Sri Lanka:

• Airport welcome with flower necklace
• Welcome drink at each hotel
• Discovery of a rural Sri Lankan village
• Ox-cart ride
• Typical lunch in a Sri Lankan house, served on a banana leaf
• Walking tours
• The original Polonnaruwa bicycle tour
• Visit to a woodcarving workshop
• Lunch in a spice garden
• Learn how to make curry powder
• Lunch of the national dish “rice and curry”
• Performance of Kandyan dances with firewalking
• Visit to a gem-cutting workshop
• Visit to a tea factory
• Tea tasting at a plantation

 

DAY 1 AIRPORT – NEGOMBO (16 km / 25 minutes) (D)
Arrival at Colombo / Bandaranayake International airport. You will be welcomed with a flower necklace and depart for Negombo.
Check-in at your hotel. Free time to rest, recover from jet lag and enjoy the beach.
Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Accommodation : Goldi Sands Hotel 4* or similar

DAY 2 NEGOMBO – SIGIRIYA – DAMBULLA (157 km / 3h45) (B/L/D)
After breakfast at the hotel, drive to Sigiriya.
Lunch en route followed by a visit to the Sigiriya Citadel or “Lion Rock”, an ancient, romantic and grandiose UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for its “Demoiselles de Sigiriya” frescoes.
Drive to Dambulla.
Dinner and overnight at hotel.
Accommodation : Tropical Life Resort 4* or similar

DAY 3 DAMBULLA – HIRIWADUNA – POLONNARUWA – DAMBULLA (67 km / 1h45) (B/L/D)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Early morning departure for Hiriwaduna, a small village on the edge of a reservoir, which you’ll reach on foot (an easy walk of approx. 45 minutes). You’ll cross a banana plantation, sample a local drink and continue your walk through the fields to discover the many crops and spices of the region. After a ride in an oxcart, you’ll enjoy a typical lunch prepared by a Sri Lankan family and served on a banana leaf by the water’s edge.
Departure for Polonnaruwa.
Visit of the site by bike (flat, easy and accessible to everyone). Option to visit the site by bus.
The visit will take place in 4 stages:
1 – Royal Palace
2 – Dalada Maluwa (Terrace of the Tooth)
3 – Rankot Vihara (Dagoba)
4 – Gal Vihara (Rock Sanctuary with Reclining Buddha)
Depending on the heat and physical ability, participants can leave their bikes behind along the way and continue the tour by bus along the same itinerary.
Visit to a woodcarving workshop.
Return to Sigiriya. En route, walk in a rice field (approx. 10 minutes, easy level).
Dinner and overnight at hotel.
Accommodation : Tropical Life Resort 4* or similar

DAY 4 DAMBULLA – MATALE – KANDY (90 km / 3h30) (B/L/D)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Visit to the Golden Rock and Temple of Dambulla. Inside the rock are a series of caves that house the historic Dambulla Temple, one of the country’s oldest Buddhist shrines. The Mahavamsa contains the most important chronicle of the island’s history. It is known as the Jambukola Vihara.
On to Matale to visit a spice garden for which Sri Lanka is famous. This is an opportunity to learn more about the cultivation of spices and their various processing methods. Tasting of spice tea.
Enjoy a foot, head or shoulder massage (approx. 10 mins). Then you can learn how to make curry powder and take part in the preparation of a dish, colored by spices.
Free time in the store (selling spices and herbal products).
Lunch in the garden of Sri Lanka’s national dish, “rice and curry”.
Drive to Kandy (approx. 1hr drive), the Buddhist capital and UNESCO World Heritage Site, magnificently situated at an altitude of 350m in a green valley (between the last rice paddies and the first tea plantations). It is bordered by low hills, naturally arranged around the Sacred Lake. The cultural center of the country, the city fell to the English in 1815.
Kandy remains a center of crafts, music and dance. Charm, past splendor and serenity describe the city in a nutshell.
Visit the Temple of the Tooth or “Dalada Maligawa”, which houses the sacred relic of Buddha’s Tooth.
In the evening, Kandyan dance performance with firewalking.
Dinner and overnight at hotel.
Accommodation : Earls Regent 4* or similar

