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Day 0

Arrival to Colombo international airport and transfer to Dambulla or Sigriya for the night.

Day 1

Sigiriya (Lion’s rock) 7:00 – 19:00 (7am – 7pm). $US30. A large stone and ancient rock fortress or ruins of the fortress dated back to 5th century.
Polonnaruwa $US25. 1000 years old ruins of the second most ancient of Sri Lanka’s kingdoms.

Day 2

Dambulla Cave temple 7:00- 19:00 (7am – 7pm). LKR1300. It is the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka
Stop at one of numerous spice gardens between Dambulla and Kandy to see many different types of spices and check handcraft shops on the same road. FREE
Just before Kandy check Mariamman Kovil largest hindu temple in Sri Lanka
The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy. 6:00-17:00 (6am – 5pm). Cost LKR1000. It houses a tooth of the Buddha.
Royal Botanic Gardens 7:30-16:30 (7am – 4.30pm) The largest botanic garden in Sri Lanka.
Tea factories on the road to Nuwara Eliya. FREE

Day 3

Nuwara Eliya is small summer resort used by British to escape heat in other parts of country.
Take a train from Nanuoya to Ella. LKR750 Railway pass Horton Plains NP with pictures waterfalls, mountains, tea plantations and view to World’s end,
Take a road B35 to Tissamaharama which passes Yalla National Park. You’ll have good chances to see elephants on the way.
Stop at Kataragama.  It is the most important religious pilgrimage site in Sri Lanka

Day 4

Yala National Park. Safary cost ~$US40.  The park is famous for largest concentration of leopards
Mulkirigala Rock historical temple. LKR200. It has little of Dambulla and Sigiriya.
Take a rest at Mirissa beach which is still not overdeveloped with holiday resorts.

Day 5

Galle is the best example of a fortified city built by Europeans in southeast Asia
Stop at one of turtle hatcheries North of Galle
Take a scenic cruise along Madu Ganga river.
Departure at night.

You can see a lot in 5 days, but…I would suggest to take at least 10 days and make it in much slower pace and definitely you should rent a car with driver, but don’t drive yourself if you don’t have driving experience in Asia. I can recommend our driver Gamunu, who helped a lot with finding accommodation and was working long hours to make sure we will see as much as possible in such short time.

Of course you can use public transport, but then you’ll need even more time.

Check here details of each day:

Day 1. Sigiriya(Rock) – a large stone and ancient rock fortress, Polonnaruwa, wild elephants
Day 2. Dambulla Cave Temple,spice gardens,The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, tea plantations
Day 3. The train trip from Nanuoya to Ella, Rawana Ella waterfalls, Kataragama
Day 4. Spotting leopard in Yala National Park, Mulkirigala Rock historical temple, Mirissa beach
Day 5. Galle fort, baby turtles at turtle hatcheries, Madu Ganga river scenic cruise

The post Sri Lanka in five days. Full itinerary appeared first on Vi Travel Tips.

Today we allowed ourself  to sleep a little bit longer after early start yesterday, followed with refreshing swim in the ocean and good breakfast in one of cafes on the beach. As we there leaving Sri Lanka today it was no rush, as was no much plans for sightseeing on this day except driving back to Colombo to catch our flight to India.

The South West coast beaches are  good if you want to have some time to relax. I would love to spend there more time on one of surfing beaches.

May be next time. Now is time to go.

Galle fort is interesting place for a short stop. Latest fortified city was built by Dutch almost 6 centuries ago with only with few changes since then.  Galle is the best example of a fortified city built by Europeans in southeast Asia and then you scroll a long the streets it feels more like Southern Europe, but not Asia.

Further North from Galle you can visit some turtle hatcheries. With more and more developments on the beaches there are not much place for turtles to lay their eggs. To save turtles the hatcheries were created and now there are 3 or 4 along the coast.  Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Project is one of them. Entry cost 300 rupees and they also accept donations. Just before sunset is the best time to visit as they releasing baby turtles to the sea. They can’t do it during day time because of predators hunting for these babies.

Another place to visit is Manu Ganga river delta if you are not in rush like we were. In Balapitiya you can take a scenic cruise along Madu Ganga river to watch daily live of families living on one of 30 islands there.

The post Sri Lanka in five days. Day 5 appeared first on Vi Travel Tips.