Tour Overview
Ten days of touring, then four nights of doing nothing. This is the shape of trip that German and Austrian travellers ask for by name – a Rundreise with a Badeurlaub attached – and it is, for most people, the most satisfying way to use a fortnight in Sri Lanka. You see the whole island while you have the energy, and then you stop.
The touring half takes in Sigiriya, Dambulla, Polonnaruwa, an elephant safari, Kandy, the tea country, the train to Ella and a leopard safari in Yala. Then the road turns west and you settle on the coast for four nights – Bentota as standard, or Mirissa, Tangalle or Unawatuna if you prefer somewhere smaller. Your chauffeur-guide stays available throughout the beach stay, so a day trip to Galle or a whale-watching morning is still on the table if you want it.
Where you spend the nights
| Area / base | Nights |
|---|---|
| Negombo | 1 |
| Sigiriya / Habarana | 3 |
| Kandy | 2 |
| Nuwara Eliya | 1 |
| Ella | 1 |
| Yala / Tissamaharama | 1 |
| Bentota | 4 |
| Total nights | 13 |
Trip at a glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Duration | 14 days / 13 nights |
| Tour type | Round Tour & Beach Stay |
| Group size | Private tour: 1–15 guests |
| Difficulty | Easy – Moderate |
| Best season | November – April (west & south coast beach season) |
| Approx. road distance | ~1,185 km |
| Guide languages | English, German and Hindi (others on request) |
| Departure dates | Any date – private tour, all year |
Highlights
- Ten days of private touring, then four nights on the beach
- Sigiriya Rock Fortress, Dambulla caves and Polonnaruwa (all UNESCO)
- Wild elephant safari in the Cultural Triangle
- Temple of the Tooth and a Kandyan dance performance
- Tea factory visit and the hill-country train to Ella
- Leopard safari in Yala National Park
- Four nights on the west or south coast, your choice of resort
- Your chauffeur-guide stays on call during the beach stay for optional day trips
Itinerary
Every tour is 100% flexible and customizable. This itinerary is a starting point – we can change the order of the days, add or remove nights, swap activities or extend the tour to match your exact dates, pace and interests.
Hotels and accommodation are not included in the standard tour price. You are free to book your own stays, or let us organise a complete accommodation package for you in your preferred hotel tier (guesthouse, 3★, 4★, 5★ or boutique/villa). We work with hotels across the island and can quote your whole trip as one package.
Please contact us before you place a booking so that we can finalise your customised itinerary and your accommodation plan, confirm availability for your dates and send you a final price.
Family, senior and accessibility friendly. We can arrange an elder-friendly set-up (slower pace, shorter drives, ground-floor rooms, lift-access hotels, wheelchair-friendly vehicles and skip-the-climb alternatives such as the Sigiriya museum and gardens or the Pidurangala base viewpoint) and a child-friendly set-up (child and booster seats, family or connecting rooms, hotels with pools, shorter driving days and kid-friendly meals).
Guides and languages. Our chauffeur-guides work in English, German and Hindi, and we can arrange French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Chinese and Japanese speaking guides on request.
Meals. The meals shown in the itinerary are what we include when we arrange your accommodation on half board. If you book your own hotels, your meals follow your own hotel booking – tell us which you prefer.
Start dates. This tour is private and runs on any date you choose within its season, subject to availability. It operates in January, February, March, April, November, December – outside those months the conditions make it either impossible or much less rewarding, and we will say so and suggest an alternative rather than take the booking. Tell us your arrival and departure dates and we will build the itinerary around your flights.
Contact us before booking: [info@lankaitinerary.com] · WhatsApp [+94 XX XXX XXXX]
Ayubowan! Your Lanka Itinerary chauffeur-guide meets you in the arrivals hall at Bandaranaike International Airport with a name board and a cold drink. Negombo is only 20 minutes away, so there is time to rest after the flight. In the late afternoon, take an easy walk along the Dutch-era canal, visit the busy fish market (best before noon) or watch the outrigger fishing boats return at sunset. Your guide will brief you on the journey ahead over dinner.
