4-Day Essence of Sri Lanka Tour: Cultural Triangle Sightseeing and Countryside Experiences
4.8
29 Ratings
Immerse yourself in the rich culture and history of Sri Lanka on this 4-day tour. Explore the cultural triangle, visit ancient sites, and experience the countryside through cycling and a bullock cart ride.
Duration: 4 days
Cancellation: 6 days learn more
Highlights

Colombo - Sigiriya

Dambulla Cave Temple - You will be picked up from your hotel in Colombo, Negombo or Mount Lavinia and driven to Dambulla. Visit the Cave temple of Dambulla (UNESCO World Heritage). Spend overnight in Sigiriya.

Sigiriya - Polonnaruwa - Sigiriya

Polonnaruwa - In the morning, take a morning cycling tour at one of the best maintained ruins of ancient Ceylon - the UNESCO World Heritage City of Polonnaruwa where was the medieval capital of Sri Lanka.

Sigiriya The Ancient Rock Fortress - In the afternoon, drive from your hotel to Sigiriya and Climb the Sigiriya rock fortress where you will visit rocky abode and water gardens (UNESCO World Heritage site & one of the Wonders of the World).

Sigiriya - Kandy

Hiriwadunna - In the morning, trek through the archetypal Sri Lankan Typical village. The trek begins with an awesome walk along a Wewa or man-made reservoir. The reservoir, the surrounding scrub jungle, marshland and village are a hive of early morning or an evening activity. You will continue your tour with a bullock cart ride up to a village house where you can experience a Sri Lankan Lunch.

Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic - In the afternoon, you will take a city tour of Kandy including a visit to the temple of the sacred tooth relic, upper lake drive, market square, gem lapidary and more. Spend overnight in Kandy.

Kandy - Drop Off

Colombo Fort - Today after breakfast, you will be taken back to your hotel in Colombo, Negombo or Mount Lavinia or Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo.

What's Included
  • Accommodation: 3 nights in 3-star hotels, Bed & Breakfast basis
  • Meals: Daily breakfast and select lunches included
  • Transport: Air-conditioned minivan, including hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Professional guidance: English-speaking chauffeur guide
  • Taxes: All current taxes covered
  • Activities: Hiriwadunna Trekking and Cycling in Polonnaruwa
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Any others expenses not mentioned in Inclusions section
Additional Information

This excursion offers an unforgettable encounter with various exploratory ventures in Sri Lanka’s cultural triangle. You will enjoy a bicycle ride and a journey on a bullock cart in a pastoral hamlet. The rich history of Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, Dambulla, and Kandy will captivate you throughout this tour as you take in the quintessential rural landscapes of Sri Lanka.

  • A minimum of 4 people per booking is required
  • Child rate applies only when sharing with 2 paying adults
  • Children must be accompanied by an adult
  • Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
  • The duration of transfers are approximate, the exact duration will depend on the time of day and traffic conditions.
  • A current valid passport is required on the day of travel
Cancellation Policy

If you cancel at least 7 day(s) before the scheduled departure time, you will receive a full refund.
If you cancel between 3 and 6 day(s) before the scheduled departure time, you will receive a 50% refund.
If you cancel within 2 day(s) of the scheduled departure, you will receive a 0% refund.

