland, and lagoons bordering the Indian Ocean in southeast Sri Lanka. It is home to wildlife such as leopards, elephants, and crocodiles, as well as hundreds of bird species. Inland, Sithulpawwa is an ancient Buddhist monastery, and nearby caves contain centuries-old rock paintings. In the southwest, Magul Maha Viharaya also has ancient Buddhist ruins. Both are pilgrimage sites.

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Enjoy a delicious breakfast at your hotel. En route to your destination, visit Ella, a small town in the Badulla District of Uva Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. It is approximately 200 kilometres east of Colombo and is situated at an elevation of 1,041 metres above sea level. The area has a rich biodiversity and is dense with numerous varieties of flora and fauna. You can see beautiful tea estates, Ramboda Waterfall, and a tea factory.
• Head to Nuwara Eliya, the City of Lights, blessed with a salubrious climate and breathtaking views of valleys, meadows, mountains, and greenery. Surrounded by hills and tea plantations, the town enjoys spring-like weather throughout the year. It is also known as "Little England," which was the favourite hill station of the British, who tried to create Nuwara Eliya as a typical English village. The old brick Post Office, the country house-like Hill Club with its hunting pictures, trophies, and strict formal dinner attire, the 18-hole golf course, and horse race course all remind you of "England."
• Visit the main attractions of the town, which include the following:
  • Rawana Waterfall
  • Mini Adam Peak
  • Golf Course
  • Victoria Park
  • Lake Gregory (boating or fishing)
  • Tea factory
  • Hanuman Kovil
  • Seethammann Kovil
  • Hakgala Botanical Garden
  • Enjoy an Arvada Spa.

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Enjoy a delicious breakfast at your hotel. Lying amidst the hills, Kandy is the last capital of the ancient kings of Sri Lanka. While being the second-largest city in Sri Lanka, it is also famous for its immense beauty and is named one of the seven UNESCO-declared World Heritage Sites in the country. With its luxuriant prairie, picturesque lake, the longest river in the country, and misty mountains, Kandy successfully mesmerizes every visitor.
• Visit one of the World Heritage Sites as well as a sacred place for Buddhists all over the world, namely:
  • Temple of the Tooth Relic
  • Kandy Viewpoint
  • Royal Botanical
  • World-famous Gem Museum
  • Wood carving workshop
  • Sri Lankan Batik Centre

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Enjoy a delicious breakfast at your hotel. En route to your destination, visit Sri Lanka's world-renowned spices at their source.
• Visit a spice garden, where the smells of cinnamon, pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, and mace overwhelm the senses, and visitors are provided with an insight into the age-old spice production industry that attracted many European and Asian merchants to the ports of ancient Sri Lanka.
• Also go to Sigiriya, an ancient rock fortress located in the northern Matale District near the town of Dambulla in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It is a site of historical and archaeological significance dominated by a massive column of rock approximately 180 m (590 ft.) high. According to the ancient Sri Lankan chronicle, the Culavamsa, this area was once a large forest, then after storms and landslides it became a hill and was selected by King Kashyapa (AD 477 - 495) for his new capital. He built his palace on top of this rock and decorated its sides with colourful frescoes. On a small plateau about halfway up the side of the rock, he built a gateway in the form of an enormous lion. The name of this place is derived from this structure: Sinhagiri, the Lion Rock, an etymology similar to Sinhapura, the Sanskrit name of Singapore, the Lion City. The capital and the royal palace were abandoned after the king's death. It was used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century. Sigiriya today is a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site and one of the best-preserved examples of ancient urban planning.

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Enjoy a delicious breakfast at your hotel. Go to Polonnaruwa, the second capital of Sri Lanka after the destruction of Anuradhapura in 993. It comprises, besides the Brahmanic monuments built by the Cholas, the monumental ruins of the fabulous garden city created by Parakramabahu I in the 12th century.
• Visit Dambulla Temple. Dambulla Cave Temple, also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla, is a World Heritage Site (1991) in Sri Lanka, situated in the central part of the country. Dambulla is the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka. The rock towers 160 m over the surrounding plains. There are more than 80 documented caves in the surrounding area. Major attractions are spread over five caves, which contain statues and paintings. These paintings and statues are related to Gautama Buddha and his life. There are a total of 153 Buddha statues, three statues of Sri Lankan kings, and four statues of gods and goddesses, including Vishnu and Ganesha. The murals cover an area of 2,100 square metres (23,000 sq. ft). Depictions on the walls of the caves include the temptation by the demon Mara and Buddha's first sermon. Prehistoric Sri Lankans would have lived in these cave complexes before the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, as there are burial sites with human skeletons about 2,700 years old in this area, at Ibbankatuwa near the Dambulla cave complexes.
• Enjoy a safari in Minneriya National Park. It is a national park in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka. The area was designated as a national park on 12 August 1997, having originally been declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1938. The reason for declaring the area protected is to protect the catchment of the Minneriya tank and the wildlife of the surrounding area. The tank is of historical importance, having been built by King Mahasen in the third century AD. The park is a dry-season feeding ground for the elephant population dwelling in the forests of the Matale, Polonnaruwa, and Trincomalee districts. The park earned revenue of Rs. 10.7 million in the six months ending in August 2009. Along with Kaudulla and Girithale, Minneriya forms one of the 70 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) of Sri Lanka. The park is situated 182 kilometres (113 mi) from Colombo.
• Explore the rural but beautiful village of Hiriwadunna, Sri Lanka. The journey to the village is very interesting and starts with a bullock cart ride. Then take a walk through the tiny village of Hiriwadunna while enjoying the views and the cooling breeze. At a house in the village, relax and taste a delicious Sri Lankan lunch that you help prepare. After a relaxed time in the village house, return to the hotel.
• Experience a boat ride to the other side of the rural village while the sun sets. Finish the tour by taking a tuk-tuk ride back to the hotel.

Overnight stay and dinner at the hotel.

• Enjoy a delicious breakfast at your hotel. After breakfast, you will be transferred to the airport for your departure flight.