Meals

Breakfast at the hotels shown in the tour itinerary.

Guide

Experienced, English speaking driver/guide with required guiding permit. French, German, Russian, Italian, Japanese speaking guides can be booked for small surcharge.

Transport

Transport by fully insured a/c vehicle (limousine or mini bus). 2nd class train from Colombo to kandy and from Kandy to Ella.

Others

Train Tickets Driver Accommodation & Meals 24/7 Customer Hotline

Accommodation

Selected 3* hotels as shown in the tour itinerary.

Optional

Wi-Fi Free Baby Seat Free Wheelchair Free Baby Cot (below 3 years)

Not included:

Others

Entrance Fees Transportation surcharge for Solo Travelers (US$ 200)

Flights

Insurance

Full vehicle / passenger insurance by Sri Lanka Insurance Coperation Ltd. Medical / Travel Insurance is the responsibility of the client(s).

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Day 1 Day 1: Colombo
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 1: Colombo

Your driver will meet you at the airport or your hotel and continue to Colombo City. Depending on your time of arrival / pick-up you will enjoy a Colombo sightseeing tour (optional) or proceed directly to your hotel. Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital city, cosmopolitan and filled with many-starred international hotels, shopping centers and surprisingly westernized, yet with its own unmistakable Sri Lankan character. Colombo, the commercial and political heart of Sri Lanka is a fascinating mix of old and new, with a central cluster of high-rise office blocks and hotels overshadowing red-tiled colonial-era buildings and sprawling street markets which overflow with high piled fruit and vegetables, colourful silks and cottons, and deliciously fragrant spices. The colourful street markets, colonial-era buildings, museums and galleries, churches, mosques and temples of Colombo can easily be explored with your driver/guide. The suburb Mount Lavinia is well known for its beach since the colonial time. The sea is a safe and popular bathing spot. Its clean sandy beaches are jutting into the waters of the Indian Ocean with softest sand and the calm and clear water.

Overnight at Grand Oriental Hotel or Pegasus Reef Hotel, Colombo
Day 2 Day 2: Kandy
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 2: Kandy

After breakfast you will be picked you up from your hotel and proceed to the Colombo Fort railway station from where your train journey to Kandy starts. This train ride will take you by the famous Muthurajawela marshland, through villages and vast paddy fields. Once in Kandy, our driver, who will wait for you at the railway station, takes you to your hotel for where you can spend a relaxing afternoon.

Kandy, Sri Lanka’s second largest city and cultural capital is the gateway to the higher hills and tea plantations. The clarity of the air and its verdant, hilly outlook around the sacred lake make it a pleasant escape from the heat of the coasts.

Overnight at Thilanka Hotel or Casamara Hotel, Kandy
Day 3 Day 3: Kandy / Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage / Temple Of The Sacred Tooth Relic / Peradeniya Botanical Garden
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 3: Kandy / Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage / Temple Of The Sacred Tooth Relic / Peradeniya Botanical Garden

The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage was established by the Sri Lankan Department of Wildlife Conservation in 1975 for feeding and providing care and sanctuary to orphaned baby elephants that were found in the wild. Sri Dalada Maligawa or the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a Buddhist temple in the city of Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha.

The Royal Botanic Gardens were established in 1816 and are located about 6.5km before Kandy on the side of the Colombo-Kandy highway. Initially planted with Coffee and Cinnamon, now includes beautiful Sri Lankan and overseas species. No vehicle is allowed entry to this 147-acre garden. It is bounded on three sides by a loop of the Mahaweli River. The Avenue of Royal Palms, Bamboo-fringed riverside drive, Bat drive, Spice garden, Orchard house, Cactus house and a Glasshouse of anthuriums, begonias, African Violets and other species and the giant Javan fig tree found on the great lawn attract locals as well as visitors from overseas. It covers an area of 1600 sqm. Keep your eyes open for an oxen driven lawn mover.

Overnight at Thilanka Hotel or Casamara Hotel, Kandy
Day 4 Day 4: Dambulla Cave Temple / Sigiriya Rock Fortress / Kandy
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 4: Dambulla Cave Temple / Sigiriya Rock Fortress / Kandy

Climb the UNESCO World Heritage Site Sigiriya Rock in Sri Lanka’s ‘Cultural Triangle’, where you will have a chance to gaze over the stunning views of Central Sri Lanka. Sigiriya (sometimes called Lion’s Rock) is the ruins of an ancient palace in a 200m high rock fortress, overlooking the beautiful plains of North-Central Sri Lanka. Built for an exiled Indian prince, the breathtaking ruins are one of Sri Lanka’s main tourist attractions and date back to AD 477. Despite its age, Sigiriya still retains much of its former beauty and features some of the finest examples of ancient art in the form of wall paintings, as well as a network of attractive gardens and reservoirs, and Sigiriya’s namesake – a gigantic pair of lion’s paws cut into the rock. With its fascinating history and unerring beauty, Sigiriya is often referred to as the 8th wonder of the world and the UNESCO-sponsored Central Cultural Fund has even restored Sigiriya’s 5th century Water Gardens, so that you can get a glimpse of what Sigiriya might have been like thousands of years ago.

