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Private 8-Day Sri Lanka Tour: Explore Culture, Nature, and Unique Local Lifestyles
5.0
59 Ratings
Katunayake
Experience the best of Sri Lanka's nature, culture, and local lifestyles on this 8-day private tour. Explore hidden gems, have a flexible itinerary, and enjoy comfortable accommodations and transportation.
Duration:
8 days
Cancellation:
1 day
learn more
Highlights
start from Air port OR Negombo even from down south then drive to Sigiriya on the way visiting Dambulla & Minneriya
Dambulla Cave Temple - Dambulla cave temple also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla is a World Heritage Site in Sri Lanka, situated in the central part of the country called Dambulla.
Visit Polonnaruwa Ancient city with Farmers Lunch. evening village tour & Ayurveda herbal massage from a famous spa.
Pothgul Viharaya - The Pothgul Viharaya is exactly as its name suggests, a library and monastery complex. It is the oldest one in the whole of Sri Lanka. The term “Pothgul” literally translating as a place to store books. It was constructed under the sponsorship of Parakramabahu of Polonnaruwa (1153-1185 AD ruling period
Nissanka Latha Mandapaya - Nissanka Latha Mandapaya (Sinhala: නිශ්ශංක ලතා මණ්ඩපය) is a unique structure in the ancient city of Polonnaruwa in Sri Lanka. … By definition, as of the 20th century, mándapas, as temporary structures, are built inside a house or a building and serve as recitation platform during remembrance ceremonies for the dead
Morning Sigiriya rock or Pidurangala Rock. later Mathale Hindu Temple/ Sacred Tooth Relic & Kandy culture dance
Nalanda Gedige - Nalanda Gedige; Tamil: நாலந்த கெடிகே is an ancient complete stone temple near Matale, Sri Lanka and its original site was considered as the center of Sri Lanka. The building was constructed in between 8th and 10th centuries with dravidian architecture in and is believed to have been used by Buddhists.
Visit of attractions around kandy/Royal Botanical Gardens/Kandy View Point/ Udawattekele Sanctuary
Kandy View Point - Scenic view point of KANDY city
Drive to NuwaraEliya on the visiting tea factory with waterfall & do the Scenic Train ride from Nanuoya to Ella
Ramboda Waterfall - Ramboda Falls is 109 m high and 11th highest waterfall in Sri Lanka and 729th highest waterfall in the world. It is situated in Pussellawa area, on the A5 highway at Ramboda Pass. It formed by Panna Oya which is a tributary of Kothmale Oya. Altitude of the falls is 945 m above sea level
Damro Labookellie Tea Centre and Tea Garden - The Nuwara Eliya tea factory that we visited is called Damro Labookellie Tea Centre (former Mackwoods) and is the oldest tea centre in Sri Lanka.
Early morning Lipton’s Seat,Haputale. later Little Adam’s Peak/Nine Arches Bridge & Sri Lankan Cooking lesson experience
Little Adam’s Peak View Point - Scenic peak reachable by steps & a moderate hiking trail, offering picturesque sunrise views.
Nine Arches Bridge - The Nine Arch Bridge also called the Bridge in the Sky, is a viaduct 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.
Ella to Yala on the way visitng Rawana Falls / Buduruwagala & Evening Kataragam temples
Rawana Falls - Ravana Falls is a popular sightseeing attraction in Sri Lanka. It currently ranks as one of the widest falls in the country
Kataragama - Kataragama temple in Kataragama, Sri Lanka, is a temple complex dedicated to Buddhist guardian deity Kataragama deviyo and Hindu War God Murugan. It is one of the few religious sites in Sri Lanka that is venerated by the Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and the Vedda people
Early morning Yala Safari & End of the Tour from Down south for your beach leisure destination OR Air port
Tissamaharama - Our Safari driver will pick up you from the Hotel early morning 6am for Yala national park safari. our aim is to show you Leopard as much as closer to it.
What's Included
- Complimentary driver accommodation and expenses
- Climate control with in-vehicle air conditioning
- Daily breakfast included
- All-inclusive transportation with fuel, insurance, taxes, tolls, and parking
What's Not Included
- All entrance fees
- Lunch & Dinner with Drinks
- personal nature
- tipping
- Dambulla Golden cave temple - 7.5 USD per person
- Minneriya Safari Jeep 4 Hours - 50 USD per person
- Sigiriya Rock - 35 USD per person
- Polonnaruwa Ancient city - 25 USD per person
- Farmer Lunch - 10 USD per person
- Village tour - 30 USD per person
- Herbal Massage - 35 USD to upwards per person
- Matale Hindu temple - 2 USD per person
- Temple of Tooth relic - 10 USD per person
- Kandy Culture Dance - 10 USD per person
- Udawatta Kale Sanctuary - 5 USD per person
- Train Tickets - 5 USD per person
- Sri Lankan Cooking Lesson - 20 USD per person
- Yala Safari 5 Hours - 50 USD per person
Additional Information
Gihan Tours Sri Lanka is a standalone tour operator run by me. Our focus is to provide amicable, adaptable, and congenial services as your chauffeur and travel companion in Sri Lanka.
