Sri Lanka, previously known as Ceylon is a tropical island nation surrounded by the Indian Ocean, towards the South of India. In this post, I will take you on Sri Lanka Trip.Â
Famous for – Pristine beaches, ancient ruins, UNESCO sites, lots of Elephants, surfer’s Paradise, hospitable & friendly people, affordable country, famous Ceylon tea, and Spicy Sri Lankan cuisine makes Sri Lanka a favorite tourist destination. Therefore there are numerous beautiful places to visit in Sri Lanka. Let’s go for an exotic Sri Lanka Trip
This post overviews a short trip to Sri Lanka for 4 days and 5 nights.  It covers Colombo – Negombo – Kandy – Colombo. Before planning your tour, read some of the best places to visit in Sri Lanka with some important tips about everything you need to to know before going to SriLanka and some funny Sri Lanka Interesting Facts.
Recommended Itinerary for Sri Lanka Trip:-
There are many itineraries for Sri Lanka, like for 5 days, 7 days, and 10 days. I did for 5 days due to short time availability, but if you are looking for 10 days, then read this 10 day Sri Lanka Trip
If you want you to stay longer then check this 2-week plan for Sri Lanka Trip.
Day 1Â
Arrive at Bandaranaike International Airport in the morning. Proceed to Negombo. Negombo is the typical styled fishing town with stunning beaches approximately 10 kilometers from the International Airport. Â
Overnight stay in a beach resort in Negombo.
Day 2Â
Breakfast in Negombo and then proceed to the scenic hill city of Kandy. Â Kandy was the ancient capital of Sri Lanka. Kandy is famous for tea gardens and Buddhist sites, including the temple of Tooth. Â On the way to Kandy, explore traditional spice farming at Spice Garden and Ceylon Tea factory. If you are not going for Kandy, you can also proceed towards the East Coast of Sri Lanka and stay at Dambulla. Read about Sri Lanka East Coast Itinerary. Â
In this tea factory, you will get a chance to witness the whole process of tea making, from plucking tea leaves from nearby tea gardens to processing and then packing them. You can also taste the tea and purchase tea from here.
Overnight stay in Kandy.
Day 3Â
After breakfast in Kandy, a departure from Kandy and proceed to Colombo. Between going to Kandy Lake – an excellent place for the whole city view and strolling around. If you have more time in Kandy, a trip to Ella is recommended for hiking and beautiful tea plantations. If you are going to Ella, then Kandy to Ella Train ride is also fun.Â
Then proceed to Royal Botanical Garden(Peradeniya Botanical Gardens). Â This garden is very beautiful and houses a vast collection of orchids. Â
After the Botanical garden tour, proceeds to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage.  This Elephant Orphanage is formed primarily for injured & abandoned elephants.  Feeding & Bathing of Elephants is worth watching them. You can also purchase Udawalawe National Park Safari tours in advance.Â
Specific timings of feeding & Bathing provide the best opportunity to see them very closely. Â
After this proceed to Colombo for a night stay. Â Evening tour in Colombo is beautiful as Colombo is a very vibrant and busy city. Â Colombo is the largest and commercial city in Sri Lanka. You can also go on an enchanting Sigiriya and Dambulla day trip from Colombo by booking your tickets in advance.Â
Day 4Â
Colombo has a large harbor & known to traders(trading activities) since 2,000 years ago. Â Stay in Grand Oriental Hotel for a perfect harbor view and authentically styled Sri Lankan stay. I could not take photos of the port from a hotel, as photography of the harbor is not allowed for security reasons. Â In Colombo, opt for a city tour and shopping.Â
RELATED READS
- Sri Lanka has wonderful vegan or vegetarian food, so know more about the ultimate vegan vegetarian and drinks guide to Sri Lanka.
- For this itinerary, there are many tours available or you can drive in Sri Lanka by renting a car.
- Read about the cost of a holiday in SriLanka with kids. There are many Unique stays in Sri Lanka which are personal villa-styled stays or homestays.
- If you have 2 more days in your tour plan for Sri Lanka then go for Galle and then return to Colombo. I had less time, but Galle is recommended for 7 days itinerary for Sri Lanka Tour.
- For some nature adventure, you can opt to stay at hilltop cabanas and read more about Places to stay at East coast, Sri Lanka on the top of beach cabanas. This beautiful country has wonderful scuba diving sites and therefore read more about Scuba Diving in Sri Lanka. Read this for SriLanka itinerary with Galle.