Customer Ratings
4.8
(29 Ratings)
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Shashank1986
Jun 13, 2023
Srilankan Odyssey - My 6/7 day tour was organized by Beyond escapes. It was curated to my needs and attention to detail was fabulous. Ruwan who is the founder of ‘Beyond Escapes’ personally ensures everything is on order and is always accessible to the travelers. Our driver was Shavendra was a pleasant person to have around and contributed greatly to our beautiful experience in this magical country. If I think of Srilanka it will always be with Beyond Escapes.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Compass55879
Apr 6, 2023
Wonderful experience ! - We booked this tour with Beyond Escapes and made a few changes as we wanted to visit Wilpattu national park as well as their recommondations, but we only had 4 days in Sri lanka. They were really responsive and organised everything for us from the airport transfer to the last day of our trip. Our guide Cesar was a good driver, very polite and was very knowledgeable, staying very attentive to our needs. All the excursions were amazing. The village visit was really fun as we had the opportunity to prepare an authentic Sri Lankan lunch with a local family, demonstrating typical cooking traditions. We had an amazing experience in Wilpattu national park as we saw so many animals like bears, crocodiles, birds and the leopards. It was really impressive when one leopard tried to attack the buffalos. A huge thank you to Cesar and beyond escapes for creating such an unforgettable trip to Sri Lanka!!!
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Erinsi8828uh
Oct 28, 2021
Amazing time! - I had an amazing time on this trip! Beyond Escapes was very accommodating of me and found me a female guide. She was so knowledgeable and kind. The driver was also very accommodating and nice. They both were great people and helped me drive a tuktuk and found me fresh fruit from the local markets. I had a great time and highly recommend! I felt safe as a solo female traveler and got to see much of Sri Lanka.
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Daniaraos
Oct 26, 2019
I love it - The tour was excellent, beautiful hotels and we met beautiful places. Our guide Pathum was very kind and helped us a lot. In addition to the company they were always aware of how our trip was going. We highly recommend it.
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Chanalid
Mar 18, 2019
Delightful 4 day stay - We booked essence of Sri Lanka tour for our family with Beyond Escapes. They were very professional and fast in responses. I was so happy and excited when dealing with them. Our guide was Imran and he was fantastic. If you look for Beyond Escapes, ask for Imran as your guide. We were able to visit Dambulla cave temple and saw marvelous paintings there. Also Sigiriya Rock fortress with super irrigation systems, explored Polonnaruwa by 2 wheels, Kandy temple which houses the tooth relic of Lord Buddha and a village tour where we spent half a day as locals. It is a great experience. Beyond Escapes - We Recommended you for sure! Thank you very much everything ❤️
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Chamikaa2019
Mar 18, 2019
More that we expected - We visited Sri Lanka in January this year & booked this 4 days tour with Beyond Escapes. We explored major sites in asri Lanka. Sigiriya, Dambulla rock cave temple, Kandy temple and enjoyed a village tour in Sigiriya. We love the authentic meal they offered us. This tour really means a lot for the name - "essence of Sri Lanka". Sri Lanka is such a marvelous country. Our guide - Imran was wonderful. He took care of us well. Hotels that BE team had reserved for us were excellent and they were beyond my expectations although it mentioned as 3-star hotels. Thank you so much for making our trip memorable & would recommend Beyond Escapes to anyone!
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Damithw2019
Mar 17, 2019
Trip of a lifetime! 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 - My wife and 02 sons went on a fascinating routing in Sri Lanka for 4 days holiday. We picked 4 day Essence of Sri Lanka private tour amongst many tour programs published online. We wanted to experience local life and visit cultural sites as much as possible. This tour offered all these things and my two sons enjoyed pedaling through the ruins of Polonnaruwa a lot. Bullock cart ride and live cooking during Village tour was also fantastic. In Kandy we wanted to do sightseeing by Tuk Tuks as I had heard that it's interesting. Imran our personal guide arranged it for us complementary. He is honest and very friendly guy. My 2 boys had a great time with him and were impressed with the driving skills of Imran. He was superb that much and very careful. Happy about all the hotels and specially Radh Hotel which was exceptional. Big thank to Beyond Escapes for creating this program and highly recommend this tour who step in Sri Lanka for 1st time.
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825virajg
Mar 17, 2019
Exceptional Service - Me and my friends had an excellent experience with Beyond Escapes in December 2018. We booked essence of Sri Lanka tour after negotiating things with Hesara, one of the great tour consultants I met in my life. She was very fast in replying to our emails and professional. We pedaled through the ancient ruins of Polonnaruwa, climbed up Sigiriya Rock Fortress and Dambulla cave temple and were able to gain a vast knowledge about proud history of Sri Lanka from our guide Mr. Christo. Beyond Escapes maintain professionalism in providing services and I won't hesitate to recommend this company for all the travelers. Keep it up!
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Jayanthab2019
Mar 17, 2019
Happy trip to remember!! - As a result of last minute travel plan, I booked Sri Lanka essence tour with Beyond Escapes. They offered so many things for me at a reasonable price. I met Krishan (my personal guide) and he was a good friend to me during this 4 days. Because of my personal interest, I requested to visit Pidurangala (not a part of this tour) and he simply made is possible. I like all the sites visited during this tour and Kandy temple made me more impressed because of it's calm; quiet and peaceful environment. Dear Beyond Escapes - Thank you very much for making my holiday precious. 100% Recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
695kush
Mar 9, 2019
Fantastically organized! 👌 - We had fantastic 4 days with Beyond Escapes in last month. I personally coordinated with Dulani and she was very flexible and genuinely wanted to make our trip excellent, listening to our suggestions regarding hotels, guide, etc. Shavendra our guide was enthusiastic, knowledgeable and treated us each and every stop with fresh coconut water, water bottles, delicious mangoes and guavas, cashew plates, so and so. Thanks a lot for all those treats and if you wish to travel around Sri Lanka, Shavendra is the besttt!!!! During our 4 days stay we visited UNESCO world heritage sites - Sigiriya Rock Fortress, Dambulla rock cave temple, Kandy tooth relic temple and Polonnaruwa. Everything had been well maintained. We enjoyed exploring Polonnaruwa by 2 wheels, worshipped tooth relic temple in Kandy, spent half day with locals sharing their meals, feelings, attitudes, activities, so and so. We will not hesitate to recommend Beyond Escapes for public, because you deserves it!!
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June 2024
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