Kandy

Taste your way across Sri Lanka. Visit fish and spice markets, cook with village families and home chefs, learn to make hoppers and kottu roti with street-food masters, and join a tea-tasting session – all combined with the key cultural sights.

Visit the most sacred Buddhist sites in Sri Lanka, including the 'Atamasthana' (eight sacred places) of Anuradhapura, Mihintale, the Dambulla caves, the Temple of the Tooth and Kelaniya. Take part in offerings, a meditation session at a forest monastery and a Poya (full-moon) observance if dates allow.

See Sri Lanka the local way – from the back (or the driver's seat) of a tuk-tuk! Travel back roads from Kandy through tea country to the south coast, stopping in villages and at viewpoints most tourists never see. Choose a local tuk-tuk captain or drive yourself after a training session (local permit arranged).

A curriculum-linked tour for school and university groups, covering history, geography, ecology and global citizenship. Students study ancient water engineering in Polonnaruwa, tea economics in the hill country and elephant conservation in Udawalawe, and spend a day with a partner rural school.

The classic backpacker route with the hassle taken out: we book your hostels and guesthouses, reserve train seats, arrange key transfers and a safari, and give you a local SIM and 24/7 WhatsApp support – you travel independently by train, bus and tuk-tuk at backpacker prices.

See the best of Kandy in one day: the Temple of the Tooth, the Royal Botanic Gardens, a Kandyan dance show and panoramic viewpoints.

Sri Lanka's finest hotels, most knowledgeable guides and exclusive experiences, all in a luxury vehicle. Stay in tented safari camps, restored tea-planter bungalows with butlers and a heritage villa inside Galle Fort.

Designed with parents and kids in mind: short driving days, hotels with pools, and experiences children love – elephants, bullock carts, trains, tuk-tuks, turtles and beaches. Family rooms or connecting rooms are arranged in every hotel.

Ten days is the most popular length for a first trip to Sri Lanka, and this route shows why. You will see the ancient rock fortress of Sigiriya, the royal city of Kandy, the tea country, the leopards of Yala and the colonial charm of Galle – the five experiences almost every traveller comes for.

One week, the best of Sri Lanka. This compact itinerary covers the island's cultural and scenic highlights – Sigiriya, Dambulla, Kandy, the tea country and the Ella train – and finishes in Colombo so your drive to the airport is short.