Sweet Short Tour ends. Or you can go for Ultimate 8 – Day Backpacker’s Itinerary.Â
There are 50 amazing things to do in Sri Lanka. Click here to read about them. Â
Booking.com
Discover more about SriLanka on their offical tourism website. Â
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So, until then KEEP TRAVELING……………… KEEP EXPLORING……………………………………………………
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We are the independent owner of this site and views expressed in this are our own. All photographs are owned by me.  There can be slight differences in distances, locations or some details for which I (owner) am not responsible. This post may contain some affiliate links, means at no additional cost to you. I will earn if you will click through affiliates and make a purchase
Sri Lanka looks beautiful, especially with those enchanting elephants.
I am always up for adventure but this sounds like a nice way to experience Sri Lanka. When I made my trip to Asia, I missed out on it. Your post has me curious to visit it next time I am in the continent.
Thanks for the tips on Sri Lanka. The elephant refuge looks so awesome. I’m glad tourists aren’t riding them. Hopefully I will visit someday.
Tourist don’t ride them as they are not allowed. They are orphan elephants taken care by organisation and we just have to watch them naturally from some distance.
Srilanka is one of the destinations we having been planning to visit for some time now. This guide would be very handy whenever we finalize our plan. We would not miss a visit to Kandy for the tea gardens and the Buddhist temples. What is the best time to visit the botanical garden when we can see max bloom?
Spring time. We visited in Feb/March
We would looove to go to Sri Lanka, hopefully we will some time in the next year! Visiting the tea plantations is high up on my list, your photos are a great inspiration. Which was your favourite bit of the trip and where would you recommend for families with young children?
Negombo n Kandy due to beaches n hill station. Both r young children friendly
We are going to Sri Lanka in two months and you post was great inspiration. We were so tempted to explore the Kandy region, especially the scenic rail routes around there. We have always heard that Kandy has some of the best wildlife viewing in all of Sri Lanka.
Yes Kandy has wonderful wildlife. Go for Galle (nice beaches)
Sri Lanka reminds me so much of my home country of Trinidad and Tobago except that we don’t have any tea plantations or so many elephants. The scenery is so tropical! Also, I’ve always loved the name of that city, Kandy, and the temple of Tooth sounds quite chipper!
Sri Lanka, is certainly on my bucket list. It looks truly beautiful and I hear the people are lovely.
I’ve always wanted to see Sri Lanka first hand after seeing countless articles and features on this amazing place. The Royal Botanical Gardens and elephant orphanage would hands down be one of the first things I’d love to see and explore. Just amazing photos!
What a wonderful place Sri Lanka is! How I’d love to visit with my son. He’s been studying Buddhism and would love the Temple of Tooth. Also, how cool that you were able to visit a tea plantation! My husband and I stopped at one just outside of Charleston a couple of years ago and it was the coolest place. x
top top review of sri lanka – i seemore and more people heading out there lately and the gardens are definitely worth seeing
Oh, it would be super fascinating to visit Sri Lanka! Botanic gardens are usually on the top of my list to see in different destinations. I’ve never seen an elephant in real – that must be something very impressive.
Whenever the word UNESCO world heritage site comes, I get overwhelm with that. You have a great collection of photos of Srilanka. Also, Srilanka is very near to India and it is quite easy to get Visa for that. SO I can now think of visiting Srilanka within a year.
For srilanka as an Indian dont need any visa. Carry passport and walk in with hotel bookings.
Ohk! I was wrong, thanks for the knowledge.
I have always wanted to visit Sri Lanka and someday hopefully I will. It looks amazing from those great photos. I would definitely like to visit that tea factory in Ceylon. I also loved the Elephant sanctuary and botanic gardens.
Never thought how beautiful Sri Lanka is until today. These golden beaches, mighty elephants, tea plantations and wildlife-packed national parks – I’m wondering why this country was not on my bucket list? It sure is now.
Sri Lanka looks like such an amazing, magical and exotic place. I’ve always wanted to visit it! Your photos look so nice!
I have never been to Sri Lanka, but it’S a beautiful country and your pictures are proof. The itinerary looks very good and detailed, will refer to it when I get to visit this beautiful country. 🙂
I live in India but I’ve never been to Sri Lanka, such an amazing place for holidays, if you love nature then this place is perfect for you, have fun
Lovely SriLanka, I remember my sis visiting it and she gave a thumbs up for the Elephants, green fields and some architctures!
Sri Lanka oh Sri Lanka…when will I ever get to visit you?!? Most of the places I have already heard of but you did a great job explaining and providing us with informations. Thanks!