During this 8-day tour, vacationers will get an authentic glimpse into Sri Lanka’s Nature, Culture, and Lifestyle. Besides visiting main attractions, we’ll also introduce you to hidden non-tourist jewels. Your driver will serve as your ideal travel ally and good friend with whom you’ll relish your exploration. In this offer, we provide ONLY transportation & lodging with breakfast. Travelers retain complete autonomy over deciding all the attractions & activities on an impromptu basis instead of being tied down by a rigid travel itinerary every day.
You’ll travel in a modern, air-conditioned vehicle with a reliable, amicable, and English-speaking driver. Your stay will be in clean, serene, and comfortable accommodations with a delicious breakfast. Rooms come with attached bathrooms and hot water facilities.
Location
Canada Friendship Road
Our staff will hold a Name bord with clients name at airport arrival terminal.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
5.0
(59 Ratings)
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Tobias
May 13, 2024
The 10 days with Gihan-Tours were the highlight of our 20-day Sri Lanka vacation. 100% recommendation! Thank you! 🙏☺️ - First, let's talk about contacting the provider: Gihan is an incredibly friendly and competent contact person with whom we planned the tour quickly and easily. He always responded to our requirements and gave us valuable tips. Even changes to hotels or during the trip, for example, were no problem. The price was not cheap, but realistic. Sri Lanka has suffered extremely from the Corona crisis and prices have developed accordingly, especially those for petrol. We met other people on the way who had rented a car themselves... these stories were frightening. The rental companies sometimes rented out defective vehicles and then you have to drive them yourself in a foreign country with left-hand traffic 🫣 The van from Gihan Tours, on the other hand, is high class in Sri Lanka. Spacious, modern, air-conditioned, comfortable and very clean. 👍
Our plan: After spending a week with my wife's family in the north of Sri Lanka, we really wanted to see some of the beautiful rest of Sri Lanka. So our 10-day tour began when Ashen picked us up in Jaffna and drove us to the first place, Sigiriya.
A quick word about Ashen, our tour guide and driver. Ashen is an incredibly great person, a young, polite man who became a friend over the course of the trip. We had great conversations and he was always responsive to our requests. He was also very competent and was able to answer many of our questions about the country, culture and sights. He was a safe driver and, above all, our two children Laila (6) and Ben (5) felt extremely comfortable with him. He even helped us on strenuous excursions and took the children by the hand. Ashen has a great sense and often left us alone as a family for moments and sometimes turned down invitations to eat together. At first I thought that was a shame, but then we realized that it was very professional because he wanted to give us time as a family. And at other times he was very "close". ☺️
We had chosen the following destinations beforehand and are so happy to have had such great experiences:
SIGIRIYA: Pidurangala Rock, Lion Rock, Safari
KANDY: City tour, Temple of the Tooth, Culture Dance and Royal Botanical Garden. On the way to Kandy we visited the Golden Temple of Dambulla and the Mathale Hindu Temple.
NUWARA ELIYA: Primarily as a stopover for the legendary train ride from Nanu Oya to Ella. We saw a beautiful waterfall here and visited a tea factory.
ELLA: The entire trip was an absolute highlight. But if there was a top highlight, it was Ella. Little Adam's Peak, the 9-Arch Bridge, our dream hotel (Chille-Ville), the Diyaluma Falls and so on.
UDAWALAWE: Another great elephant safari. Before that we visited the elephant orphanage. Since we were really lucky in Sigiriya and saw elephants, we would have preferred to skip this stop in retrospect. But not because it wasn't beautiful, but because we missed about 1-2 days by the sea afterwards, which we would have liked to have spent there.
After Udawalawe, Ashen took us to Tangalle, where our tour together ended. Without Ashen, we then spent another two days in Tangalle and two more days in Mirissa before heading back to Germany. By chance, Ashen was also able to arrange our transfer from Mirissa to Colombo airport.
We can fully recommend Gihan Tours and are absolutely delighted with their professionalism, friendliness, flexibility and speed (we always received quick feedback from Gihan when planning). You are not just a "driver", but a real travel companion.
Therefore: 100% recommendation! 👍
Thank you Gihan & Ashen! 🙏
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kassandrar817
May 7, 2024
Great 2-week trip with our family! - We contacted Gihan a year before our trip and planned the trip together via email. Communication was very reliable and Gihan was responsive to our requests.
