The triangle in three
One base in the Cultural Triangle, and three sites from it
- Length
- 4 days, 3 nights
- Pace
- Gentle
- Bases
- 2
- Best months
- Jun to Sep
- From
- $700 · $175/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
February and March are the clearest. April and May are punishing on the rock, 1,200 steps with no shade in the high thirties. October and November are the second inter-monsoon, but the Cultural Triangle is the driest part of the island and takes it better than anywhere else: the showers come in the afternoon, the sites are close to empty, and the rates are the lowest of the year. Start at seven and you will have climbed before the weather arrives.
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 Triangle
2 bases, 1 change of hotel. The longest stay is 2 nights in Sigiriya.
Negombo
1 night, day 1
Sigiriya
2 nights, days 2 to 3
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
- None included
- Pace
- Steady
Stop 2 · Cultural Triangle
Sigiriya
Days 2–4 · 2 nights
Travel day · timing to be confirmed
Day 2: Negombo → Sigiriya
Fish market, lagoon ride, check-in, evening Dambulla cave.
- Fish market
- Lagoon ride
- Evening Dambulla cave
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Full days
Day 3: Sigiriya → Polonnaruwa → Sigiriya
Morning Sigiriya, village trek, Polonnaruwa full site, evening leisure.
- Morning Sigiriya
- Village trek
- Polonnaruwa full site
- Meals
- Breakfast, Dinner
- Pace
- Steady
- Transfer
- No intercity drive planned
Travel day · timing to be confirmed
Day 4: Sigiriya → airport
Sigiriya → airport.
- Sigiriya → airport
- Meals
- Breakfast
- Pace
- Gentle
What it costs
One route, three levels of hotel. The itinerary does not change.
Comfort
$700
$175 a day · single supplement $240
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
$1,040
$260 a day · single supplement $395
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
$1,520
$380 a day · single supplement $685
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 The triangle in three
Sigiriya rock fortress
$35
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Dambulla cave temples
$10
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
Polonnaruwa ancient city
$25
- In the price
- Yes, we cover it
- Covered by us
- $70
Who this is for
- Travellers who want the archaeology and are willing to give up the coast to get it
- Repeat visitors who did the beaches last time and skipped the ruins
And who it is not
- Anyone unwilling to spend eight hours of four days in a vehicle: the Cultural Triangle is four hours from the airport and there is no faster way
- Travellers who need a beach in the same trip, which cannot be done honestly in three nights
Included
- Private vehicle and driver-guide throughout
- Three nights accommodation
- Daily breakfast and two dinners
- All entrance fees marked included above
- Airport transfers both ways
Not included
- International flights
- Travel insurance
- Visa or ETA
- Lunches
Make it yours
This is a starting shape, not a fixed departure. The changes people ask for most:
- Swap Polonnaruwa for Anuradhapura if the older capital and the sacred bo tree matter more
- Trade the Sigiriya climb for Pidurangala if 1,200 steps is not realistic
- Add a night and drop down to Kandy on the way back rather than driving straight through
If this one is close but not right
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 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
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