Travel Information
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English
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Breakfast
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Easy
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Colombo
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Colombo
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All year
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Family, Individual
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Cultural
Overview
Ancient City – Cave Temple – Yala National Park Safari – Sigiriya – Remote Village Tour
Highlights
- Ancient City of Anuradhapura
- Dambulla Cave Temple
- Safari at Yala National Park
- Sigiriya Rock Fortress
- Visit of remote village
- Cooking Class
Itinerary
Upon your arrival in Colombo, our driver will welcome you and drive you to your accommodation in the coastal town of Negombo, 7 km away. You can relax from getting there, for example, lying under coconut palms on the golden beach or enjoying authentic Sri Lankan food. Depending on the arrival time, you can also visit the vicinity of the small fishing village, the sights, such as the Negombo Lagoon, the Neoclassical St. Mary’s Church, and much more.
Overnight: Negombo
After breakfast, we will drive to Anuradhapura and visit enroute the Punchi Kataragama Temple, an extraordinarily colourful neat Tamil temple in the modern Drawidian style. The temple is known as Punchi Kataragama temple, also called Replica of Kataragama temple, Kataragama being the Sri Lankan name of the Southindian deity Murugan.
Overnight: Anuradhapura
Today we explore the Anuradhapura’s “Atamasthana,” a UNESCO World Heritage Site with eight sacred places that the Buddha visited during his visits to Sri Lanka. The holy places are known as Jaya Sri Maha Bodhiya, Ruwanwelisaya, Thuparamaya, Lovamahapaya, Abhayagiri Dagaba, Jetavanarama, Mirisaveti Stupa and Lankarama. They are situated in Anuradhapura, the capital of the ancient Anuradhapura Kingdom.
Overnight: Anuradhapura
After breakfast transfer to Sigiriya – 1 ½ hour’s drive approximately. Lunch at Hela Bojun, the Sri Lankan organic eatery. Afternoon Safari in Minneriya National Park to see large herds of elephants.
Overnight: Sigiriya
Overnight in: Sigiriya
After a light breakfast, we are heading to Sigiriya to climb the ‘Lion’s Rock’, which dominates the jungle from all sides. A series of galleries and staircases emerging from the mouth of a gigantic lion constructed of bricks and plaster provide access to the site. After the village tour, we will go for a great village tour.
Before a typical village lunch, we do a tour that gives you a memorable experience in a countryside rural village in Sigiriya. You will enjoy the sightseeing of paddy fields, a bullock cart ride, a traditional catamaran ride in a lake, a visit to a chena cultivation, a traditional cooking demonstration in a rural village house and an authentic Sri Lankan lunch during this tour.
For those interested, climbing Pidurangala is also an option.
Overnight: Sigiriya
Today after breakfast, we’re heading to Kandy enroute to visit the Dambulla Golden Temple. Dambulla cave temple, also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla is a World Heritage Site in Sri Lanka, situated in the central part of the country. Dambulla is the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka.
We will have a stop in Nalanda Gedige the center point of Sri Lanka with a wonderful Buddhist history and nature paradise for birdwatchers. We pay a visit to see the Shri Muththu Mari Amman Hindu temple in Matale.
This particular temple is dedicated to the god of rain among Hindu devotees. Shri Muththumari Amman Kovil or the temple differs completely from everything that is seen in other parts of the world except Asia. This visit will be pleasant and allow you to have an insight into the Hindu Culture.
In the evening do a city tour including a visit to Temple of Tooth Relic, and then set you free in Kandy town to explore it on your own.
Overnight: Kandy
After an early breakfast, you will be driven to Sri Lanka’s remotest village, Heeloya (2 h drive), which is surrounded by mountains and Paddy fields. At Heeloya remote village, get a feel of life in a typical village besides trekking and sightseeing and a culinary experience in true Sri Lankan style! You can do a 4-6 hrs village trail and have an amazing experience of culture, traditions, gastronomy, village life, nature, etc. We will return to the hotel in the evening.
Overnight: Kandy
We will drive to Nuwara Eliya, the capital of Sri Lanka’s tea industry since the early 19th century. Its tea factories and tea estates are open to visitors who want to experience the history of British Ceylon. We will visit the Damro tea factory where you will be accompanied by a guide explaining the entire procedure from tea plantation to tea packaging. Don’t forget to enjoy a hot cup of tea after the trip (served complimentary).
After visiting the tea factory, we board you to the most scenic Nuwara Eliya to Ella train ride where our driver will be waiting to pick you up at Ella station upon arrival. This small town is used as a base for plenty of trekking expeditions to the surrounding countryside. Another fine view is from the Ambiente Hotel, where the wide doorway opens out to the mountains, creating a dramatic cinematic-like experience, on entry. Some of the places you could see in Ella are the Ella Gap, Ravana Ella Falls, Little Adam’s Peak and Bambaragala Peak among the other many varied pleasant walks with stunning scenery. A taste of the breathtaking scenery of Ella could be had if you just walk into the Grand Ella, where you seem to be standing at the edge of the world, and everything around you seems to disappear at your feet. Evening Village tour is possible on this day.
