Hill Country · The South
8-Day Sri Lanka Highlands, Horton Plains & Southern Safari Escape
Negombo / Nuwara Eliya / Ella / Tissamaharama / Unawatuna
The shape
The landscapes and the coast, without the ancient-city circuit. Seven nights across five bases. Nuwara Eliya and Unawatuna are held for two, which is where the early start and the slow finish both live.
World’s End at Horton Plains before the mist closes it - a cliff with a nine-hundred-metre drop and, on a clear morning, the sea visible from it. Four hours on the Nanu Oya line. Little Adam’s Peak at sunrise. Yala at dawn rather than in the afternoon. Then the fort at Galle and two nights on the coast.
No temples, no ruins, no queues at a rock. This is the version for travellers who came for the landscape and the animals, and it climbs to two thousand metres before it comes back down to the sea.
The Peacock Standard
Always included
- Private vehicle and chauffeur guide throughout
- Every property booked and confirmed
- Breakfast daily, dinner most nights
- Park and site entrances arranged in advance
- Airport meet-and-greet on arrival and departure
- Cold towels and chilled king coconut in the vehicle
- A number answered at any hour
What each day holds
Day by day
Day 1 · Negombo
A night to land
Met at the airport and driven twenty minutes up the coast. Nothing is scheduled. The point of this night is that day two starts properly rather than at half strength - and day two is a long climb.
Days 2–3 · Nuwara Eliya · two nights
Up to Little England
A long day on the road, but the road is the point: Devon and St Clair’s falls on the way up, then Nuwara Eliya at six thousand feet, where the air is cold and the buildings are Tudor. The second morning is early - Horton Plains before six, across the grassland to World’s End while the cliff is still clear, then Baker’s Falls on the loop back. It is nine kilometres and takes about three hours.
Day 4 · Ella
Four hours on the Nanu Oya line
The train from Nanu Oya to Ella. Four hours through tea slopes and cloud forest with the doors open, and it is the day rather than a way of getting somewhere. First-class seats are released about thirty days ahead and go within hours; we book the moment they open and tell you honestly if we miss.
Day 5 · Tissamaharama
Sunrise, tea, then the dry country
Little Adam’s Peak at first light - forty minutes up, and worth the alarm. Then the Uva Halpewatte factory, one of the highest on the island, and Ravana Falls on the road down to Tissamaharama.
Days 6–7 · Unawatuna · two nights
Yala at dawn, then the coast
Into the park before the gates open, which is when the leopards are still moving and the light is worth having. Out by mid-morning, then west along the coast - Koggala for the stilt fishermen, and the fort at Galle for the ramparts at sunset. The next day is Unawatuna and nothing much, unless you want the cooking morning at Talpe: the market first, then someone’s kitchen, then dinner.
Day 8 · Departure
A last swim, then the expressway north.
2.5 hrs