'Best of Sri Lanka' Sightseeing Extension
The excellent 'Best of Sri Lanka' four-day sightseeing extension can be added to some of the two-test tours, so that instead of returning home on the day after the last day of the second Test, you will head off to see some of the most amazing sights that Sri Lanka has to offer, returning home on 12th April.
You can add the four-day 'Best of Sri Lanka' extension to any of the following tours:
Tour Extension Itinerary
Sunday 8th April
After breakfast at your hotel, we will leave Colombo for Habarana/ Polonnaruwa, visiting the Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawela en-route, which is the home to approximately 90 elephants, some of which are baby elephants found abandoned or orphaned in the wild. The elephants are being cared for, fed and trained by the wildlife authorities. We should catch them during the feeding time, when we will have the opportunity to see the baby elephants being bottle-fed. We will also accompany the elephants to a river close-by and see them having their daily bath. We then make our way to Habanara / Polonnaruwa, and on arrival, check in to our hotel.
Monday 9th April
After breakfast, we will head to Sigiriya, where we will climb the 5th century Sigiriya rock fortress - a world heritage site, built by King Kashyapa (477-495 AD). The ‘Lion Rock’ is a citadel of unusual beauty rising 200 metres from the scrub jungle and the innermost stronghold of the 70 hectare fortified town. A moat, rampart, and extensive gardens, including the renowned water gardens, ring the base of the rock. We will also see the world-renowned frescoes of the ‘Heavenly Maidens’ of Sigiriya, which are painted in earth pigments on plaster in a sheltered pocket of the rock approached by a spiral stairway. We then leave for Polonnaruwa, which was the 2nd capital city of Sri Lanka, built in the 11th and 12th centuries AD, and is now a World Heritage Site. Here you can see the ruins of the Royal Palace, the Gal Viharaya – where four splendid statues of the Buddha are carved out of rock, the Audience Hall, the Lotus Bath, King Parakramabahu’s statue and the Parakrama Samudraya Lake built by King Parakramabahu the Great. There are also monuments of famous places of worship, such as the Shiva Temple, the Lankathilake, the Watadage, the Galpotha, the Kiri Vehera and the remains of a former Temple of the Tooth Relic. We then return back to our hotel.
Tuesday 10th April
After breakfast, we leave for Kandy, visiting the Dambulla Rock Temple en-route. Here you will walk up to the temple, which was donated to Buddhist monks by King Walagambahu in the 1st century BC. Dambulla is a World Heritage Site and is the most impressive of Sri Lanka’s cave temples. The complex of five caves with over 2000 square metres of painted walls and the ceiling is the largest area of paintings found in the world. These caves contain over 150 images of the Buddha, of which the largest is the colossal figure of the Buddha carved out of rock spanning 14 metres. We will then visit a spice garden in Matale - to see the different spices that Sri Lanka is famous for. You will be introduced to different spices and shown how some of these spices are grown and processed. After that, we head to Kandy and check in to our hotel. In the evening, we will visit Temple of the Tooth Relic and thereafter witness a cultural show featuring traditional Sri Lankan dancing. We then return back to the hotel for our overnight stay.
Wednesday 11th April
Afer breakfast, we proceed to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya. This botanical garden was first built as a pleasure garden by a Sinhala King and was expanded by the British. It covers 147 acres and features an amazing variety of trees, plants and flowers. We then go on to do a city tour of Kandy; the last capital of the Sri Lankan kings and now a World Heritage Site where many of the legends, traditions and folklore are still lovingly kept alive. We will drive around the Kandy Lake built by the last Sinhala king Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe in 1798, visit the Kandy town and Bazaar, the arts & crafts centre, a gem museum and a lapidary. On completion of our tour, we leave for Seeduwa. On arrival, we then check in at our hotel for an overnight stay.
Thursday 12th April
After breakfast, we take the short trip to Colombo International Airport for your flight home.
Tour Price & Details*
* Please contact us for an up-to-date quote, as flight prices may now have increased.
We have two accommodation options for doing the 'Best of Sri Lanka' sightseeing extension;
Option 1
4* Sigiriya Village, Sigiriya: 8th - 10th April Hotel website >
3* Hotel Topaz, Kandy: 10th - 11h April Hotel website >
3* Tamarind Tree Hotel, Seeduwa: 11th - 12th April
Just £499 per person, based on two people sharing.
Single supplement available for £150.
Option 2
4* Chaaya Village, Habarana: 8th - 10th April Hotel website >
4* Chaaya Citadel, Kandy: 10th - 11th April Hotel website >
4* Taj Airport Garden Hotel, Seeduwa: 11th - 12th April
Just £749 per person, based on two people sharing.
Single supplement available for £400.
The extension tour prices include:
Tour as per the itinerary by luxury air-conditioned coach, with the services of an English-speaking chauffeur guide.
Bed and breakfast accommodation throughout.
Full services of Howzat Travel tour leader.
Entrance fees for: Pinnawela, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, Dambulla, Temple of the Tooth, Royal Botanical Gardens & Kandyan Cultural Dance.
International Flights*
* Please contact us for an up-to-date quote.
NB: Howzat Travel reserves the right to make alterations to any aspect of the itinerary, including accommodation stated. Equivalent alternatives will be provided if this is the case.
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