We really enjoyed our 14-day tour. Everything was carried out as discussed and our guide Kumara was very reliable, friendly and made the trip a success!
The prices were clearly communicated from the start and we had no hidden costs.
The vehicle (large van) was in top condition and Kumara drove very safely.
We can highly recommend Gihan Tours! We experienced a lot and really enjoyed the trip!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Janinesn9801uv
Apr 18, 2024
Great trip with Shamath from GTSL-Tours - We visited Sri Lanka for the first time and did a little island exploration (5 nights/6 days). We had already contacted Gihan from GTSL-Tours about this before the trip started. Gihan gave us options for a travel route in a straightforward and friendly manner, and we were able to coordinate everything perfectly. Accommodations were suggested, and you could choose your own accommodation without any problems. Perfect organization in advance and a very friendly, helpful and reliable booking process.
Our driver Shamath was an extremely friendly, level-headed and reliable driver who always waited for us on time and gave us great advice and lots of information about the country and its people. Communication with Shamath in English was great. We had a great time together and got very authentic insights into life here. We are impressed by the thoughtfulness and calm that Shamath always brought with him, he was always smiling - impressive and totally harmonious. Thank you very much to Gihan and Shamath for this great trip! We would love to do it again!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ozsand
Apr 16, 2024
Sri Lanka private tour - was planning a trip to Sri Lanka pre Covid and had spoken to Gihan previously. As we had to cancel it due to travel restrictions . As soon as I knew that we were coming over I contacted Gihan and made plans . He had so many suggestions and recommendations to my plans that worked out so well . We had a great driver Shamath and nothing was too much trouble for him . He stopped for photos and helped us find atm and SIM cards . They were no hidden extras and surprises at the end of the trip as we had discussed payment with Gihan. We also had independence from the driver after the long trips . He was always looking out for us and even organised a great tuk tuk driver to take us from Demodara station to nine arch bridge as the train was late . That was one of our best experiences.
We loved having Shamath as our driver . He knew we loved elephants so would stop if he saw any near the side of the road .
Gihan also organised a fantastic guide for Yala - Shanka- he was so knowledgeable and kind and a guided safari for Habarana.
Definitely go with Gihan and ask him about possibilities and he will let you know what he thinks is best .
Our trip -
day1 collect from Negombo- drive to Sigyura afternoon game safari Habarrana - stay at village. Day 2 - maybe climb sigyura ( we didn’t) then trip to Polonnaruwa,- ancient city ruins
Day 3 - drive sigyura to Ella vis Dambulla temple . Day 4 - train trip Demodara to Bandarawela - with tuk tuk to nine arch - pm climb little Adam’s peak . Day 5 - Ella to tissaharama via falls and rock carvings of Buduruwagala.refreshment stop at the cafe near car park Then dropped off at 2pm Tissamaharama with safari driver to drop us at hotel and then do afternoon safari . Comprehensive 5 days . The places we saw and the history were incredible.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Trip56264715664
Apr 1, 2024
Personal and individual - we will do it again! - Unfortunately we only had 4 days to visit some places in Sri Lanka. Luckily we came across Gihan Tours Sri Lanka and with a quick email exchange with Gihan we were able to easily coordinate our wishes. Some suggested tours or places didn't interest us and Gihan always had a good alternative, so our travel plan was easy to put together.
Our driver Shaluka picked us up as agreed. His Toyota Prius was comfortable, quiet and so traveling was completely relaxed and comfortable.
Every now and then we changed or adapted our plans, and this was also completely uncomplicated.
Since Shaluka has been doing tours like this for 16 years, he knows every corner and many local highlights and we never had the feeling of being taken to special places where you pay x times as much for a service (as some tuktuk drivers like to do do). On the contrary, through his contacts he was able to enable us, for example: B. could take an individual cooking course because we are experienced amateur chefs and a typical demonstration course would not have been relevant for us.
Shaluka has the attitude "Come as a visitor, leave as a friend" and that's the feeling he conveys! If we come to Sri Lanka again, we will definitely do our tour with him again!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jackie1289
Mar 25, 2024
Perfect Round-Trip - We booked a 7-day round trip with Gihan Tours. We started in Negombo and went to Sigiriya, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Ella and Tissamaharama.
Our guide Kumara was a very funny, friendly guy. He is a super safe driver who made us feel comfortable at all times. The car was also super big and comfortable. Kumara was able to tell us a lot about the country, the people and the culture during the trip. Everything was very well organized and spontaneous changes were possible at any time.
We had a really great, exciting time and would recommend Gihan Tour and Kumara to anyone.
Thank you very much!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
E3943ucnelsonp
Mar 22, 2024
Sri Lanka trip with Gihan and team - it couldn't be better - We had a recommendation to book our tour with Gihan in February 2024 because we didn't want to drive a car ourselves. That was the best thing that could have happened to us!