This was an amazing post! I love travelling, but so far I was not lucky to visit Sri Lanka! Thank you for this trip 🙂
This sounds like a great itinery! I would love to do this trip and explore this part of the world!
Sri Lanka does look nice. And thank you for the clear itinerary. Images are cool as well.
I had a luck to travel last year 2 times to Sri Lanka, amazing country I can only recommend it to everyone
That’s a great itinerary! I’m planning to visit Srilanka in 2018. Hope I’ll go, I don’t know yet! I’ve always been fascinated by the country! The beaches are just so gorgeous!
I think it would be super fun to visit Sri Lanka! I would love to see how they make tea. I think it’s fascinating and something I know nothing about. And all the elephants!
Sri Lanka looks beautiful! I’ve always wanted to visit… especially to see the mountains and the elephants, of course. Who wouldn’t want to see those?!
What an incredible itinerary! You really managed to cover a lot in a few days, and it’s nice to to know so much is possible without feeling rushed! I can’t wait to get there and explore it for myself!
Great write up for an awesome country! I love how beautiful the beaches are! Absolute paradise! I also love how happy the elephants looked and that they are allowed to live in a herd!
Sri Lanka looks amazing and this sounds like a great itinerary! We really want to visit so this is a massive help! Thanks for sharing!
Wow the views here are incredible. I have yet to visit Sri Lanka but it is totally on my list. Those elephants look like they are having a blast bathing and splashing around. So cute to see.
The landscape of Sri Lanka is quite reckoning to behold. I’d have never thought these beautiful sides of Sri Lanka existed. Thanks for the traveling tips.
Great itinerary for Sri Lanka! Glad that you could explore it in detail. I feel I can spend years exploring that country. The Buddhist relics, hills, beaches, jungles… everything deserves to be explored in detail. Loved those elephant pictures!
Beautiful pictures! I love beaches and nature based destination.. Sri lanka is in my travel list now!
Sri Lanka seems like an amazing place . Thanks for sharing the article entails about Sri Lanka and tips of what to do .
Will love to visit one day
I am incredibly impressed with the pictures here. I would love to go to Sri Lanka and I like you managed to fit in two of the major cities into this itinerary. You truly managed to cover the best of it
But i missed Galle due to lack of time. If possible include Galle in the trip. famous for stunning beaches.
Wow what a whistle stop tour of Sri Lanka. I particularly like the sound of Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. I love that they take sick and injured elephants. You have some amazing photos here. I would also like to take a walk in the Peradeniya Botanical gardens. The tree lined road looks beautiful
Sri Lanka sounds like such an amazing place to visit and has so many interesting things to do. Of course the beaches would be a must-do for me, as I love them. Your pictures are absolutely stunning!
I love Sri lanka because of many unique things it offers. For one the beaches in lanka are far better and cleaner than here in India. Also, there’s variety of things it offers apart from beaches..wildlife, hill station and modern city like Colombo
Srilanka is so close to India still I haven’t had the chance to visit. You’ve presented a nice & detailed itinerary.
Very nice
I did a road trip of Sri Lanka a few years ago. I didn’t know about the UNESCO sites, I hope I visited them! I did not get a city shot of Kandy, I would have love to get that. The beach resort in Negombo looks like paradise.
The pictures are so inviting and really gives a good vibe of the place. I have heard a lot about Kandy and the elephants of Sri Lanka. Hopefully I will go there someday, your itinerary will incredibly help me! Thanks for constructing it.
I have not read much about Sri Lanka so it was interesting to read about your experience during your time there. It looks like you found an amazing place to stay. That resort near the beach is absolutely beautiful!
From your photos, I can understand why Sri Lanka is so popular with travellers. Your photos really show its beauty, especially with the scenery. Kandy looks very lush too, one place to bookmark for sure!
I had been planning to visit Sri Lanka for quite some time now. With this post, I am absolutely sure about the visit now and the itenary serves as a reference material. Thank You so much for sharing this.
Those baby elephants are the cutest. Looks like you had an amazing time. I remember my trip to Sri Lanka. We barely spent a day at Colombo, and most of our time by the plantations and lush green of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya. Cheers!!
I have been to India a few times so now it’s time for me to visit Sri Lanka as well. The elephant orphanage sounds like are doing a great job in taking care of the poor injured elephants. They are such beautiful animals. The tea plantation visit is a great suggestion as well. I know that a really good tea sold here comes from Sri Lanka: Dilmah.
yes dilmah is very well known ceylon tea.
I would so love to go to Sri Lanka! The baby elephant in the first pic is so cute. It’s great to have an itinerary that includes so many different aspects of the country.
Nice tips