Meals: Dinner · Overnight: Negombo · Travel: 20 min (10 km) · Distance: ~10 km
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
Start early (7:00 am) to climb Sigiriya before the heat and the crowds. The 5th-century citadel of King Kashyapa rises 200 m above the jungle: walk through the symmetrical water gardens, see the famous cloud-maiden frescoes and the mirror wall, pass between the giant lion paws and reach the palace ruins on the summit for a 360° view. After lunch, visit the Dambulla Cave Temple (UNESCO), five caves filled with over 150 Buddha statues and painted ceilings. Return to your hotel for a relaxed evening.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner · Overnight: Sigiriya / Habarana · Travel: 40 min each way · Distance: ~45 km
Explore Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka's medieval capital (UNESCO), by bicycle or by car. Highlights include the Royal Palace, the Quadrangle with its Vatadage, the Parakrama Samudra reservoir and the Gal Vihara – four Buddha figures carved from one granite rock. In the afternoon, join a jeep safari for wild elephants. Your guide takes whichever park is right for the month: Minneriya in August and September, when the falling tank level exposes fresh grass and hundreds of elephants gather in what is known as 'The Gathering'; Kaudulla from October to December and again from May to July, when Minneriya floods and the herd moves northeast; and Hurulu Eco Park from January to April, where elephants are resident all year.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner · Overnight: Sigiriya / Habarana · Travel: 1 hr to Polonnaruwa · Distance: ~135 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 (95 km) · Distance: ~95 km
Visit the Royal Botanic Gardens in Peradeniya, 60 hectares of orchids, spice trees, giant bamboo and the famous avenue of royal palms. After lunch, stroll around Kandy Lake, browse the central market, and drive up to the Arthur's Seat viewpoint for a panorama of the city. Optional: a gem museum, a batik workshop or a Kandy cooking class.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner · Overnight: Kandy · Travel: City sightseeing · Distance: ~25 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 (80 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
Descend from the hills, stopping at Buduruwagala to see a 16 m Buddha figure carved into the rock face in the 10th century. Arrive in Tissamaharama/Yala for lunch. At 2:30 pm set off on a jeep safari in Yala National Park, which has one of the highest densities of leopards in the world, as well as elephants, sloth bears, crocodiles and water buffalo.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner · Overnight: Yala / Tissamaharama · Travel: 2.5 hrs (105 km) · Distance: ~105 km
A dawn safari in Yala, then breakfast and the drive west along the coast to Bentota, where your beach stay begins. Check in, swim, and stop thinking about early starts.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner · Overnight: Bentota · Travel: 5 hrs (280 km) · Distance: ~280 km
The first of your beach days. Swim, sleep, read, have a massage. If you want structure, the hotel will arrange a jet ski or a banana boat, and the Madu River mangrove safari is twenty minutes away and genuinely good – two hours among the islands with a stop at a cinnamon plantation.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner · Overnight: Bentota · Travel: — · Distance: ~30 km
Free, or take your chauffeur-guide out for the day: Galle Fort is an hour away and best in the late afternoon when the ramparts cool down, the Kosgoda turtle hatchery is on the way, and between November and April the whale-watching boats leave Mirissa at 6:30 am. All optional, all arranged the night before, nothing pre-paid.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner · Overnight: Bentota · Travel: — · Distance: ~30 km
Another free day on the coast. This is the point of the second week: no bag to pack, no departure time, nothing to climb.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner · Overnight: Bentota · Travel: — · Distance: ~30 km
A last morning on the beach and a late check-out if your flight allows. Your chauffeur-guide collects you for the two-hour run up to Bandaranaike International Airport. Bohoma sthuthi – thank you for travelling with us.
Meals: Breakfast · Overnight: — · Travel: 2 hrs to airport (95 km) · Distance: ~95 km
Includes / Excludes
Price Includes
- Airport pick-up and drop-off
- Private air-conditioned vehicle with licensed English-speaking chauffeur-guide (SLTDA)
- Meals as listed in the itinerary (daily breakfast and dinner as standard)
- Entrance fees to all sites listed in the itinerary
- Jeep safaris as listed, including park entrance fees
- Reserved train tickets where listed (subject to availability)
- Whale-watching boat trip with a responsible operator
- Local SIM card with data for the lead traveller
- Bottled water in the vehicle daily
- All government taxes and service charges
- 24/7 support while you travel
Price Excludes
- Accommodation (not included in the standard price – we can book any hotel tier for you; see 'Accommodation options')
- International flights
- Sri Lanka ETA (visa) – free for 40 nationalities since 25 May 2026; fee applies to others
- Travel insurance (strongly recommended)
- Lunches and drinks unless listed
- Camera/video permits at some sites
- Tips for guide, driver and safari trackers (suggested USD 10–15/day for your chauffeur-guide)
- Optional activities (e.g. hot-air balloon, zip-line, extra safaris)
- Personal expenses (laundry, phone, shopping)
- Early check-in / late check-out
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, and many guests do. Bentota is the easiest for a fortnight because it is close to the airport and has the widest choice of hotels. Mirissa and Unawatuna are livelier and better for whale watching and surfing; Tangalle is quieter and more expensive; Trincomalee on the east coast is the right answer if you travel between May and September, when the west coast is in the southwest monsoon. Tell us your month and we will tell you which coast works.
Easily done – it is a private tour. Swapping two beach nights for two nights in the hill country, Trincomalee or Jaffna is a common change and usually costs very little extra. The reverse is also fine: some guests cut the touring to seven days and take a full week on the coast.
He stays in the area and is on call, so you can take a day trip whenever you feel like one, but he is not standing in the lobby waiting. Days he drives you are covered by the tour; if you want a full-day excursion beyond the local area we will quote the extra fuel and entrance fees – there is no separate guide fee.
On the west and south coasts, roughly November to April, with January to March the most reliable. Between May and September the southwest monsoon makes swimming at Bentota and Mirissa rough and often unsafe, and that is when we move the beach half of this tour to Trincomalee, Nilaveli or Pasikudah on the east coast, which are at their best exactly then. There is no bad month in Sri Lanka, only a wrong coast for the month.
Yes. The tour is private for your group with your own vehicle and chauffeur-guide – you won't share with strangers.
Of course. You can add or remove days, change hotels, upgrade to boutique or luxury properties or swap activities. We'll send a revised quote within 24 hours.
The price is per person based on two adults sharing a room in the hotel category shown. Prices vary by season, hotel choice and group size – request a quote for your exact dates.
Send an enquiry or click Book Now. We confirm availability, then you secure the tour with a deposit; the balance is paid before arrival. [Insert your real deposit and payment terms.]