Overnight: Ella
A small, yet astonishingly beautiful town Ella, is located close to Nuwara Eliya. Explore the beautiful nature of Ella and the surroundings by hiking or cycling. Your guide will assist you with things to do in and around Ella.
Overnight: Ella
You have time to continue enjoying and exploring the nature of Ella until your transfer to Tissamaharama (5 hour’s drive).
Evening lake fishing and dinner of the catch with the fisherman’s family is sometimes possible on request.
Overnight: Tissamaharama
In the early morning at around 4:30, we’ll do a safari at the Yala National Park, which covers 979 km², although only the original 141 km² are open to the public. Much of the reserve is parkland, but it also contains jungle, beaches, freshwater lakes and rivers and scrubland. The range of habitats gives rise to a good range of wildlife. Yala is the ideal place to spot the “big four” of Sri Lankan wildlife: the elephants, the sloth bear, the elusive leopard, the wild buffalo and many more animals.
Overnight: Tissamaharama
Meal: Breakfast box
After breakfast transfer to Galle (4 hours drive). In the afternoon, visit the natural silk factory and cultural sites, and enjoy the endemic fruit juice of Mangrove apple (Kirala) on your way to the Dutch Fort.
Overnight: Galle
Start the day with breakfast and then embark on a full-day tour of Galle. Explore activities like pot making, lace making, and white virgin tea production. Don’t forget to try a cup of natural tea and go stilt fishing. Enjoy a corn snack with a king coconut before visiting Rumassala Mountain. The Hindu epic Ramayana refers to this particular mountain as Hanuman, the monkey king grabbed this piece of soil from India & placed it in Sri Lanka.
Dinner will be organised over a local cooking class at Galle Organic Kitchen. You will visit a local organic market to pick the most preferred local veggie and prepare local cuisine with the guide’s family for an authentic local dinner.
Overnight: Galle
After breakfast, visit the Turtle hatchery. In the afternoon transfer to Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka.
Overnight: Colombo
We will visit Colombo after breakfast for a city tour. You can choose to explore for 2 hours by tuk-tuk or coach bus with a driver guide. Visit the city’s popular landmarks including Colombo Harbour, Pettah neighborhood, Wolvendaal Church, Independence Square, Gangaramaya Temple, and more, while immersing yourself in local Sri Lankan travel. After a special lunch at Thali restaurant, you can continue visiting Colombo on your own or do an optional tour:
Optional: Zoological garden.
Overnight: Colombo
After breakfast, you can spend your day free until your transfer to the airport.
Accommodation
Homestay option on our tours are primarily family run home stays, farm stays or eco friendly small hotels. The meals in the accommodation is primarily sourced locally or organically grown in the own garden and the large number of dishes on the menus are home made.
We work together with a variety of different homestays and eco hotels. Their room availability will be checked at your booking. If one accommodation is already fully booked, you will stay in a similar accommodation of the same category.
What's Included
Included
- 15 nights accommodation according tour plan
- Meals according tour plan (15 x Breakfast, 3 x Lunch, 3 x Dinner)
- Transportation with chauffeur guide from arrival through departure
- Train ticket
- Cooking Class
- English speaking guide
- Taxes
Not Included
- Flight tickets
- Entrance fees for the mentioned sites in the itinerary
- Other meals & drinks not mentioned
- Tips
- Travel insurance
- Visa
Frequently Asked Questions
Usually we pick you up from the international airport in Colombo and bring you back at your departure time. If your arrival- or departure time is earlier or later than the tour start or end, we can arrange you the pick-up and bring service to the airport. If you arrive earlier or depart later than the tour dates, we will arrange an accommodation for you.
Overall Trip Rating:
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Verified Purchase
By Osvaldo(Argentina)31. December 2019 Excelent tour!Excelent tour! The idea of a homestay tour is genius! Totally affordable, we got a chance to experience “real Sri Lanka”, interacting with people in the places we stayed in, sometimes cooking along, playing with the children, talking to everyone. It is relaxing to know that food, travel, activities, overnight stay, are all paid for and taken care of. Plus the friendship we received from Yusuf, our guide, and Namal, our driver! They did everything that was necesary to provide the services agreed upon, and also to arrange extras activities we were interested in, like Balloon flying, snorkeling, whale watching! It was just perfect, and we will always be thankful to them and to every simple person we met in Sri Lanka… A disclaimer, though: This tour is for people who do not except high level services, because meals are usually served at homes or in family restaurants. Even though some of the houses we stayed in had rooms nicer than 4 star hotels!
