Stone and story
Nine days through two thousand years of capitals
- Length
- 9 days, 8 nights
- Pace
- Steady
- Bases
- 6
- Best months
- Jun to Sep
- From
- $1,395 · $155/day
per person, twin share, excluding international flights.
IndicativeThese prices are modelled from market rates and have not been costed yet. We will quote a real figure when you enquire.
When this trip works
The dry zone is workable most of the year but punishing in April and May, when climbing anything at midday stops being enjoyable. February and March are the best of it. October and November bring the second inter-monsoon: the sites are quiet and the rates are low, the showers arrive in the afternoon, and this route already starts early to beat the heat, so it takes the wet months better than most.
October — mixed, worth a conversation
It is October now, and this route reads mixed this month.
- Prime
- Good
- Mixed
- Out of season
The shape of it
Colombo and the westCultural TriangleHill countryWest and south coast
6 bases, 5 changes of hotel. The longest stay is 2 nights in Dambulla.
Negombo
1 night, day 1
Wilpattu
1 night, day 2
Anuradhapura
1 night, day 3
Dambulla
2 nights, days 4 to 5
Kandy
2 nights, days 6 to 7
Wadduwa
1 night, day 8
Fly home
Day by day
Breakfast, lunch and dinner, where they are included that day.
Stop 1 · Colombo and the west
Negombo
Day 1 · 1 night
Travel day · timing to be confirmed
Day 1: Airport → Negombo
Arrive CMB, pick and drop, leisure.
- Airport → Negombo
- Meals
- Dinner
- Pace
- Barely moves
Stop 2 · Cultural Triangle
Wilpattu
Day 2 · 1 night
Travel day · timing to be confirmed
Day 2: Negombo → Wilpattu
Wilpattu safari, check-in, leisure.
- Wilpattu safari
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Steady
Stop 3 · Cultural Triangle
Anuradhapura
Day 3 · 1 night
Travel day · timing to be confirmed
Day 3: Wilpattu → Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura full site by bicycle, Mihintale, evening leisure.
- Anuradhapura full site by bicycle
- Mihintale
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Full days
Stop 4 · Cultural Triangle
Dambulla
Days 4–5 · 2 nights
Travel day · timing to be confirmed
Day 4: Anuradhapura → Dambulla
Aukana en route, check-in, evening safari.
- Aukana en route
- Evening safari
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Gentle
Day 5: Dambulla, same hotel
Morning Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa site, Piumali (village) lunch, evening leisure.
- Morning Sigiriya
- Polonnaruwa site
- Piumali (village) lunch
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Full days
- Transfer
- No intercity drive planned
Stop 5 · Hill country
Kandy
Days 6–7 · 2 nights
Travel day · timing to be confirmed
Day 6: Dambulla → Kandy
Cave temple, spice garden, check-in, cultural show, Maligawa.
- Cave temple
- Spice garden
- Cultural show
- Maligawa
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Steady
Day 7: Kandy
Botanical garden, tea factory, evening city tour, shopping.
- Botanical garden
- Tea factory
- Evening city tour
- Shopping
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Gentle
- Transfer
- No intercity drive planned
Stop 6 · West and south coast
Wadduwa
Days 8–9 · 1 night
Travel day · timing to be confirmed
Day 8: Kandy → Wadduwa
Ambakke / Gadaladeniya / Lankatilaka, evening beach leisure.
- Ambakke / Gadaladeniya / Lankatilaka
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Gentle
Travel day · timing to be confirmed
Day 9: Wadduwa → airport
Wadduwa → airport.
- Wadduwa → airport
- Meals
- Breakfast
- Pace
- Gentle
What it costs
One route, three levels of hotel. The itinerary does not change.
Comfort
$1,395
$155 a day · single supplement $475
Well-run three-star hotels and family-owned guesthouses, chosen for location and the people who run them rather than the star rating.
- Private air-conditioned vehicle and driver-guide throughout
- Daily breakfast
- All transfers and road tolls
- 24-hour local support line
Boutique
$2,160
$240 a day · single supplement $820
Small boutique hotels, tea-estate bungalows and design-led beach houses. Twelve rooms rather than a hundred.
- Everything in Comfort
- Breakfast and one further meal daily
- Park fees and site entrances as itemised
- A trip designer on WhatsApp for the duration
Luxury
$3,195
$355 a day · single supplement $1,440
The best rooms on the island: colonial bungalows, private villas and lodges with their own naturalists.
- Everything in Boutique
- All meals, and a private chef where the property allows
- Private guiding at every site rather than shared
- Airport fast-track on arrival and departure
per person, twin share, excluding international flights.
Entrance fees, itemised
Site fees in Sri Lanka are high and rising: Sigiriya alone is thirty-five dollars. Most operators bury them in the exclusions. Here is the whole list, with what we cover and what we do not.
Entrance fees for Stone and story
Wilpattu National Park and jeep
$40
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Anuradhapura sacred city
$25
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Mihintale
$10
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Minneriya or Kaudulla and jeep
$40
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Sigiriya rock fortress
$35
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Polonnaruwa ancient city
$25
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Dambulla cave temples
$10
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Kandyan dance performance
$10
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic
$12
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Peradeniya botanical gardens
$10
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Tea factory tour and tasting
$8
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
- Covered by us
- $225
Who this is for
- Travellers who want the ancient cities with enough context to make sense of them
- Anyone who would rather have a guide than an audio handset
- Visitors happy to start early to avoid both the heat and the coaches
And who it is not
- Travellers who find ruins repetitive; there are four sites here and they do ask something of you
Included
- Private vehicle and driver-guide throughout
- Eight nights accommodation
- Breakfast and dinner daily
- A specialist guide at each of the ancient cities
- Wilpattu safari (day 2)
- Anuradhapura by bicycle (day 3)
- Evening safari (day 4)
- Village lunch (day 5)
- All entrance fees marked included above
Not included
- International flights
- Travel insurance
- Visa or ETA
Make it yours
This is a starting shape, not a fixed departure. The changes people ask for most:
- Add three nights on the south coast to finish slowly
- Swap Mihintale for Ritigala if you would rather have forest than steps
- Add Jaffna for four nights and a completely different history
If this one is close but not right
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 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