Dambulla Cave Temple is a magnificent gallery of Buddha images and wall and ceiling paintings not seen anywhere else in the Island. It is a complex of five cave temples with its origin going back to the first1st century BC. Dambulla and its five cave temples are filed with Buddhist murals and many Buddha statues. Visitors must remove their shoes and approach the shrines bare-foot. The first cave is filled with the 47-foot-long recumbent image of the meditating Buddha. In the second cave, there are 150 beautifully carved and preserved gilded statues of gods and Buddhas. The rock ceilings are painted in brilliantly preserved and intricately detailed patterns and images of the holy figures. Overnight at Thilanka Hotel or Casamara Hotel, Kandy
Day 5 Day 5: Train Ride To Ella
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 5: Train Ride To Ella

Your driver will bring you to the Ella train. IMPORTANT: The driver/guide does NOT follow to Ella, unless previously arranged! This special Sri Lanka Train / Drive Tour is certainly a must for everybody who wants to explore Sri Lanka’s hill country in a very unique way. The railway network was introduced by the British colonial government in 1864. The main reason for building a railway system in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) was to transport tea and coffee from the hill country to the capital city Colombo. Still today a journey by train from Kandy to the highlands of Nuwara Eliya, Ella or Dickoya is one of the most fabulous experiences Sri Lanka has to offer. The climb uphill up to 6,000 ft above sea level, is one of the greatest railway journeys in the world. The dramatic landscape of the highlands stirs the senses as you wind past lush tea plantations, majestic peaks and rushing waterfalls. On your way through the hill country you will pass: Nuwara Eliya, home of the famous Ceylon Tea. Nuwara Eliya or City of Light is the tea capital of Sri Lanka at an altitude of 1889 m and is the most visited hill station of the island. Nuwara Eliya was found by a group of British officers during the earlier part of the 19th century, who as the story goes, had gotten lost while elephant hunting. The British governor at the time, Sir Edward Barnes, was told about this little town and subsequently decided to take residence there, soon creating a health resort, which soon became internationally renown. Nuwara Eliya is surrounded by a seemingly endless array of tea plantations populated by tea pickers who are almost exclusively Indian Tamils, who are distinct from the Ceylonese Tamils who live in the Northeast of the country. The Nine Arch Bridge also called the Bridge in the Sky, is a bridge in Sri Lanka. It is one of the best examples of colonial-era railway construction in the country. The construction of the bridge is generally attributed to a local Ceylonese builder, P. K. Appuhami, in consultation with British engineers.

Overnight at Flower Garden Hotel or Red Rock Hotel, Ella
Day 6 Day 6: Colombo
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 6: Colombo

IMPORTANT: The driver/guide will put you on the train in Kandy, but does NOT follow to Ella! Your hotel is in walking distance from Ella railways station and, if in doubt, we’ll inform the hotel to meet you. From Ella you can either return to Colombo by train, travel down to the South Coast by bus or arrange with us a tour extension. Ella is a beautiful small village in Sri Lanka’s hill country with little more than a handful of shops, hotels and guesthouses, but it has an almost perfect climate and occupies a very scenic vantage point, with views on a fine day stretching right across the South Coast of Sri Lanka. A traveller writes: "The view through the Ella gap was probably the best in the entire island. It was quite early and the isolated hills on the plain popped up like little islands in the mist." As if view’s weren’t enough, Ella is surrounded by hills perfect for walks through tea plantations to temples and waterfalls.

6 days tour

Sri Lanka Train & Drive Tour 2023

This tour includes:

Not included:

Start planning your experience

Itinerary of your trip Sri Lanka Train & Drive Tour 2023

Day 1: Colombo

Day 2: Kandy

Day 3: Kandy / Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage / Temple Of The Sacred Tooth Relic / Peradeniya Botanical Garden

Day 4: Dambulla Cave Temple / Sigiriya Rock Fortress / Kandy

Day 5: Train Ride To Ella

Day 6: Colombo

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