Ready to go
7 planned itineraries, each one written as days rather than highlights. Take one as it is, or use it as the starting point for your own.
Three to five days. Built for stopovers, business extensions and long weekends — one region, no long transfers.
The highest-value short trip in Sri Lanka for anyone whose interest is history. Sigiriya, Dambulla and Polonnaruwa sit within an hour of each other, so you see three World Heritage Sites without ever facing a long drive. Built for stopovers and business extensions.
Indicative price band: Good value per person.
Galle and the south coast are ninety minutes from Colombo on the expressway, which makes this the easiest short trip on the island. A Dutch fort, a cooking class, a first surf lesson and a dawn boat out to the blue whales, with nothing that feels rushed.
Indicative price band: Mid-range per person.
Seven to ten days. The length most first visits run to: two or three regions, with time to stop moving.
The route almost every first-time visitor should take, in the order that makes geographic sense. Cultural Triangle, Kandy, the hill-country train to Ella, an elephant safari on the way down, and three nights on the south coast to finish. Nothing more than four hours in the car on any day.
Indicative price band: Mid-range per person.
For travellers who would rather walk in tea country than queue at a ruin. Kandy, the high estates around Nuwara Eliya, World's End at dawn, the train down to Ella, and then a fast drop to the south coast for two nights of doing nothing.
Indicative price band: Mid-range per person.
A south-coast and wilderness route for people who would rather look at animals than architecture. Turtles off Hikkaduwa, blue whales at Mirissa, elephants at Udawalawe and two full days in Yala, with Galle Fort at either end to remind you there is a country attached.
Indicative price band: Premium per person.
Twelve to sixteen days. The full crossing — cultural triangle, hill country and coast, at a pace that survives it.
The full circuit, unhurried. Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa with time to actually look at them, three nights in the Cultural Triangle, Kandy, the tea country and Horton Plains, the train to Ella, a safari on the way down and three nights on the south coast to finish.
Indicative price band: Premium per person.
Built for June, July and August, when the south-west is wet and the east and north are at their best. Anuradhapura, the Jaffna peninsula, Pigeon Island's coral, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya, finishing in Kandy. The Sri Lanka that returning travellers come back for.
Indicative price band: Mid-range per person.
Tell us how many days you have, when you arrive and what you like. The planner will route the island around your answers, and you can change every day of it afterwards.
