Sri Lanka - Gourmet in Style

13 Days / 12 Nights

Sri Lanka - Gourmet in StyleSri Lanka - Gourmet in Style

A journey by Private Car and Guide


Itinerary

Show all details »    Hide all details »

  • Day 1: Arrival and Welcome to Sri Lanka / Transfer to your hotel

    Enjoy a day of leisure in the Ancient City of Anuradhapura (D)
    More details »

    You will be met upon arrival at the International Airport by our representative, who will assist you with your luggage and take you to your vehicle for your private transfer to your hotel for check in. Enjoy the day at leisure or if you prefer you can visit the Ancient City of Anuradhapura.

    Meals included today: Dinner

  • Day 2: Tour Local Markets / Culinary Master Cooking Class /Afternoon Horseback Ride.

    Meet your private “Culinary Expert” and prepare to an extraordinary food safari. Depart for a behind the scenes tour to meet the people and discover the spices that make up Sri Lanka's melting pot. You will prepare an authentic meal with the assistance of your private chef. A leisure horseback ride awaits you in the afternoon. (B, L, D)
    More details »

    After breakfast meet your private driver / guide in the lobby of your hotel and depart for a day of adventure.

    Here you will visit the local market to buy fresh poultry fish, and vegetables, including oysters, butani and abalone mushrooms. With these, you will be able prepare a curry that will delight your pallet. Next on the shopping list are Chinese cabbage, butter beans, carrots, leaks, tinned bamboo shoots, baby corn and shitake or button mushrooms to prepare a Chinese vegetable chop suey. With these ingredients, the chef will also show you how to make a mushroom curry, sweet-and-sour pork curry, chicken-and-black-bean curry with cashew nuts, and chilli paste with kunissa. Dessert includes a semolina and jaggery pudding. You can also pick your own vegetables at the hotel farm before enjoying a typical Sri Lankan lunch. Return to the hotel for your private cooking demonstration.

    After lunch, saddle up and begin exploring the estate and neighborhood on horseback with a staff groom. Ride around our 58 acres at Ulagalla and along the tank bund. Ponies and their grooms,riding hats, fresh juice and cool towels on your return to the hotel are included.

    What to bring/wear – comfortable, cool clothes, gym shoes (NOT flip flops) for riding.

    Meet your private driver / guide and return to the hotel.

    Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

  • Day 3: Explore Ancient Sites / Aukana Buddah Statue / Mihintale

    The perfect Buddha statue, carved out of the living rock with supreme assurance, Aukana Buddha is a magnificent image. His expression is serene & from his curled hair there sprouts the flame called siraspata signifying the power of supreme enlightenment. Your journey brings you to Mihintale, (mihinthalaya) which became a main center for Theravada Buddhism and is considered the cradle of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. (B, L, D)
    More details »

    This morning after breakfast you will meet your private driver / guide and depart for a full day tour and visit to the Aukana Buddha statue, the most beautiful rock-cut standing Buddha Statue in the Island, if not the world. This 5th Century statue, credited to King Dhatusena, is 46 feet high, and stands amid the ruins of an ancient image house 32 miles south-east of Anuradhapura.

    Later you will visit Mihintale, known as the cradle of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, where the Buddhist doctrine was first preached by the monk ‘Mahinda’, son of Asoka, Emperor of India, to King Devanampiyatissa more than 2,000 years ago. Mihintale, the hill of Mahinda is approached by a magnificent ancient stone stairway of 1,840 steps. Your private guide will accompany you to the top!

    Some of the monuments found here are the oldest in the country and the large number of Brahmi inscriptions dates from the 3rd century B.C.

    Kantaka Cetiya, Ambastala Dagoba, Maha Thupa, At Vehera, Alms Hall, Girihandu Seya, Indikatu Seya, Old Hospital and Kaludiya Pokuna are some of the historic sites at Mihintale.

    Meet your private driver / guide and return to your hotel.

    Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

  • Day 4: Kandy to Spice Gardens / Tea Museum / Royal Botanical Gardens / Dambulla Cave Temples

    Kandy is a large city in central Sri Lanka. It's set on a plateau surrounded by mountains, which are home to tea plantations and biodiverse rainforest. 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. (B, L, D)
    More details »

    After breakfast, meet your private driver / guide and depart for Kandy and the Dambulla Cave Temples. This amazing complex, the largest cave monastery in the country with a history going back to the 1st century BC, has dozens of amazing Buddha statues and with walls covered with priceless paintings and frescos.

    En-route you will visit a spice garden to see the trees, plants and creepers that produce spices in Sri Lanka, and hear a talk on how they are used to flavor and enhance our curries. You will also be able to buy stocks of spices for use in your own dishes.

    Lunch will be enjoyed as you delight your senses with another culinary experience at a spice garden.

    In Kandy you will visit the Hantana Estate and the Tea Museum of Sri Lanka (with its original hand-operated machinery that was used at Loolkondura Estate) and the Tea Research Station.

    Afterwards, visit the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya.

    Your private driver / guide will return you to the hotel.

    Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

  • Day 5: Cycling or Strolling Sri Lanka

    Enjoy Taylors Hill, one of the most luxurious and unique hotels in Kandy. The property sits in several acres of pretty lawns and gardens, with views towards the hills surrounding Nuwara Eliya. (B)
    More details »

    After breakfast cycles are available at Taylors Hill, and you can be off and away enjoying the country side, the people and sounds. This is best way to enjoy the quirks and beauty of Sri Lanka, and you will be left with a lasting lifetime memories.

    You can also just take a walk and be one with the place. If you would like we can organize a guided adventure walk or a lovely stroll for some bird watching.

    Enjoy an evening of leisure at Taylor Hill Bungalow.

    Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

  • Day 6: Nuwara Eliya

    The surroundings are really all about your cup of tea. Literally. Tea gardens abound and the place is reminiscent of a quaint British village. Nicknamed the 'City of Lights' and 'Little England', Nuwara Eliya has everything. (B)
    More details »

    This morning you will be driven to Nuwara Eliya. Along the way visit a strawberry farm. Stop at Ambewela Farm and enjoy a hot pancake with strawberries and cream.
    Continue to Nuwara Eliya or ‘Little England’ as it is also aptly known. As Sri Lanka's most popular summer-season holiday resort, it is 6,500 feet above sea level, with temperatures ranging from 12C to 22C, so have a jacket or sweater ready! Beautiful gardens, cascading waterfalls, lakes and sweet smelling mountain air, tea plantations and tea factories are the main attractions.

    Return to the hotel. and enjoy afternoon high tea at the hotel.

    Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

  • Day 7: Yala National Park

    It’s an experience of epic proportions that brings you up, close and personal with the untamed world of wildlife. Whether you are an avid nature lover or visiting a wildlife park for the first time, if you come here with a mind that’s eager to explore and learn, you will go away with new-found meaning to life. (B, L, D)
    More details »

    Enjoy the jeep safari at the park with a well-experienced tracker guide. It’s not Kenya, but Yala National Park is a major draw in Sri Lanka for its opportunity to see elephants, leopards and an array of other animals, including reptiles and our myriad bird species.

    Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

  • Day 8: Yala National Park

    This is leopard country, and they are the Lords of the Jungle! With a leopard density that's higher than anywhere else on this planet, the leopards prowl majestically in Yala, while elephants roam in their numbers with cautious deer scampering by their side. (B, L, D)
    More details »

    Enjoy the jeep safari at the park with a well-experienced tracker guide. It’s not Kenya, but Yala National Park is a major draw in Sri Lanka for its opportunity to see elephants, leopards and an array of other animals, including reptiles and our myriad bird species.

    Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

  • Day 9: Depart for the Southwest Coast of Sri Lanka

    The perfect mix of culture, class and comfort, the Galle Fort Hotel is not to be missed; not just because it’s one of the best hotels in Galle, but because it is simply one of the best holiday experiences, ever. (B)
    More details »

    This morning your private driver / guide will escort you to Galle via Tissa, Tangalle and Matara.

    There will be photo opportunities at Tissa and Yatala Dagoba, with their unique features found only in the south, beach scenes, Wevurukannala Buddha Statue (the largest on the Island), stilt fishermen at Koggala and the Galle Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

    Check in to your hotel before the sun goes down to get a beautiful sunset scene with the Fort in the foreground and the sun going down between the light house and the minaret of the Mosque.

    Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

  • Day 10: Historic Galle Fort

    Another spectacular day in Galle awaits you. (B)
    More details »

    Meet your private driver / guide in the lobby of your hotel and depart for Galle Fort.

    Meet Juliet Coombe – author & historian who will take you through the vast network that is the Historic Galle Fort. This exciting 1 – 1 ½ hour walk will take you back to how life was during the colonial period. You will learn the history of the Fort; the largest “living” fort in Asia, and its inhabitants; meet the descendants of the original fort families, visit buildings and landmarks that have stood the test of time, learn about the spice trade, and most importantly, sit down for some quality time with Juliet at the end of your walk, where you will recap your days’ learning over a hot cup of spice tea.

    Your private driver / guide will return you to your hotel.

    Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

  • Day 11: Galle to Colombo

    Day of leisure in Galle followed by an authentic dinner in Colombo. (B, L, D)
    More details »

    Enjoy a morning at leisure.

    Your private driver/ guide will escort you to Colombo, to enjoy a western dinner at Gallery Café, a beautiful quiet haven with a renowned menu and a doorman dressed in a black-and-white-striped batik sarong to greet you as you walk past showcases containing art works of the current exhibition.

    The menu features fusion cuisine, including lemongrass and ginger chicken with spinach and potato mash, Mediterranean prawns with saffron risotto, black-pork curry with rice and accompaniments, and grilled seer with coconut risotto. Delicious! And the desserts are also definitely not to be missed many mouth-watering treats, most of which include chocolate in one form or another.

    Meet your private driver / guide and return to your hotel.

    Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

  • Day 12: Lellama Fish Market /Cooking Demonstration / Catamaran Sail

    The Lellama is their famous fish market, where you will find just about everything from the sea here and serving over 100,000 people in the area. it’s an exciting environment and you will meet many friendly, curious Sri Lankans. Above all it’s a truly authentic experience. (B, L)
    More details »

    After breakfast, meet your private guide / driver for an early departure for the Lellama, where the fish caught by hundreds of boats are brought ashore and sold by auction. Here you can buy whatever tickles your fancy, which will be prepared for you at the hotel. (You can buy fish until 7:00am the latest)

    We suggest karalla, a small flat silver fish for making a delicious soup, prawns for a prawn cocktail, Giant tiger prawns, and Negombo Lagoon crabs, reckoned to be the best in Asia and exported live to Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany and many other countries. Of course, the hotel chef will demonstrate how to make the soup and the prawn cocktail with avocado. Baked crab or sizzling giant prawns are a specialty.

    In the evening experience a sea trip in an outrigger sailing catamaran used for herring fishing. If the sea is too rough, there is always a boat ride in the Dutch Canal or lagoon.

    Afterwards your private driver / guide will return you to the hotel.

    Another option is to visit the Ayurveda Pavilion near the hotel for a herbal body massage for muscle relaxation and stress relief.

    Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

  • Day 13: Depart Sri Lanka

    Transfer to the airport and depart Sri Lanka (B, L,)
    More details »

    Bid farewell to scenic Sri Lanka.

    At a time to be determined, meet your private driver / guide in the lobby of your hotel and depart for the airport for your fhomebound flight.

    Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Explore more of: Sri Lanka