Family Adventure Holiday – 10 Days

Your chauffeur-guide welcomes you at the airport and you head straight inland to the heart of the Cultural Triangle. The drive passes coconut estates, paddy fields and roadside fruit stalls – stop for a fresh king coconut on the way. Check in to your hotel near Sigiriya, surrounded by forest and lakes, and spend the evening by the pool while the rock fortress glows on the horizon.

Meals: Dinner · Overnight: Sigiriya / Habarana · Travel: 4 hrs (160 km) · Distance: ~160 km

Discover rural Sri Lanka at its most authentic. Ride a bullock cart along a dirt track, cross a lotus-filled lake in a traditional catamaran and walk through chena (slash-and-burn) farms to a village home. Help the family scrape coconuts and grind spices, then enjoy a rice-and-curry lunch served on lotus leaves. Afternoon at leisure.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner · Overnight: Sigiriya / Habarana · Travel: 20 min · Distance: ~25 km

Climb Sigiriya early in the morning (children love the lion paws!). After a swim at the hotel, take an afternoon jeep safari in Minneriya to see wild elephant herds.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner · Overnight: Sigiriya / Habarana · Travel: Short local drives · Distance: ~30 km

Drive south to Kandy through Matale. Stop at a spice garden to see cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and pepper growing and learn how they are used in Ayurveda and Sri Lankan cooking. Continue to Kandy, check in and in the evening watch a traditional Kandyan dance and fire-walking show. Then visit the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (UNESCO) for the evening puja, when drummers and pilgrims bring flowers to the golden shrine.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner · Overnight: Kandy · Travel: 2.5 hrs (90 km) · Distance: ~95 km

Morning at the Royal Botanic Gardens, then a family-friendly cooking class where kids learn to make roti and coconut sambol.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner · Overnight: Kandy · Travel: Half day · Distance: ~30 km

Climb into the tea country on one of the most scenic roads on the island. Stop at Ramboda Falls, then visit a working tea factory to watch leaf being withered, rolled and dried – and taste fresh Ceylon tea at its source. Arrive in Nuwara Eliya, known as 'Little England' for its colonial bungalows, rose gardens, post office and golf course. Take an evening walk around Gregory Lake.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner · Overnight: Nuwara Eliya · Travel: 3 hrs (77 km) · Distance: ~80 km

Take the most famous section of the hill-country railway from Nanu Oya to Ella (about 3 hours). Lean out of the doorway (carefully!) for views of tea-covered hills, waterfalls and villages. Your driver meets you in Ella. In the afternoon, walk to the Nine Arch Bridge and try to time it with a passing train.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner · Overnight: Ella · Travel: Train 3 hrs · Distance: ~65 km

Drive to Udawalawe National Park, where herds of elephants graze against the backdrop of the hills – sightings are almost guaranteed. After the safari, visit the Elephant Transit Home at feeding time, where orphaned baby elephants are cared for and later released into the wild (an ethical alternative to captive attractions).

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner · Overnight: Udawalawe · Travel: 2.5 hrs · Distance: ~105 km

Travel north along the coast. Stop at a turtle conservation project that releases hatchlings into the sea, then take a boat through the mangrove islands of the Madu River, visiting a cinnamon island to see how the bark is peeled. Continue to Bentota for your beach stay.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner · Overnight: Bentota · Travel: 1.5 hrs · Distance: ~160 km

Enjoy a last swim and breakfast on the beach, then a short 1.5-hour transfer to the airport.

Meals: Breakfast · Overnight: — · Travel: Transfer to airport · Distance: ~95 km