Wonders of Sri Lanka - Small Group

Arrive in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s lively capital. You’ll drive past colonial buildings, temples, markets and modern streets before settling into the hotel, a calm base within the city’s energy. This evening, join your Travel Director and Small Group for a rooftop dinner, sharing locally sourced dishes that reflect the island’s culinary traditions while looking out across the Colombo skyline.

Set off on a tuk-tuk ride through Colombo’s busy streets, moving from colonial-era buildings into the city’s more compact neighborhoods. You’ll travel through the lanes of Pettah Market, a long-standing center of trade and pause at the Red Mosque, noting its Indo-Saracenic design. Next, visit the 18th-century Wolvendaal Church, built by the Dutch. Continue to Gangaramaya Temple and finish the day at Hotel Nippon, a historic stop for travelers, and try its well-known mutton roll.

Journey inland to Hiriwadunna and walk through village fields shaped by traditional farming. You’ll enjoy a farm-to-table lunch prepared with seasonal ingredients and served in the open-air before continuing to the Ibbankatuwa Megalithic Tombs to see the stone-built chambers that outline early burial practices of Sri Lanka’s prehistoric communities. Later, arrive in Dambulla, with time to unwind at the lakeside hotel.

Travel to Anuradhapura, a UNESCO-listed city famous for its stupas, monastic sites and reservoirs that outline the scale of Sri Lanka’s early capital. Walk among stone structures that shaped the city’s religious and civic life for centuries. At Isurumuniya Temple, observe a monk leading a blessing ceremony. Later, visit a village where artisans shape clay pots by hand, continuing a long-standing craft tradition. You’ll have the chance to see Asian elephants across open plains and around the reservoir on an Optional Experience to Minneriya National Park.