Complete Sri Lanka
A little of everything, in the right order
Most people arriving for the first time want the whole island: the rock fortress and the tea train, one good safari, and a stretch of coast at the end where nothing is scheduled. The difficulty is not choosing what to see; it is sequencing it so the days do not turn into a series of long drives. That sequencing is the work.
The first-timer who wants all of it
You have two weeks, possibly less, and you are not coming back next year. You want the rock, the train, the elephants and the sea, and you would rather someone else worked out the order. What you do not want is to discover on day six that the next four days are all transfer days. The route matters more than the list, and the list is not actually the hard part.
What people come for
- See the headline places without regretting the schedule
- One safari, one train, one stretch of coast, properly
- A trip that works for two people who want slightly different things
- Somebody else holding the logistics
And who it is not for
- Travellers who want to go deep on one thing rather than broad across several
- Anyone with under six nights; the island does not compress that far without becoming a coach tour
Trips that suit Complete Sri Lanka
Hills to Ocean
Ten days from the Cultural Triangle to the southern sea
- Length
- 10 days
- Pace
- Steady
- Bases
- 6 bases
From $1,550 · $155/day
Indicative, not yet costed
The full island
Fourteen days, and a proper safari in the middle
- Length
- 14 days
- Pace
- Steady
- Bases
- 9 bases
From $2,170 · $155/day
Indicative, not yet costed
The long way round
Twelve days from Wilpattu through the old capitals and the hills to Galle
- Length
- 12 days
- Pace
- Steady
- Bases
- 8 bases
From $1,860 · $155/day
Indicative, not yet costed
The short loop
Seven days through the Cultural Triangle and the hill country
- Length
- 7 days
- Pace
- Steady
- Bases
- 4 bases
From $1,085 · $155/day
Indicative, not yet costed
The rock and the temple
Pidurangala, Dambulla and Kandy in four nights
- Length
- 5 days
- Pace
- Steady
- Bases
- 3 bases
From $875 · $175/day
Indicative, not yet costed
The triangle in three
One base in the Cultural Triangle, and three sites from it
- Length
- 4 days
- Pace
- Gentle
- Bases
- 2 bases
From $700 · $175/day
Indicative, not yet costed
Kandy and the tea country
Two nights in Kandy, two in the tea, and the climb between them
- Length
- 6 days
- Pace
- Gentle
- Bases
- 3 bases
From $875 · $146/day
Indicative, not yet costed
Stone and story
Nine days through two thousand years of capitals
- Length
- 9 days
- Pace
- Steady
- Bases
- 6 bases
From $1,395 · $155/day
Indicative, not yet costed
The planter's bungalow
Nine days through the old capitals and the tea, with the doors opened
- Length
- 9 days
- Pace
- Gentle
- Bases
- 6 bases
From $7,200 · $800/day
Indicative, not yet costed
Elephant and Gem City
Five days through Ratnapura's gem country and Udawalawe
- Length
- 5 days
- Pace
- Steady
- Bases
- 3 bases
From $700 · $140/day
Indicative, not yet costed
The Colombo layover
Two nights in the city, with one properly paced day
- Length
- 3 days
- Pace
- Gentle
- Bases
- One base
From $390 · $130/day
Indicative, not yet costed
The unhurried island
Ten days at the pace of the tea line
- Length
- 10 days
- Pace
- Barely moves
- Bases
- 8 bases
From $1,650 · $165/day
Indicative, not yet costed
Three parks and a whale
Twelve days for people who came for the animals
- Length
- 12 days
- Pace
- Steady
- Bases
- 7 bases
From $1,980 · $165/day
Indicative, not yet costed
Two nights in the fort
Galle, the ramparts and the sea
- Length
- 4 days
- Pace
- Gentle
- Bases
- One base
From $525 · $131/day
Indicative, not yet costed