Pearl of the Indian Ocean

Tour highlights

  • The coastal city of Negombo including a city tour by Tuk Tuk

  • Wilpattu National Park including morning and afternoon game drives

  • The ancient fortress of Sigiriya Rock

  • Kandy tour including the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, the Botanical Garden and Cultural Show

  • Nuwara Eliya and a visit to a tea factory with a tea tasting

  • Yala National Park including a half-day safari

  • Morning tour of Galle

  • A 4-night beach stay at the end of the tour

Meet your tour hosts

Day 1 - 6: Negombo to Wilpattu National Park

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Days 1 - 4: Negombo

Depart from the UK on your overnight flight to Colombo. On arrival you'll be met by your local tour leaders and transferred to your hotel in Waikkal, north of Negombo. The remainder of the day is yours to relax before a welcome dinner in the evening. On day 3 you will be transferred to Negombo for a Negombo City Tour by Tuk Tuk.

Days 5 - 6: Wilpattu National Park
Distance: 130km/81 miles

After a relaxing breakfast, your motorhome will be delivered to the hotel ready for you to start the first leg of your journey to Wilpattu National Park. Many of Sri Lanka’s 'big game' can be found here including elephant, sloth bear and water buffalo, although the biggest attraction at Wilpattu is the leopard which you can try to spot on two included game drives.

Day 7 - 14: Habarana to Nuwara Eliya

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Days 7 - 9: Habarana
Distance: 97km/61 miles

Habarana is the hub for many main attractions in Sri Lanka and it is from here that we include a visit to Sigiriya Rock, designated as a world heritage site in 1982, Sigiriya is famous for its palace ruins that sit on top of a massive 200-meter high rock which is surrounded by the remains of an extensive network of gardens, reservoirs and other structures.

Days 10 - 12: Kandy
Distance: 91km/59 miles

Nestled in a valley surrounded by verdant hills, Kandy was the last capital stronghold of the Singhalese Kings.

On the included tour of Kandy, you’ll see the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens and also the Temple of the Tooth (Dalada Maligawa), the most important shrine in Sri Lanka, which houses a tooth of Buddha taken from his funeral pyre in 543 BC. It is renowned for its daily 'Thewawa' ceremony when each evening, the day's worship culminates when the casket containing the tooth relic is put on display to devotees who have travelled from all over the Buddhist world.

Days 13 - 14: Nuwara Eliya
Distance: 80km/50 miles

Nuwara Eliya is located in the hill country of the Central Province of Sri Lanka and the city is considered to be one of the most important locations for tea cultivation and is well known for its cool climate. No trip to Nuwara Eliya would be complete without a visit to a tea factory and on our included tour you will be able to see the process of how Ceylon Tea is produced.

Day 15 - 21: Yala to Bentota

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Days 15 - 16: Yala
Distance: 140km/88 miles

Yala National Park is composed of a variety of habitats, from thorny scrub to dense forests, lagoons, and an ocean. Here you can find elephants, leopard, bears as well as crocodiles that can be spotted basking along the banks of lakes. You'll also discover a variety of birdlife, from eagles to kingfishers, as well as migrant birds that flock here during the winter months.

Days 17 - 20: Bentota
Distance: 240km/150 miles

For those that wish to, there’s the opportunity to take a second optional game drive into Yala National Park before heading to Bentota. You'll drop your motorhome off here before checking in to your beachside hotel where you’ll be staying for the next four nights. You'll also enjoy a farewell dinner here.

On the morning of day 18, we head to Galle which was once the chief port of Sri Lanka and is now best known for its handmade lace. Here you can visit the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Galle Fort which spans 90 acres, and which was originally built by the Portuguese and later extended by the Dutch in 1663. This walled city has stood since the early sixteenth century, through the Colonial periods of the Portuguese, Dutch and British and in present times is proclaimed as an Archaeological Reserve. 

Day 21: Bentota to UK

Transfer to Colombo Airport for your flight back to the UK.

South Africa

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