COLOMBO · SRI LANKA
Tuk-tuk mornings, ancient afternoons.
Tuk-tuk city tours and street food in Colombo, then day trips to Sigiriya, Kandy, the tea country and Yala. The capital, and the whole island within reach of it.
Signature days
What you really came for.
City tours and street food fill the first morning. A tuk-tuk loop of the capital, the climb up a painted fifth-century rock, and a leopard at dawn in the south are the days you fly home talking about.
In the city
Colombo by Tuk-Tuk
The three-wheeler is how Colombo actually moves, and the back of one is the best seat in the city. A driver-guide threads Pettah's market lanes, the Fort clock tower, the Gangaramaya temple and the Galle Face seafront in a single morning, stopping wherever you point. The city at its own speed, which is fast.
- 1 Colombo: Private Tuk-Tuk City Tour with All Entry Fees
- 2 Colombo Tuk Tuk City Tour -Sightseeing Entry Fees & Food Included
- 3 Colombo Private Tuk-Tuk City Tour with All Entry Fees Included
Fifth century
The Sigiriya Rock
A king built his palace on top of a two-hundred-metre granite plug, painted the cliff with frescoes of court women and lined the climb with a giant lion's paws you still pass between. Sigiriya is fifteen hundred years old and there is nothing else like it on earth. The Dambulla cave temples sit just down the road.
- 1 From Colombo: Sigiriya & Dambulla Day Tour with Safari
- 2 Private Day Trip to Sigiriya, cave and National park Safari Tour
- 3 From Colombo: Sigiriya and Dambulla Day Trip and Safari
The wild south
Leopards at Yala
Yala has one of the highest leopard densities anywhere on the planet. A dawn jeep run through its scrub and lagoons turns up elephants, crocodiles, painted storks and, when the morning goes your way, a leopard stretched on a rock. The wild south of the island, a few hours down the coast from the city.
- 1 Udawalawe National Park: Elephant Safari with Expert Guide
- 2 Private Day Trip to Sigiriya, cave and National park Safari Tour
- 3 03 Days Highlights Of Sigiriya,Kandy,Nuwara Eliya ,Ella & Udawalawe
Start here
The one trip everyone books first.
More travellers build a Sri Lanka trip around this one than anything else out of Colombo.
The popular ones
Colombo's Most Popular Tours
Tuk-tuk city loops, the Cultural Triangle, Yala safaris and the southern beaches. The trips most people book out of Colombo.
Where to begin
The trips a Sri Lanka itinerary is built around.
The Cultural Triangle, the hill country, the wildlife parks and the southern coast. The handful of days most trips out of Colombo are planned around, and the best way to do each.
Getting around
How to see Sri Lanka from Colombo.
The island is small but the roads are slow, so how you travel shapes the trip. Three ways out of the city, depending on your pace and your budget.
The hill country
Ceylon tea, by the trainload.
Three hours inland the heat breaks and the land climbs into tea. Ella and Nuwara Eliya sit among terraced estates, waterfalls and old colonial bungalows, reached by a train that hangs off green ridgelines and crosses the Nine Arch Bridge. Day trips and overnight loops run from Colombo.
Read the guide: Ella and the tea country →After dark
The city eats late.
Colombo's food is Sinhalese, Tamil, Malay and Moor all at once: kottu roti chopped on a hot griddle, egg hoppers folded over sambol, short eats by the dozen and a crab curry worth the mess. Food walks run the Pettah stalls and the Galle Face seafront vendors after sunset.
Find a Colombo food tour →The whole island
Smaller than you think, fuller than you would believe.
Sri Lanka is about the size of Ireland, but it packs eight UNESCO sites, a highland tea country, leopard parks and a coastline of surf and whales into a few hours' drive in any direction. From Colombo, the ancient cities, the hills and the south coast are all day-trip close.
See the multi-day island tours →Kandy
The last kingdom, and a sacred tooth.
Kandy was the final capital of the Sinhalese kings, set around a lake in the hills. Its Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic holds a tooth of the Buddha and draws pilgrims daily; once a year the Esala Perahera fills the streets with torch-lit elephants. Pinnawala's elephant orphanage is on the road up.
- 1 From Colombo: Kandy Temples and Pinnawala Full-Day Tour
- 2 From Colombo: Kandy, Pinnawala and Tea Factory Full-Day Trip
- 3 03 Days Highlights Of Sigiriya,Kandy,Nuwara Eliya ,Ella & Udawalawe
By distance
How far do you want to go?
Colombo rewards a slow morning, but the island opens up the further you push. Stay in the city, take a day trip, or loop the whole country.
Stay in the city
A morning in Colombo.Tuk-tuk loops, the Fort and Pettah on foot, the temples and markets, and a street-food walk after dark. The capital without leaving it.
Out for the day
A day trip and back.Up at dawn for Sigiriya and Dambulla, Kandy and the elephants, a Yala safari or the Galle fort. Out of the city and home by dark.
Go the distance
The grand island loop.Three days to two weeks linking the Cultural Triangle, the tea country, the parks and the south coast, with a driver-guide and your bags in the boot.
The south coast
Dutch forts, surf towns and the biggest animal alive.
Two hours down the coast, Galle's ramparts ring a Dutch-colonial old town of cafes and boutiques. Past it the beaches start: Unawatuna, the stilt fishermen, Mirissa, and the boats that head out to find blue whales between November and April.
See all 10 Galle and south coast trips →By place
Sri Lanka, six ways out of Colombo.
Colombo for the city. Sigiriya for the ancient north. Kandy for the hills. Ella for the tea. Galle for the coast. Yala for the leopards.
By activity
Pick how to spend the day.
Tuk-tuk if you want the city fast. A safari if you want leopards. A driver if you want the whole island. Food walks, temple climbs, cooking classes and the train.
Plan it
Three days from the city.
First time on the island? Here is a long weekend out of Colombo that hits the big three without a wasted hour.
Just added