Cultural
The island through its people, kitchens and history
Sri Lanka has two thousand years of built history and a food culture that changes every eighty kilometres. Both are easy to see badly: a bus to a ruin, a hotel buffet labelled local. The difference is who takes you and whether you are expected to arrive hungry.
The one who wants to eat where people actually eat
You came for the part of a country that does not photograph easily. Markets at six in the morning, a rice and curry with eleven dishes on the table, a temple on an ordinary weekday rather than a festival. You want context (why this stupa, why this spice, why this town cooks it differently), and you would rather spend an hour with someone who knows than a day with an audio guide.
What people come for
- Sri Lankan food, cooked and explained by the people who cook it
- Ancient cities with enough context to make sense
- Markets, kitchens and working towns
- Time with people rather than in front of things
And who it is not for
- Travellers who want the beach as the centre of gravity
- Anyone hoping to see all three ancient capitals plus the hill country in under a week
Trips that suit Cultural
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 kitchen table
Six days eating where people actually eat
- Length
- 6 days
- Pace
- Gentle
- Bases
- 4 bases
From $900 · $150/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
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
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 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
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
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 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
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
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
Tea and time
Seven days: Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and a last night by the sea
- Length
- 7 days
- Pace
- Barely moves
- Bases
- 4 bases
Save $160 · 12%Ends today, 31 October
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