- Welcome to Sri Lanka, our Airport Representative will meet, assist and transfer you to the Ramada Hotel in Colombo.
- Commence an afternoon city tour of Colombo which includes a drive past Colonial buildings such as The Presidential Secretariat (previously the parliament house), and The Grand oriental hotel, built in the mid 19th century as barracks for the British military, the Lighthouse clock tower, designed by the wife of British Governor Sir Henry Ward.
- Also included is a drive through ‘Cinnamon Gardens’ Colombo’s Luxurious neighbourhood which was actually a Cinnamon plantation a century ago.
- The Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall or BMICH as it is commonly known, a gift from the Chinese government to the government of Sri Lanka’s first woman Prime Minister Mrs Sirimavo Bandarnaike
- The Vihara Maha Devi park (formerly the Victoria Park) the biggest in Colombo
- A visit to a Buddhist Temple, A Catholic cathedral, A Hindu Kovil & the Grand Mosque will round up the city tour of Colombo
- Dinner & overnight stay at the Ramada Hotel
- After early breakfast leave for Anuradhapura passing coconut plantations and lush paddy fields.
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Anuradhapura, The first capital of Sri Lanka, for more than 1000 years from the 5th century BC, visiting Isurumuniya, Thuparama, Ruins of Brazen Palace, Jetawanaramaya, Moonstone, Abhayagiri, Samadhi Buddha Statue, Twin Ponds, Lovers of Isurumuniya, The Rock Temple of the Isurumuniya and the Sacred Bo Tree are Among the many remains of palaces and Buddhist Monuments.
- The most outstanding is the Sacred Bo Tree which is the oldest historically documented tree on the earth.
- Lunch at Anuradhapura.
- After lunch visit Mihintale translated Mahinda’ Mountain, this was where the great Sinhalese king Devanampiyatissa was converted to Buddhism by Arahat Mahinda, the son of the last Buddhist emperor of India in 247 BC and then continue to Sigiriya for an overnight stay.
- Dinner & overnight stay at Sigiriya Village Hotel
- Visit Sigiriya’s Rock Fortress, where King Kasyapa built a fortified palace on top and around a 183-meter rocky outcrop in the 5th century AD.
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You will also see some magnificent frescoes of the Sigiriya maidens.
- The rock rises 200m above the green forests and on the summit are the remains of the vast palace of King Kasyapa.
- Proceed to Polonnaruwa. Visit the Parakramabahu statue, Quadrangle, Thuparama Image House, The Gal Vihara, The Lankathilaka Image House, and The 12th century Lotus Bath etc.
- Polonnaruwa was the capital from the 11th to 13th centuries with 12 rulers.
- Of all the brilliant structures at Polonnaruwa, the best known is the glorious Gal Vihara complex.
- These are the four mid 12th-century statues cut from a single granite wall and rank among the true masterpieces of Sri Lanka art.
- Lunch is taken at ACME Transit Hotel – Habarana.
- Dinner & overnight stay at Sigiriya Village Hotel
- After breakfast leave for Dambulla to visit the rock cave temples that historically dates back to the 12th century AD.
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The caves itself dates back to the 2nd or 1st century BC.
- Continue journey to Kandy en-route visit a Batik factory and Spice Garden.
- Lunch is taken at Ranweli Restaurant, Matale.
- Continue to your hotel in Kandy.
- Later in the evening, a brief city tour of Kandy is followed with an OPTIONAL performance of Kandyan dance and a Cultural show.
- Later visit the Temple of the Tooth, housing the golden casket said to enshrine the tooth of Buddha.
- Dinner & overnight stay Mahaweli Reach hotel.
- After Breakfast leave for Pinnawala visit the Elephant Orphanage.
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Most of the elephants in the orphanage are raised to maturity after having been found abandoned or injured in the country’s jungles.
- Lunch is taken at Pinnalanda restaurant in Pinnawela after lunch commences a city tour visiting the colourful and busy marketplace, Gem museum where you can view a documentary of how the precious stones are mined, cut & polished.
- Visit the arts and crafts centre where you can witness the amazing creativity of the craftsmen at work,
- Dinner and overnight stay at Mahaweli Reach Hotel
- After breakfast Proceed to visit the Peradeniya Botanical Garden and continue for Nuwara Eliya the heart of Sri Lankan Hill country which is renowned as “Little England” the drive is a climb, steep especially in the later half and there is a gradual change in the vegetation from tropical profusion to the cool green of tea bushes and pines.
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Lunch at Ramboda Falls Hotel after lunch visit a Tea plantation and factory. Arrive at St. Andrew’s hotel Nuwara Eliya.
- The evening commences a city tour.Nuwara Eliya gives us some idea of the way in which it was designed by the British as a holiday retreat with many recreational activities such as Golf, Tennis, and Horse Back Riding etc.
- Dinner & overnight stay at St. Andrew’s Hotel
- After Breakfast, leave for kitulgala along one of the most scenic roads passing the St.Clare’s and Devon waterfalls.
- Arrive at the Plantation Hotel for lunch, which overlooks the famous filming site of “Bridge over the River Kwai”.After lunch at Hotel, proceed to your selected beach resort.
