Hiking

A scheduled small-group departure, capped at twelve guests in one minibus with one guide – not a forty-seat coach, and not a private tour either. It is the answer for solo travellers who do not want to pay the single-traveller premium of a private tour, and for couples who would rather share the trip and the cost with a few other people.

The Lion Rock and the cave temples in one long, very worthwhile day from Colombo – a 4:30 am start, two UNESCO World Heritage sites and back at your hotel by early evening.

Three of the island's headline sights in one day from Kandy: Sigiriya, the Dambulla caves and a wild elephant safari.

Negombo is the closest beach base to the Cultural Triangle, which makes this the easiest long day trip to Sigiriya on the west coast – and the obvious one if you are staying near the airport.

A long day inland from the west-coast beach resorts to Sri Lanka's two greatest monuments – the option for guests on a beach holiday who do not want to leave the island without seeing Sigiriya.

Up into the tea country and back in a day: a working factory from leaf to cup, the waterfalls on the Ramboda road, and the odd Englishness of Nuwara Eliya at 1,900 metres.

Around five thousand steps through the night to watch the sun come up from Sri Pada, alongside pilgrims who have been making this climb for a thousand years. Season only – roughly December to May.

Grade 2 and 3 rapids on the Kelani River at Kitulgala, where The Bridge on the River Kwai was filmed – close enough to both Colombo and Kandy for a day trip, and genuinely fun rather than terrifying.

The last substantial primary lowland rainforest in Sri Lanka, a UNESCO World Heritage site, with a very high proportion of species found nowhere else on earth – two and a half hours inland from the south coast.

Our signature journey is the complete Sri Lanka experience in two unhurried weeks. You will climb the Sigiriya rock fortress, cycle among the ruins of Polonnaruwa, watch wild elephants gather in Minneriya and attend the evening ceremony at Kandy's Temple of the Tooth.