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Verified Purchase
By Maria(Germany)29. December 2019 The real and beautiful Sri LankaIn August 2019 we decided to visit Sri Lanka for 22 days over Christmas and New Year. In Yusuf from EuroLanka Holidays, we found a local tour operator, who always was ready to adapt to our wishes for proximity to culture, people and nature and even changes requested spontaneously were taken care of immediately. Of course, it helped a lot that he worked for a German company in Dubai, and therefore is very much familiar with the German mentality. Our trip began on December 19, 2019 in the lively city of Galle, which, surrounded by palm beaches, with the old town and the Dutch Fort has an attraction to offer. After that, Yusuf accompanied us on a 14-day tour through the southern, central and eastern part of the island. Of course, we visited the Sinharaja Rain Forest World Natural Heritage, took the train from Ella to Nuwara Eliya, explored the bustling streets of Kandy in a tuk tuk, walked through the old town, saw the famous Kandy dancers and of course visited the Temple of Tooth. Thereafter, on our way to Trincomalle, on the east coast, we visited ruins and temples in Sigiriya, Dambulla, Polonnaruwa. Then, from Trincomalle we made a short visit at the Kaniiya Hotwells, before we continued further to the picturesque Anuradapura. Finally, we returned via Negombo to Hikkaduwa north of Galle. There, in the beautiful, quiet and comfortable Villa 46, located on the beach. we recovered from our tour. Yusuf, born in Galle himself, made the trip an unforgettable experience, especially outside of tourist attractions. This included personal invitations to dinner at his home, with delicacies of the national cuisine, freshly prepared by his lovely wife Deeriya. We made a stop at the Spice Art Shop Galle, which combined all the wonderful hot spices of the island, we strolled along Jungle Beach, took a tuk tuk for a shopping tour through the main shopping street Main Street, drank fresh tea in the Court Square of the Galle Fort and visited the Sivan temple in Galle. Our roundtour around the country began with a long hike through the Sinharaja Rain Forest World Natural Heritage site, including a dip in the Ging Ganga waterfalls, and a sighting of a poisonous green pit viper. Of course, we did not miss the breakfast soup Kola Kanda, experienced freshly roasted peanuts on the train to Nuwara Eliya, had lunch near Haputale in a restaurant build from palm fronds and logs, took the more than adventurous walk to the Nine Arches Bridge in Ella, ate ripe pomelos at the fruit stand on our way to Kandy, made a tour in an ox cart in Hiriwadunna Village, had a long chat with a farmer in a rice field near Sigiriya, had the daily enjoyment of curd, made from the milk of water buffaloes sweetened with treakle on the edge of the road, visited with the fishermen on the east coast, had an unforgettable New Year with freshly made curry and Lion beer in the evening, and a traditional New Year’s ceremony with boiled milk the following morning at the Pearl Oceanic Resort in Trincomalle. In Puranagama Ancient Village near Anuradhapura we familiarized ourselves with country life in the old days and enjoyed the wonderful food that came straight out of the oven. Finally, there were these palm trees, the magnificent sun and the big foam topped waves on the beach of Hikkaduwa. Ultimately, let us not forget Namal, the always friendly and helpful driver, who navigated us with calm and great care through the very special traffic conditions in Sri Lanka. It was a great trip. Whoever is looking for a fantastic holiday in beautiful Sri Lanka should consider Yusuf from EuroLanka Holydays, with his special proximity to country and people he is the best tour organizer you can get.
Date of Experience: December 29, 2019 -
Verified Purchase
By Maddie(Australia)31. July 2019 16 Days Sri LankaOur 10 day trip with EuroLanka was one to remember. Yusuf and his team were able to tailor our holiday to meet our needs and our budget. EuroLanka holidays offers something deeper than the bigger tour operators. We were able to go off to beaten track and experience the real Sri Lanka. Accomodation was predominantly homestays which made the experience even richer. Amongst many other highlights, one that stands out in particular was when we were in transit between towns, he introduced us to a small fishing village where we came across a small group of school children who had not encountered foreigners before. First there were 3, then 10, then 20 and before we knew it there were 30 adorning school children following us around the village in awe of the 2 foreigners they’d never seen before. This, as well as the time we spent with his family, are memories we will cherish forever. There are no set rules on the tour. Whatever you want to see or do, Yusuf can make it happen. The epitome of a great man living in a beautiful country – this is reflected 100% through the EuroLanka tour.
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Verified Purchase
By Blake(Australia)31. July 2019 16 Days Sri LankaThe team at Euro Lanka led by Yusuf is nothing short of exceptional. They go above and beyond to tailor the trip how you would like it but at no point does that detract away from the essence of traditional Sri Lanka. Yusuf started by customising our trip to suit our needs which many other tour companies don’t do. Then once there the service was impeccable, with local insights, stops and learnings from not only Yusuf himself, but his family, driver Namal and the locals enlisted to help show us the best possible time in Sri Lanka. We could not fault the trip at any point and if we needed something more or else, Yusuf would make it happen so we could enjoy the entire trip with a care free experience. Highly recommend Euro Lanka as you get a wholesome traditional and unbelievable experience with Yusuf and the team. Thank you!
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By John(France)23. January 2019 16 Day Tour in Sri LankaThe first 12 days of our tour were really exceptionally good. It was unfortunately only the last 5 days when we were let down. We saw and visited many wonderful places which will remain happily in our memories. The flora and fauna are wonderful. The people are friendly and kind, and mostly always smiling. The accommodation was mostly very good, with only two exceptions but bearing in mind how quickly the tour was put together for a special occasion for us, these can certainly be overlooked.
