Cultural and Historical

1. Cultural Triangle
2. 01 100 m

   Day 1. Pinnawala and Habarana

   Drive 190 km · 5 h

   Habarana 100 m

   Met at the airport and driven inland to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, in time for the bathing and bottle feeding. Then north to Habarana, a village of good hotels at the centre of the ancient cities. An elephant back safari in the jungle is an optional extra in the afternoon.

3. 02 100 m

   Day 2. Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya

   Drive 130 km · 3 h in total

   Habarana 100 m

   Polonnaruwa in the morning, the capital from the eleventh to the thirteenth century and better preserved than anything older. In the afternoon, Sigiriya: the fifth century palace on its rock, the frescoes, the lion’s paws and the water gardens at the foot.

4. 03 100 m

   Day 3. Anuradhapura and Mihintale

   Drive 135 km · 3 h in total

   Habarana 100 m

   The first capital, for fourteen centuries. Ruwanwelisaya, the Sri Maha Bodhi, the rock temple at Isurumuniya and the twin ponds, among monasteries spread over forty square kilometres. Mihintale is the hill where, by tradition, Buddhism was first preached on the island.

5. Hill country
6. 04 500 m

   Day 4. Dambulla, Matale and Kandy

   Drive 105 km · 2 h 30

   Kandy 500 m

   The cave temple at Dambulla, high on its rock with Sigiriya visible to the north. South through Matale into the hills to Kandy, and a Kandyan cultural performance in the evening.

7. 05 500 m

   Day 5. Kandy

   No transfer

   Kandy 500 m

   The Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya in the morning, a gem museum, and the Temple of the Tooth in the afternoon, with time for the rest of the old royal quarter.

8. 06 1,868 m

   Day 6. Up to the tea

   Drive 80 km · 2 h 30

   Nuwara Eliya 1,868 m

   Into the tea country, stopping at a plantation and its factory, to Nuwara Eliya: the old British hill station, with its red-brick post office, golf course and lake.

9. South coast
10. 07 5 m

    Day 7. Down to the coast

    Drive 230 km · 5 h 30

    Bentota 5 m

    Off the hills and west to Bentota, where a river and a lagoon meet the sea. The rest of the day on the beach.

11. 08 5 m

    Day 8. Bentota

    No transfer

    Bentota 5 m

    Water sports on the lagoon, or a boat on the Madu River past cinnamon islands and temples. A turtle hatchery in the afternoon.

12. West coast
13. 09 9 m

    Day 9. Home via Colombo

    Drive 100 km · 2 h 15

    Airport 9 m

    North along the coast through Colombo to the airport.

Distances and drive times are typical for an unhurried private car, not a promise. Sri Lankan roads outside the expressways are single carriageway through villages, so a hundred and fifty kilometres is usually three hours. Every figure here is an estimate.