Sri Lanka Walking Holidays & Tours

For a relatively small island, Sri Lanka packs an impressive punch; eight World Heritage Sites, miles of golden sand beaches, several wildlife-rich national parks, endless tea plantations and countless temples alive with a vibrant, living Buddhist culture. Couple this with a temperate climate and an excellent range of accommodation and you have the perfect year-round holiday destination.

The magnificent remains of Sri Lanka’s ancient Sinhalese civilization can be evidenced in a number of spectacular sites including the World Heritage Site of Anauradhapura, the giant Buddha statues at Polonnaruwa, the cave temples of Dambulla and the former citadel of Sigiriya - arguably Sri Lanka’s most remarkable sight perched atop a towering rock outcrop. The most sacred of all Sri Lanka’s cultural relics though can be found in Kandy, where the remains of one of Buddha’s teeth is kept at the Temple of the Tooth. Each year, a replica of the tooth is paraded at the Esala Perahera festival – Sri Lanka’s most extravagant celebration. Following the restoration of peace in the north of the country, the many cultural and historic treasures of northern Sri Lanka are also accessible to tourists. Trincomalee, Jaffna Fort and the temples at Nainativu Island can all be visited on our Definitive Cultural Tour of Sri Lanka.

Alongside its many cultural highlights, Sri Lanka has a rich biodiversity and sumptuous landscapes. Trails through tea plantations, lowland jungle, cloud forest and mountain moorland all provide great walking holidays in Sri Lanka. Whilst game drives at Wilpattu or Yala National Park enable close up viewing of elephants, crocodile, wild buffalo and numerous exotic birds. There’s even a chance of spotting leopards! Our Gentle Walking Holiday in Sri Lanka is a great way to discover the cultural and historical sights of the ‘teardrop island’ as well as the wonderful wildlife. 

If you’d like to explore a little more off-the-beaten-track than our Highlights of the Pekoe Trail is another superb walking holiday. The tour takes in the most scenic and culturally interesting sections of the country’s new 186 mile long-distance hiking trail passing through remote villages and out-of-the-way temples and historic sites as it traverses the glorious scenery of the hill country in the heart of the country. Completing the full Pekoe Trail is also a fantastic objective if you are interested in more challenging Sri Lanka trekking tours.

All of our small group escorted tours in Sri Lanka include the services of an experienced local guide together with private transport, airport transfers, accommodation (twin-share) and most meals. If you would prefer to follow our group itinerary but on dates that suit you, we can provide a quote for a private departure - you'll be surprised how little extra this adds. Alternatively we can help create your dream trip with a Tailor Made holiday to Sri Lanka.

• Capital city: Colombo
• Population: 20,277,597 (2012 census)
• Size of country: 65,610 sq km
• Currency: Sri Lankan rupee
• Power supply: 220-240v
• Sockets: Round three-pin and two-pin variety
• Language: Sinhala
• Time difference: GMT +5.5 hours
• Visas: British nationals require a visa to visit Sri Lanka which must be obtained in advance.
• Religion: Buddhist (official) 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data)
• Popular dishes: Rice and fish curries, often far hotter than Indian cuisine.
• Popular drinks: Arrack, fermented from the sap of coconut flowers
• Did you know: A lasting legacy of the British colonial era, cricket is themost popular sport of Sri Lanka. The national team gained full test status in 1982 and went on to win the world cup in 1996. The national sport however, is volleyball.
• FCDO advice: FCDO travel advice for Sri Lanka

When is the best time to travel to Sri Lanka?

Our climate charts will give you a guide to the weather conditions in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has a tropical climate, with two monsoons. However, there will usually be good weather somewhere on the coast! Sri Lanka's location near to the equator means that there is a fairly constant temperature in the high twenties. Humidity is high throughout the island.

The Yala monsoon brings rain to the south and west coast and the hill country between May and August.
The Mala monsoon between October and January brings rain to the east, north and the ancient cities areas.

Therefore the best time to visit Sri Lanka is during our winter, between December and March. This is the peak season for tourists on holiday to Sri Lanka. The shoulder seasons of April and September – November should be less busy.

If you can't make the dates of our group departures, then take a private departure on dates to suit you, or we can create a Tailor Made holiday to Sri Lanka, especially for you and your family or friends.

What is the best month to visit Sri Lanka?

