Upon your arrival in Colombo, you will be welcomed by our representative who will also arrange form your transfer to Kandy (120 km / 3 hours). On the way, you will visit the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage. Started in 1975 to house the abandoned and wounded elephants, the orphanage has grown to be a big family of around 90 elephants today. After you reach Kandy, check-in to the hotel, relax and spend the rest of the day at leisure. The evening is reserved for a cultural show. Return and stay overnight at the hotel

After breakfast at the hotel, embark on the tour of Kandy. Some say Kandy is the only other real ‘city’ in Sri Lanka, other than Colombo. The easy-going capital of the Hill Country has a lot to offer – history, culture, forested hills and a touch of urban buzz. The highlights of the tour include visits to Upper Lake Drive, Market Square and the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic houses Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist relic – a tooth of the Buddha. The tooth is said to have been snatched from the flames of the Buddha’s funeral pyre in 543 BC, and was smuggled into Sri Lanka during the 4th century AD, hidden in the hair of a princess. At first it was taken to Anuradhapura, but with the ups and downs of Sri Lankan history it moved from place to place before eventually ending up at Kandy. Other major attraction is the Royal Botanical Gardens, which was started in 1374 as a pleasure garden of the Kings of Gampola and Kandy. At the end of the day, return and spend the evening at leisure in the hotel.

After breakfast, check-out of your hotel and head for Nuwara Eliya (77km / 2 hours). On the way, you will be treated to a multitude of tea plantations and waterfalls. The summer resort of Nuwara Eliya (nu-rel-iya, meaning ‘City of Light’) keeps its colonial hill station atmosphere more completely than any place in the subcontinent. The town centre is a concrete tangle but the outskirts still keep the atmosphere of a misplaced British village, with hedges, rose gardens and red-roofed bungalows sporting twee names. The old post office, the racecourse, the English country house–styled Hill Club with its hunting pictures, mounted fish and hunting trophies and the 18-hole golf course all somehow seem more British than Britain itself. Upon arrival, you are taken for a tour of the city and its environs. After the tour, return and stay overnight at the hotel.

After breakfast at the hotel, the day is free for you to explore the city and enjoy it on your own. Nuwara Eliya has a fair assortment of country-style houses with large gardens – many have been turned over to vegetables, making this one of Sri Lanka’s main market-gardening centres. Come prepared for the evening cool – Nuwara Eliya is much higher than Kandy. In January and February you may find yourself needing to sleep with two blankets and all your clothes on. Return and stay overnight at the hotel.

After breakfast check out from the hotel and transfer to the airport for your flight back to home bound with a memorable holiday