14-Day Private Sri Lanka Tour: Sigiriya, Ella Train & Yala Safari

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

Day 1
Arrival → Negombo
1 stop
1
Negombo Lagoon
Your driver meets you inside the arrivals hall with a name board bearing your name, then a twenty-minute run to the hotel — deliberately no long drive on arrival day. Negombo Lagoon has an easy walk past the outrigger canoes and the drying racks as the day's catch comes in. Your driver stays with you throughout
1 hour • Admission ticket not included
Day 2
Negombo → Sigiriya
2 stops
2
Dambulla Cave Temple
Five caves cut into a granite overhang: 150 Buddha images and ceilings painted with two millennia of murals. Shoes off at the gate, socks help on hot paving, shoulders and knees covered.
2 hours • Admission ticket not included
3
A wood-fire kitchen: clay pots, coconut scraper, five curries and a coconut sambol. You eat what you cook — this is dinner, and good company on your first night inland.
3 hours • Admission ticket not included
Day 3
Polonnaruwa & the Lake
2 stops
4
Ancient City of Polonnaruwa
The 12th-century capital, entered before the heat with a professional site guide. Royal Palace, the Quadrangle, and Gal Vihara — four colossal Buddhas carved from a single granite wall. The toque macaques here have been studied for fifty years.
5 hours • Admission ticket not included
5
Athreya Ayurvedic Spa (sigiriya)
Herbal oil massage or a full body treatment at a proper clinic, not a spa menu. Female or Male therapist arranged as standard
1 hour • Admission ticket not included
Day 4
Lion Rock & Elephant Safari
3 stops
6
Sigiriya The Ancient Rock Fortress
First entry at the gate with a site guide. 1,200 steps past the mirror wall and the frescoes to a palace on the summit — about two hours up and down, and blessedly cool at that hour.
3 hours • Admission ticket not included
7
A live wax-and-dye demonstration — the cloth is dipped, waxed and dipped again in front of you
1 hour • Admission ticket included
8
Minneriya National Park
Forty to two hundred elephants gather at the tank by dusk. If the herds have moved to Kaudulla that week your driver takes you there instead.
4 hours • Admission ticket not included
Day 5
Sigiriya → Kandy
2 stops
9
Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic
The relic chamber opens to drumming and horns, with pilgrims carrying lotus buds. Loud, crowded and the most alive place in Kandy. Visited with a site guide who can read the ritual for you
2 hours • Admission ticket not included
10
Kandy Lake Club - Cultural Dance Show
Drums, masks and a fire-walking finish
1 hour • Admission ticket not included
Day 6
Kandy — Tower & Gardens
2 stops
11
Ambuluwawa Tower
A spiralling white tower on a peak above Gampola, with a 360-degree view over the hill country. The last stretch of stair is narrow and open to the drop — worth knowing before you start.
2 hours • Admission ticket not included
12
Royal Botanic Gardens Peradeniya
147 acres, a giant bamboo grove, an avenue of royal palms and a colony of flying foxes overhead. Flat, shaded and the easiest walking of the whole trip
2 hours • Admission ticket not included
Day 7
Kandy → Nuwara Eliya
3 stops
13
Ramboda Waterfall
A 109-metre fall right beside the road, worth the twenty-minute stop.
30 minutes • Admission ticket free
14
Blue Field Tea Factory
Into the field with the plucking gang, basket strapped on. Two leaves and a bud — they will correct you, kindly, several times. This is a working estate, not a demonstration line.
2 hours • Admission ticket free
15
Nuwara Eliya
The red-brick Old Post Office, Victoria Park and a turn around Gregory Lake as the mist comes down.
2 hours • Admission ticket free
Day 8
The Hill-Country Train → Ella
2 stops
16
Nanu Oya railway station
Three and a half hours through tea estates, nine tunnels and a run of viaducts, with the hill country falling away below. A reserved seat booked the moment they release, so you have a window rather than a doorway. Your driver takes the car round by road and meets you on the platform.
4 hours • Admission ticket not included
17
Ella
One long street of cafés and craft shops, busy and well lit. Dinner wherever smells right.
2 hours • Admission ticket free
Day 9
Ella – Nine Arches Bridge & Little Adam's Peak
2 stops
18
Nine Arches Bridge
A famous stone railway bridge in the jungle, built in the colonial era without steel. We time the visit so you can see a train cross.
2 hours • Admission ticket free
19
Little Adam's Peak View Point
An easy 45-minute walk up a path to a viewpoint surrounded by tea fields and mountains. Best in the morning before it gets hot.
2 hours • Admission ticket free
Day 10
Ella to Yala – Evening Safari in Yala National Park
1 stop
20
Yala National Park
An afternoon jeep safari in Yala, known for leopards (sightings not guaranteed). You may also see elephants, sloth bears, crocodiles, buffalo, and many peacocks.
4 hours • Admission ticket free
Day 11
Yala to Mirissa – Beach & Coconut Tree Hill
2 stops
21
Mirissa Beach
A calm, shallow bay that is good for swimming. Relax on the beach for the afternoon.
3 hours • Admission ticket free
22
Coconut Tree Hill
A famous viewpoint with palm trees on a cliff over the sea, a short walk from the beach.
1 hour • Admission ticket free
Day 12
Whale Watching, Galle Fort, Turtles & Stilt Fishermen
4 stops
23
An early boat trip to look for blue whales, sperm whales, and dolphins. We use a licensed operator that keeps a safe distance from the animals.
4 hours • Admission ticket not included
24
Galle Dutch Fort
Walk the old Dutch fort walls, see the lighthouse, and explore streets of colonial houses, cafés, and shops. A UNESCO World Heritage Site.
2 hours • Admission ticket free
25
Sea Turtle Hatchery
Learn how turtle eggs are protected and see baby turtles. If the timing is right, you can watch a release at sunset.
1 hour • Admission ticket not included
26
stilt fishermen Sri Lanka
See the traditional stilt fishermen at sunset, one of Sri Lanka's most photographed scenes.
30 minutes • Admission ticket free
Day 13
Mirissa to Colombo – City Tour & Gangaramaya Temple
3 stops
27
Colombo
A driving tour of Colombo: Galle Face, the Fort area, Independence Square, the Old Parliament, and the busy streets of Pettah.
3 hours • Admission ticket free
28
Gangaramaya (Vihara) Buddhist Temple
A working Buddhist temple beside Beira Lake, with a shrine hall, a Bodhi tree, and a museum of gifts from pilgrims. Please cover shoulders and knees.
1 hour • Admission ticket not included
29
Galle Face Green
End the day on the seafront with local street food like isso wade (prawn fritters) as the sun sets.
1 hour • Admission ticket free
Day 14
Departure from Colombo
1 stop
30
Bandaranaike International Airport
Free morning for shopping or relaxing, then a transfer to the airport (about 45 minutes) with plenty of time for check-in.
1 hour • Admission ticket free

Additional info

• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness

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