Cultural Triangle · Hill Country · The South
9-Day Sri Lanka Scenic Heritage, Wildlife & Coastal Escape
Negombo / Sigiriya / Kandy / Ella / Yala / Unawatuna
The shape
The full length of the island, with two places to stop and breathe. Eight nights across six bases. Sigiriya and Ella are held for two, which is where the mornings without a schedule are.
A morning walking beside rescued elephants at Karandupana rather than watching them perform. Sigiriya at dawn. Minneriya in the afternoon, where the herds gather. The Tooth Relic during the Thevava. Tea country by road to Ella, then Yala, then the fort at Galle and a last night on the coast.
The one thing this route does that the shorter ones cannot: it gives you a second morning in two places, so the days at Sigiriya and Ella are yours rather than ours.
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.
Days 2–3 · Sigiriya · two nights
Elephants, then the rock
Inland to the Elephant Freedom Project at Karandupana - rescued working elephants, walked to the river rather than ridden, and lunch with the family who keep them. On to Sigiriya. Up at first light the next morning for the climb, then Minneriya in the afternoon when the herds come down to the tank; which park depends on where they have gathered that week.
Day 4 · Kandy
A painted ceiling and a drumbeat
Dambulla on the way south: five caves, a hundred and fifty Buddhas, every inch of ceiling painted. Then into the hills to Kandy, the lake in the late afternoon, and the dancers in the evening.
Days 5–6 · Ella · two nights
Through the tea, then two days in Ella
The Tooth Relic at midday during the Thevava, then the long climb into tea country - Ramboda Falls, the Bluefield factory, and the old red post office at Nuwara Eliya before the road drops to Ella. The second day is Ella’s own: the Demodara Loop by tuk tuk, pol roti and black tea in a village kitchen, Nine Arches, and Little Adam’s Peak in the evening.
Day 7 · Yala
Down to the dry country
Ravana Falls on the road out, then down from the hills to Tissamaharama and into Yala in the afternoon, when the light drops and the animals begin to move. Leopards if you are lucky; elephants, sloth bear and a great deal of birdlife if you are not.
Day 8 · Unawatuna
The coast road, and the fort
West along the coast, stopping at Koggala for the stilt fishermen, then into Galle Fort - the ramparts at sunset, when the heat has gone and the families come out to sit on the wall. The last night is at Unawatuna, twenty minutes on.
Day 9 · Departure
A last swim, a late check-out, then the expressway north.
2.5 hrs