Colombo, Sri Lanka · Monday to Saturday, 9am–6pm (IST)
West Coast · North · East Coast · Hill Country · South Coast
Seven nights from Negombo to Bentota by way of Jaffna, Trincomalee, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya.
The route
A route that starts in the north and works south: Jaffna and the palmyra plains, down the east coast to Trincomalee, then inland to Kandy and Nuwara Eliya before the beach at Bentota. The first drive is a long one, and the rest of the route makes up for it.
Stop 01 · 1 night
Why you go
A fishing town twenty minutes from the airport, which is why most routes start or end here. The lagoon, the fish market and the old Dutch canal are worth half a day. It is a softer landing than Colombo, and a shorter ride to the plane.
Drive on About 6.5 hours to Jaffna
Read about Colombo & the WestStop 02 · 2 nights
Why you go
The north feels like a different country, and Jaffna is its centre: palmyra plains, a fort on the water, and a Tamil food culture that owes as much to southern India as to Colombo. The drive is long. Stay two nights if you can, and take the ferry to Delft if it is running.
Drive on About 6.5 hours to Trincomalee
Read about Jaffna & the NorthStop 03 · 1 night
Photo: THDBS, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — cropped and resized.
Why you go
The east coast at its calmest: a deep natural harbour, the Koneswaram temple on the headland, and a fort that has been Portuguese, Dutch and British in turn. Pigeon Island is a short boat ride for snorkelling. The weather runs the other way here, so the town is quiet when the south is busy.
Drive on About 4.5 hours to Kandy
Read about The East CoastStop 04 · 1 night
Why you go
Kandy was the last royal capital, and it still behaves like one: the lake at the centre, the Temple of the Tooth on its edge, and hills on every side. Most routes stop for a night on the way to the tea country. Give it the morning, before the buses arrive.
Drive on About 3 hours to Nuwara Eliya
Read about Hill CountryStop 05 · 1 night
Why you go
A hill station built for the cool air: cold, wet, and more English-looking than anywhere else on the island. The tea estates begin at its edge. Sleep with a blanket, and keep a morning for a factory and a walk between the rows.
Drive on About 5 hours to Bentota
Read about Hill CountryStop 06 · 1 night
Photo: BenjaminDev90, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — cropped and resized.
Why you go
Bentota is the easiest beach on the route: a river on one side, the sea on the other, and a lagoon made for a boat before breakfast. The bay is sheltered and the water usually calm. It is a place to stop doing things, which is the point after the hills.
Drive on This is the last stop on the route.
Read about The South CoastWhether it fits
When to travel
Sri Lanka has two monsoons, and they work on opposite sides of the island. The south-west monsoon brings the rain to the west, the south and the hill country; the north-east one brings it to the east coast and the north. The dry season is the other half of the year for each, so the south, west and hill country are at their best from December to April and the east coast and the north from May to September. A route that stays on one side has one window; a route that crosses the island has two.
Travelling outside those months does not close a route. It changes the days. On a coast in its wet season the rain tends to come in short, heavy bursts, often late in the afternoon or overnight, with hot, bright hours in between. The sea is rougher, some bays stop swimming, and boat trips and whale watching are the first things called off. In the hills the same weeks bring mist and low cloud, so a view that is clear at eight can be gone by ten, and the walks and the train are less certain. Hotels are usually cheaper and the sites quieter in the shoulder weeks either side of the window, and a route that crosses the island still has one coast in season.
On this route
Two windows on one route: December to April and May to September. The north and east come first here, so the journey runs best in the east-coast window; in the south-west window the northern half is the part outside its window, and in the east-coast window it is the Bentota finish.
The day-by-day itinerary is written once we know your dates and pace. The Stops above are the part we can promise before that conversation.
The same four things sit under every route we run, whatever the Duration or the Best months.
Other journeys
Hill country013 nights / 4 daysHill Country · South Coast
Three nights from Kandy to the coast — the temple and the lake, the tea country at Nuwara Eliya, then Bentota.
Best months December to April
Beach023 nights / 4 daysPhoto: Rambukwelladk, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — cropped and resized.
Hill Country · South Coast · Colombo
Three nights from Kandy to Colombo by way of Bentota — hills first, then the beach, then the city.
Best months December to April
Hill country034 nights / 5 daysHill Country · South Coast · Colombo
Four nights across Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Bentota and Colombo — the hill country and the coast, with the city at the end.
Best months December to April
Plan with a local
Send the dates and we'll come back with a version that fits — hotels, pace, and the parts you'd rather leave out.
We reply within one working day
