Price
From £2,490 per person.
Includes B&B accommodation, a/c transport with chauffeur guide, entrance fees & activities, and taxes.
Arrive Colombo airport and greeted by your dedicated Tikalanka chauffeur guide.
Transfer to Negombo on the island’s west coast close by.
Three nights at Jetwing Lagoon, which is nestled between the Indian Ocean and a tranquil lagoon just south of Negombo. The hotel is the new incarnation of Blue Lagoon Hotel, Sri Lanka’s very first resort hotel, which was designed by the legendary local architect Geoffrey Bawa.
Drive into Colombo for a day of Bawa:
- Visit No.11, 33rd Lane, Geoffrey Bawa’s stunning town house, considered a special architectural marvel.
- Visit De Saram House, Geoffrey Bawa’s renovation of two small houses at Ward Place for Druvi and Sharmini de Saram in 1986.
- Lunch at Gallery Café, Geoffrey Bawa’s former office and studio, now a great place to eat surrounded by art – NOT INCLUDED IN PRICE.
- Visit Parliament. Designed by Geoffrey Bawa and completed in 1982, the new Parliament building sits on an artificially-created island built on a purposely flooded marshland just south of Colombo: the visual effect of the structure is that of seeing a grand palace floating on an expansive lake – subject to permission.
Back to Colombo for a one-day tour of the city, which may include visits to:
- Historic Fort district, where old colonial-era buildings are juxtaposed with modern hotels.
- Sambodhi Chaitya, a unique dagoba balanced on stilts with amazing views of the harbour.
- Old Dutch Hospital, home to a range of excellent restaurants and cafés.
- Viharamahadevi Park, the capital’s principal open space hugging the northern reaches of upmarket Cinnamon Gardens and home to the neo-classical National Museum.
- Galle Face Green, a sweeping coastal green sward and a favourite of kite-flying children, family outings and star-struck couples enjoying an ice cream.
- Galle Face Hotel, one of Colombo’s best-loved landmarks and the oldest hotel east of Suez.
- Experience the banter and bartering of Pettah, which is one of the oldest districts of Colombo and famous for selling everything under the sun.
- Striking Jami-ul-Aftar Mosque, also known as the ‘Red Mosque’.
- Beira Lake.
- Serene Seema Malakaya, an iconic structure and shrine designed by Geoffrey Bawa.
- Gangaramaya Temple, one of Colombo’s most revered Buddhist temples and focus of the annual Navam Perahera festival.
- Barefoot and Paradise Road outlets for shopping and souvenirs.
- British High Commission, designed by Richard Murphy Architects, has pools and courtyards inspired by Bawa.
Drive northeast into the island’s Cultural Triangle to Dambulla.
Three nights at Heritance Kandalama, which was the first luxury eco-hotel built in Asia and designed by Geoffrey Bawa. The hotel is set in its own 250-hectare jungle retreat with unimpeded views across wetlands to Lion Rock at Sigiriya, and it is barely visible beneath a natural cliff and undisturbed vegetation, home to indigenous wildlife and exotic flora.
Guided tour of the historic temples and exquisitely carved statues of the medieval capital of Polonnaruwa, with visits to the Quadrangle, Northern Monuments, Royal Citadel Group and Southern Group – bicycles are available to hire for your own self-guided tour, if preferred.
Early morning (07.00) ascent of 200-metre high ‘Lion Rock’ at Sigiriya to view the surrounding countryside at dawn – a very special experience indeed. The unique rock fortress of Sigiriya is a national icon, despite its origins as a usurper’s pleasure palace housing erotic frescoes! Guided tour of the rock palace and ornamental gardens.
Climb gently up the granite massif at Dambulla to visit the most impressive cave temple complex in Sri Lanka, with five ornately and intricately decorated caverns under a vast overhanging rock.
Head south to Kandy, one of the principal points of the Cultural Triangle and the seat of the last Sinhalese kingdom. The second city of Sri Lanka has a picturesque setting around its lake, a rich historical and cultural heritage, a comfortable Mediterranean-type climate, and UNESCO World Heritage Site status.