We sent Gihan our ideas for our 14 day tour of Sri Lanka. He added great recommendations to our suggestions on the same day and recommended skipping some things because they were too touristy. All communication was always very quick, so we were able to plan accordingly. We were also given a selection of hotels, some of which we confirmed, and for a few we had other suggestions - it was super problem-free.
We were already expected at the airport and the next day we set off in a very comfortable car with our driver Ashen, who gave us a great trip.
He was always in a good mood, very nice and courteous and, above all, a safe driver in normal traffic. Here a stop on the side of the road for fresh fruit, there a stop to see something. We were able to avoid typical tourist traps. The wish for tickets for the culture dance in Kandy was fulfilled with a seat in the front row. Great! Always there on time in the morning and during longer stops at sights always back at the entrance at the right time with a smile, it was a pleasure to travel with Ashen. We also did some tours together. During the trip we were always able to have long and good conversations about the country, people, politics and life in Sri Lanka. In a cooking class we cooked rice and curries (that was great) and learned how to cook everything with our fingers. For a hotel that was too noisy, Gihan quickly organized another, wonderful hotel for us. Ashen unfortunately had to leave us a day early due to family reasons. But that wasn't a problem either, Gihan immediately sent another driver who took us to the airport last evening.
Thanks to Gihan and especially Ashen, we got to know Sri Lanka in its many facets and had an unforgettable vacation.
We can only recommend everyone to take a trip to Sri Lanka with Gihan and his team. It doesn't get any better.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sri-lanka-freunde
Mar 13, 2024
Another wonderful trip with Gihan Tours - After 4 years, we were finally back on our favorite island, the pearl of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka, for the third time.
The second time we went on a tour of the north and east of the island with Gihan Tours. We planned the tour in advance according to our wishes and Gihan's suggestions.
After the journey via Dubai began with a disaster and a one-day delay, we were able to inform Gihan from Dubai by email and WhatsApp. He rescheduled the pick-up and the tour at short notice without any complications and so we were picked up at the airport in the middle of the night and taken to a cute hotel nearby, which was simple but still lovingly took care of everything.
The driver Shamath came with a very well-kept and clean van and then looked after our well-being in a very kind, polite and courteous manner. He speaks good English, so communication was great from the first minute.
Since Shamath was very punctual and is also a very safe driver, we quickly found a very good connection with each other, so much so that we would have loved to adopt him 😊
The following tour through the north and east went without incident, we saw a lot and Shamath always had new surprises in store for us. We will therefore have wonderful memories of beautiful places and pictures.
It was certainly not the last trip to Sri Lanka and we will be happy to book the services of Gihan Tours again and again, because this one was just as unique as last time, the selected hotels and places to visit were chosen with such care that we were able to enjoy every second.
It is particularly worth mentioning that the 65th birthday, which fell during the trip, was arranged very nicely by Shamath, even a birthday cake was brought to an island and served at the farm lunch, we are still not sure how it was all organized and how the cake ended up there, top, top, top. 😘
So thumbs up 👍 and always happy to do so,
Thanks Gihan, thanks Shamath
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Climber22969012752
Mar 5, 2024
Great 2-week tour with guide Kumara - We, a family with two boys aged 10 and 14, had a great experience with Gihan Tours. From the very beginning, Gihan gave us very warm, prompt and competent advice via email, so we were able to quickly agree on a travel program. We were met at the airport by Kumara. Kumara is a very pleasant tour guide. He likes to share his knowledge, respects privacy, offers options and always behaves correctly, flexibly and respectfully. He was always at the agreed meeting points early and drove us safely and expertly through beautiful Sri Lanka. Thanks to Kumara, we were able to have so many experiences and adventures that we would otherwise have missed. He also asked about our well-being after we returned to Switzerland. Anyone who wants to travel through Sri Lanka carefree, safely and comfortably can book with Gihan Tours without hesitation.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ws984
Mar 5, 2024
Re tailored to special requests - Even when we were preparing our trip as a couple, in which we mentioned individual goals and activity wishes, the tour was put together very quickly and appropriately, with tips on what else we could combine beyond our specifications.
Our driver Ashen turned out to be very competent, took us comfortably and safely through all the stages and explained the country, life and people. We couldn't have imagined anyone better.
Gihan Tours booked very pleasant and good accommodation for us, as well as extremely competent local guides for visiting national parks. Without them and their eye for hidden animals, we would have missed a lot.
The booking conditions were extremely fair. Without Gihan Tours, we would not have been able to see and experience so much for a long time, and all without stress.
We can only recommend them and can imagine exploring the still unknown spots in Sri Lanka with Gihan Tours.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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