The Grand Circuit

Day by day

1. 

   Day 1

   Arrive at Negombo

   Met in the arrivals hall and driven twenty-five minutes up the coast rather than the hour Colombo would take. Nothing is scheduled: most long-haul flights land at dawn, and the first day is better spent sleeping off the journey than looking at anything.

   • Airport meet-and-greet and garlanding on arrival
   • The rest of the day at leisure — the beach and the lagoon are both at hand

   Distance

   12 km · approx. 25 min

   Hotel

   Regal Reseau Hotel, Negombo

2. 

   Day 2

   Leopards at Wilpattu

   North through the coconut country to Sri Lanka's largest and oldest national park. Lunch is rice and curry under the trees, then an afternoon jeep drive among the villus — the sand-rimmed lakes that give Wilpattu its name and draw animals into the open.

   • Traditional rice and curry lunch under the trees at Wilpattu
   • Afternoon jeep safari — leopard, sloth bear, elephant and over 200 bird species
   • On to Anuradhapura in the evening

   Distance

   190 km · approx. 4 hr 15 min

   Hotel

   Rajarata Hotel, Anuradhapura

3. 

   Day 3

   The sacred city, and the rock

   A morning in Anuradhapura, capital of the island for more than a thousand years. The site covers many square kilometres, so the vehicle moves between the monuments rather than walking them. Sigiriya in the afternoon, and the climb timed for the last of the light.

   • Anuradhapura Sacred City — Sri Maha Bodhi, Ruwanwelisaya, Isurumuniya
   • Sigiriya Rock Fortress in the late afternoon, for the frescoes and the sunset
   • The climb is 1,200 steps; Pidurangala opposite is the gentler alternative

   Distance

   75 km · approx. 1 hr 45 min

   Hotel

   Kassapa Lions Rock, Sigiriya

4. 

   Day 4

   Cave temples and the Tooth

   South towards the hills with two stops. Dambulla's five caves hold a hundred and fifty Buddha images under painted ceilings, and Nalanda Gedige stands alone in the middle of a tank — a small eighth-century shrine that is neither quite Hindu nor quite Buddhist.

   • Dambulla Royal Cave Temple — five caves, 150 Buddha images
   • Nalanda Gedige, standing alone in its tank
   • The Temple of the Tooth at evening puja, when the relic chamber opens

   Distance

   95 km · approx. 2 hr 45 min

   Hotel

   Skyloft Luxury Resort, Kandy

5. 

   Day 5

   Up into the tea country

   Peradeniya's botanical gardens first, laid out on a loop of the Mahaweli. Then the climb: the A5 gains more than a thousand metres through Gampola and Pussellawa, with Ramboda Falls beside the road near the top and the estates closing in on both sides.

   • Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens in the morning
   • Ramboda Falls, a hundred metres beside the road on the climb
   • High tea on the hotel lawn, which is what Nuwara Eliya is for

   Distance

   80 km · approx. 3 hr

   Hotel

   Araliya Green Hills, Nuwara Eliya

6. 

   Day 6

   The hill railway to Ella

   A working estate and factory first, to see how the leaf becomes the cup. Then the train from Nanu Oya down to Ella — the most photographed railway journey in Asia, through tea estates, tunnels and the spiral at Demodara. Your vehicle takes the luggage ahead and meets you at Ella.

   • A working tea estate and factory, from plucking to grading
   • Observation-class seats on the train from Nanu Oya to Ella
   • Tea estates, tunnels and the Demodara loop from the carriage door

   Distance

   60 km · approx. 2 hr 30 min (train)

   Hotel

   Oak-Ray La Ella Breeze, Ella

7. 

   Day 7

   Ella, then the coast

   The Nine Arches Bridge first, a 1920s viaduct built of brick and cement with no steel in it, best timed to a train crossing. Then the descent at Wellawaya, where the hills end and the dry zone begins, and west along the coast road to Galle.

   • Nine Arches Bridge, timed to a train crossing where possible
   • Optional before breakfast: Little Adam's Peak, forty gentle minutes
   • Ravana Falls, then the escarpment at Wellawaya and the south coast road

   Distance

   245 km · approx. 4 hr 45 min

   Hotel

   The Lady Hill Hotel, Galle

8. 

   Day 8

   Galle

   Nothing scheduled before the afternoon. The fort is a walled Dutch town of the 1660s, still lived in and small enough to see on foot, and it is at its best in the last hour of daylight when the town comes out to walk the ramparts.

   • The morning free — the beach, or the hotel
   • Galle Fort on foot: the ramparts, the Dutch Reformed church, the lighthouse
   • Street food inside the walls as the light goes

   Distance

   25 km · approx. As required

   Hotel

   The Lady Hill Hotel, Galle

9. 

   Day 9

   Colombo, and home

   North on the expressway, which makes this an easy run rather than the old coast crawl. If the flight allows there is time for Colombo on the way — the Red Mosque in Pettah, Galle Face Green, and the colonial streets of the Fort.

   • Optional Colombo city tour, subject to your flight schedule
   • Departure transfer to Bandaranaike International Airport

   Distance

   160 km · approx. 2 hr 30 min