Kandy is the perfect size to be explored on foot, since the altitude (500 metres above sea level) makes the climate conducive to long and leisurely strolls. A guided walking tour of the city will take in the Hindu devales (temples), the lake and the municipal market.
In the early evening, experience the Buddhist puja (blessing ceremony) at the Temple of the Tooth, which houses Sri Lanka’s most revered religious relic.
Overnight at Theva Residency, which is a contemporary boutique hotel in an enviable location overlooking Kandy. The architecture makes the most of the wondrous aerial aspect and is centred on the view, which is made visible at every point possible from inside the house.
Continue south into the upper Hill Country, following the winding vertiginous roads through the velveteen slopes of verdant tea plantations and past spectacular waterfalls and impressive mountain scenery on your way to Nuwara Eliya, the British colonial capital of the Hill Country and the highest town in Sri Lanka at 1900 metres above sea level.
On the way, stop off at Tea Bush Hotel at Ramboda Falls, a 2012 project by Palinda Kannangara Architects.
On arrival, amble around the ‘City of Lights’ and enjoy a little piece of England in the tropics!
Transfer to Nanuoya railway station for a scenic train journey – subject to availability – to Ella in the southern Hill Country.
Overnight at 98 Acres Resort & Spa, which is a luxury retreat with spectacular views in an idyllic location at the southern end of the Hill Country. Surrounded by the eponymous scenic tea estate in Uva Province, it was constructed with the emphasis on eco-friendliness and sustainability.
Visit Café UFO in Ella, which is built in rustic style with sustainable, eco-friendly design based on locally available materials and details that reflect the vernacular architectural concept.
Drop down to Wellawaya on the southern plain through Ella Gap before continuing south across the hot and dry southern plain to join the Southern Expressway for your journey west to Galle, famed for its Dutch colonial era fort.
Two nights at Jetwing Lighthouse, which is a 5-star luxury hotel and spa designed by Geoffrey Bawa. The overall architecture creates an atmosphere resembling Moorish palaces, ocean liners, manor houses and colonial villas. The hotel is sited on a rocky promontory with stunning views across the Indian Ocean to Galle fort.
A day of Bawa and architecture around the south coast:
- Visit the University of Ruhuna near Matara, a masterplan project overseen by Geoffrey Bawa – subject to permission.
- Visit Leisure Point at Mirissa, which was designed by Sudesh Nanayakkara to create a unique leisure dining experience in a small plot of land overlooking the popular turquoise beach strip.
Head north along the west coast to Ahungalla.
Three nights at Heritance Ahungalla, which is another iconic hotel designed by Geoffrey Bawa, originally his Triton Hotel. This luxury 4-star+ resort offers superb beachside accommodation in an airy and relaxed atmosphere, with panoramic views of the azure-blue Indian Ocean.
A day of Bawa around the southwest coast:
- Guided tour of the house and gardens of Lunuganga, which were lovingly created over several decades by Geoffrey Bawa as his vision of a tropical garden idyll. The Italianate garden with spectacular views over lakes and tropical jungle together with a simply designed plantation house are one of the lasting legacies of Asia’s most famous architect. The estate also houses Ena and Osmund de Silva’s Bawa-designed town house, originally located in the heart of Colombo before being carefully disassembled and rebuilt stone by stone at Lunuganga.
- Visit hotel projects along the west coast by Bawa, many updated, refurbished or rebuilt by Bawa’s close collaborator, Channa Daswatte, which may include Anantara Kalutara, Boutique 87, Cinnamon Bentota Beach, Club Villa, Thaala Bentota, The Blue Water and The Villa Bentota.
Suggested sightseeing trips and activities (NOT INCLUDED IN PRICE):
- Visit the tropical garden paradise of Brief near Bentota, the life’s work of Bevis Bawa, famed bon viveur and brother of Geoffrey.
- Boat safari around the coastal lagoons and mangrove-clad waterways of the Madu Ganga near Balapitiya.
Transfer to the airport for your flight home.