DAY 5 KANDY – PERADENIYA – NUWARA ELIYA (85 km / 3h00) (B/L/D)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Visit to the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens: among the finest in the world, they boast the most beautiful tropical species of trees, spices, flowers and fruit, spread over almost 60 hectares.
Lunch at Ramboda.
Departure along the famous Mountain Tea Road to Nuwara Eliya. You’ll discover “tea country”, where the plantations give the landscape a very special look. Tea lovers know that the flavour and quality of tea depend on the altitude at which the plant was grown. The harvest is always carried out by women. Dressed in brightly colored “longhis”, the pickers go from shrub to shrub, stripping the young buds and tender leaves with a deft hand, then tossing them quickly into the basket strapped to their shoulders.
Visit to a tea factory and plantation, followed by a tasting session and free time in the store to shop.
Continuation to Nuwara Eliya, also known as “Little England”. This mountain resort (1,900m altitude) lies in an elliptical valley at the foot of Mount Pidurutalagala (2,520m altitude), Sri Lanka’s highest peak. Short stroll through the famous health resort, created by the English.
Dinner and overnight at hotel.
Accommodation : Panorama Green View Hotel 4* or similar

DAY 6 NUWARA ELIYA – TISSAMAHARAMA (YALA RESERVE) (185 km / 4h30) (B/L/D)
Breakfast at the hotel, then departure for Tissamaharama. En route, visit the Ella Rawana waterfall.
Lunch en route.
Discovery of the Yala reserve, dedicated to the protection and preservation of animal life and wild vegetation. You’re sure to spot elephants, bears, deers, wild buffalos or crocodiles in the coastal lagoons. If you’re lucky, you might even spot the majestic leopard. This reserve is a national park located between Nuwara Eliya and the West Coast, renowned for its hordes of elephants. The visit is by safari vehicle.
Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Accommodation : Mandara Rosen Hotel 4* or similar

DAY 7 TISSAMAHARAMA – WELIGAMA – GALLE – KOGGALA (190 km / 4h30) (B/L/D)
After breakfast at the hotel, departure for Galle via Weligama, famous for its fishermen perched on sticks in the sea.
Visit Galle, a peaceful city of 76,000 inhabitants that was once the main Dutch trading post in Ceylon, with a busy port and a hub for the spice trade. The ancient city, whose ramparts date back to the Dutch occupation, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has a delightfully nostalgic colonial charm. Admire the old mansions and the Groote Kerk, a church dating from 1754. Lacemakers still sell their wares on the ramparts, perpetuating a tradition inherited from the Portuguese. Discover the fort and ramparts, the church and colonial houses.
Lunch in Galle.
Continuation along the coast to Koggala.
Dinner and overnight at hotel.
Accommodation : The Long Beach Resort 4* or similar

DAY 8 KOGGALA – COLOMBO – KURUMBA (MALDIVES) (B/L)
Breakfast at the hotel and free morning to take in the colors and enjoy the immense beach.
After lunch at the hotel, departure for a visit to the capital, Colombo. Known since the 8th century to Arab, Persian and Chinese merchants, this village nestled between two dunes, served as a trading post on the spice route. The Portuguese, keen to control the Indian Ocean trade, settled here in 1518, building a fort for their exploration, as well as a civil and military city with churches, schools and hospitals. Today, Colombo is the country’s political and economic center.
Late afternoon, transfer to Colombo airport. Assistance with check-in formalities for your flight.
Arrival in Hulhule (Maldives) and assistance at the airport and transfer by speedboat to your hotel.
Accommodation : Kurumba Maldives 5* – Deluxe room or similar

DAYS 9-12 KURUMBA (B)
Days at leisure to relax on this beautiful island. Enjoy the activities of the resort: tennis, snorkeling, Maldivian cooking demonstration, painting classes, yoga and fitness classes, sports games, surfing trips (seasonal), sailing lessons, windsurfing, water skiing, wakeboarding, jet ski safari and much more.
Accommodation : Kurumba Maldives 5* – Deluxe room or similar

DAY 13 KURUMBA (B)
After breakfast, transfer by speedboat to the airport. End of our services.