Itinerary · 10 days · 37 places
10 Days in Sri Lanka
Ten days right across the island: from the fishing town of Negombo into the Cultural Triangle with Sigiriya, via Kandy and the tea hills around Nuwara Eliya and Ella, down to a safari in Yala and to the sea at Galle. The long stages always fall in the morning so the afternoons stay free.
Open in the appThere you can adjust the plan to your dates, your pace and your interests.
Photo: Jacob Riesel · Pexels
The route on the map
The plan, day by day
Day 1Arrival on the west coast
Arrival in Negombo
Hotel check-in
Ethukala, north of Negombo, is just 20 minutes from the airport: a row of beach hotels on Porutota Road with the lagoon behind.
Negombo Beach
On the broad strip of sand the fishermen haul their outrigger boats, the oruwas, ashore after sunset.
Day 2Via Dambulla into the Cultural Triangle
Onward to Sigiriya
Hotel check-in
Dambulla Golden Temple
At the foot of the rock a 30-metre golden Buddha sits above the entrance gate; behind it the stepped path up to the caves begins.
Dambulla Cave Temple
Five rock caves with over 150 Buddha statues and ceiling paintings that have been painted over again and again since the first century BC.
Pidurangala Rock
A short, steep scramble over boulders to a plateau from which you see Sigiriya's Lion Rock opposite in the evening light.
Evening: shore of Sigiriya Wewa
The ancient reservoir south of the rock lies still in the evening; from the embankment you see the silhouette of the rock and the starry sky above.
Day 3Lion Rock and elephants
Sigiriya Rock Fortress
1,200 steps lead past the cloud maiden frescoes and the Mirror Wall to the floor plan of King Kashyapa's palace on the summit.
Hiriwadunna village lake
A catamaran takes you across the reservoir, then an ox cart carries you through rice fields to a mud-built kitchen in the village.
Minneriya National Park
A jeep safari to the dried-out lakebed, where more than a hundred wild elephants often gather in the dry season.
Evening: Habarana village street
At the Habarana crossroads, tea stalls, a haberdashery and a few food stalls stay open into the evening.
Day 4Kandy — Temple of the Tooth and dance
Onward to Kandy
Hotel check-in
Temple of the Tooth, Sri Dalada Maligawa
The Buddha's tooth is kept in the golden shrine above the lake; for the pujas at dawn, at noon and in the evening the doors open to drums and flutes.
Kandy Market Hall
A two-storey colonial-era hall with stalls full of jackfruit, curry powder, cinnamon bark and dried fish.
Kandyan Cultural Centre
A daily performance of Kandyan dances with drummers, the peacock dance and, to finish, a walk over glowing coals.
Evening: Kandy Lake shore path
The illuminated loop around the last king's artificial lake, with views of the white Cloud Wall and the temple.
Day 5Around Kandy: forest, garden, tea
Udawattakele Forest Reserve
An old royal forest right behind the Temple of the Tooth, with creepers, toque macaques and forest hermitages along narrow paths.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya
In a loop of the Mahaweli River stand the orchid houses, an avenue of palms and the giant Javan fig tree.
Geragama Tea Factory
A working factory from 1903: you follow the leaf's journey from the withering drum through the rolling machine and dryer to the sorting.
Embekke Devalaya
A 14th-century wooden shrine whose pillars are carved with swans, wrestlers and dancing women.
Evening: Bahirawakanda Buddha above Kandy
The white Buddha statue on the hill is floodlit at night; from the platform the city and lake lie below as a sea of lights.
Day 6By train into the tea highlands
Onward to Nuwara Eliya
Hotel check-in
Pedro Tea Factory
Highland tea has been processed here at 1,900 metres since 1885; after the tour of the machine hall there's a tasting with a view of the pickers.
Victoria Park
Laid out by the British, the town park with its rose beds and cypresses is a stopover in spring for rare migratory birds from the Himalayas.
Lake Gregory
Ponies and pedal boats along the lakeshore, with Single Tree Hill rising behind; in the afternoon mist regularly drifts across the water.
Evening: colonial quarter around the Grand Hotel
Tudor-style brick façades, a post office with a red tower and the old golf club — cool enough in the evening for a jacket.
Day 7The island's most beautiful railway
Onward to Ella
Hotel check-in
Nine Arch Bridge
A nine-arched viaduct of stone and cement without steel, in the middle of the jungle; a train rumbles across it several times a day.
Little Adam's Peak
An easy climb up steps between tea bushes to three summits with views of Ella Gap and the plain stretching to the sea.
Ravana Falls
A 25-metre waterfall right by the road to Wellawaya, named after the demon king from the Ramayana.
Evening: Ella main street
A single street of open-fronted cafés, live music and backpacker shops, which you can walk up and down twice in ten minutes.
Day 8Down to Yala — afternoon safari
Onward to Tissamaharama
Hotel check-in
Tissa Wewa
The reservoir, more than two thousand years old, is lined with rain trees; pelicans and storks stand on the shore morning and evening.
Yatala Wehera Stupa
A white dome from the second century BC, encircled by a wall of stone elephant heads.
Yala National Park
An afternoon safari in Block 1 through thorn scrub and lagoons — the park has the densest leopard population in the world, plus elephants and crocodiles.
Evening: Debarawewa lakeside promenade
Tissa's smaller neighbouring lake has a shoreline path with snack stalls, where bats sweep across the water in the evening.
Day 9Galle Fort and the south coast
Onward to Galle
Hotel check-in
Galle Fort ramparts
Along the fortress wall built by the Dutch you can walk around the entire old town in a good hour, with the surf crashing against the bastions below.
Dutch Reformed Church, Galle
A church from 1755 whose floor is made of the tombstones of Dutch merchants, with a carved pulpit of calamander wood.
Galle Lighthouse
The white tower from 1939 stands on the Point Utrecht Bastion, with a small palm-fringed beach between the walls below.
Unawatuna Beach
A sheltered bay with shallow water behind a reef; at its western end the path up Rumassala hill begins.
Evening: Pedlar Street in Galle Fort
The old trading street with antique shops, jewellers and courtyards beneath bougainvillea stays open into the evening.
Day 10Last morning in Galle
Japanese Peace Pagoda, Rumassala
A white stupa on the hill above Unawatuna, from whose terrace you can see the bay and Galle Fort at the same time.
Maritime Museum in Galle Fort
In the Dutch warehouse from 1671 lie finds from shipwrecks off the coast, anchors, porcelain and a whale skeleton.
Departure from Colombo
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Viatro AI opens this plan in the app — with map, travel times and opening hours. You change the days, pace and places yourself.