Given its warm, temperate climate and even amounts of day and night throughout the year, Sri Lanka is a genuine year-round destination. However, where and when you visit depends very much on the tow monsoons that affect the island. If you are mainly visiting the tourist regions in the south and west of the country, then December through March are the prime months, before the Yala monsoon takes hold. This is also the time for whale watching off the southern coast or to experience the pilgrimage season on Adam’s Peak. Christmas and New Year weeks are among the busiest in the year, so expect demand and prices to be at their highest during the Christmas holidays. For those travelling to the lesser-visited east and north of the country, then the summer months of May to August are the best time to visit as this is outside of the Mala monsoon which affects this part of the country. April and the autumn months, between the monsoons, bring less predictable, more unsettled weather which varies from year to year. It’s a good time to travel if you don’t mind a bit of rain but want to take advantage of less tourists and generally lower prices. Temperatures across Sri Lanka are very consistent throughout the year with the average being in the mid-20s rising to 30 degrees at the most. It also has a distinctly tropical feel. Altitude has the greatest impact on temperature so that it will feel warmer along the beaches and in the low-level wildlife parks and cooler in the hilly, inland areas.

How many days are enough for Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka may not be a big country but with its combination of cultural interest, beautiful beaches and wildlife-rich parks, there’s plenty to keep you busy. All our cultural tours and walking holidays to Sri Lanka spend around two weeks on the island. We think this is an ideal amount of time as it allows for visits to the key cultural sites and includes a safari at a wildlife park. Two weeks means you’ll have time to explore the varied scenery and cultural centres of Sri Lanka without feeling rushed. You’ll even get some chill-out time by the ocean at the end. If you only have a week or so, then you could still pack in plenty of sightseeing, plus a little walking, but you’d just need to selective about what you could realistically cover, especially as road travel is quite slow. We could help tailor make a shorter holiday that would include many of Sri Lanka’s must-see sights. If you have a month to fill, you could consider a Sri Lanka trekking tour that follows the entire 300km route of the long-distance Pekoe Trail from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya.

What’s included in a Sri Lanka tour?

On all of our Sri Lanka tours and walking holidays you will be escorted by an experienced local guide. They will take care of the logistics of your trip as well as bringing your holiday to life with their in-depth knowledge of Sri Lankan history, culture, flora and fauna. You will also have a driver and a modern vehicle to ensure smooth, comfortable travel from the moment you land in Colombo, to your final farewells. We include most meals (please see detailed itineraries for further information) and you will get the opportunity to try many Sri Lankan specialities such as their delicious, creamy curries, fresh seafood and fabulous fruits. The accommodation on your Sri Lanka tour will have been carefully selected for comfort, character and location, varying from fine hotels to mountain hideaways, and from beach resorts to tea bungalows. Accommodation is on a twin-share basis with the option of single rooms for a supplement if available. Entrance fees to all monuments, attractions and national parks are included as per the itinerary. In fact, all you’ll need for extras is for souvenirs, drinks and tips for your guide. We even include a free Mountain Kingdoms Water-to-Go bottle for everyone travelling on our Sri Lanka walking holidays and cultural tours.

Which part of Sri Lanka is the nicest?

That all depends on your particular interests. If wildlife is your thing, you will no doubt most enjoy spending time in Yala, Wilpattu or Uda Walawe National Parks. Here you are very likely to encounter leopard and elephants plus a host of other animals and birds. The hill country highlands of central Sri Lanka are particularly attractive if you enjoy walking. The manicured tea estates, stunning viewpoints such as World’s End and Ella Rock, and well-established trails through beautiful landscapes make it a pleasure to go on a Sri Lanka hiking holiday or trekking tour. For culture vultures, you are truly spoilt for choice. The remains of the ancient cities of Anauradhapura, Sigiriya and Polunnaruwa offer amazing cultural experiences whilst Sri Lanka’s more recent colonial past can be understood with an exploration of the walled town of Galle or the tea estates dating back to the days of the British Raj. Not only do all these places provide fascinating historical context to modern-day Sri Lanka, but all are beautiful places to visit in their own right. Many people believe would argue that Sri Lanka’s beaches are its standout attraction. With miles of glorious, golden sand, excellent beachfront accommodation and plenty of fun-filled, water-based activities, they are certainly amongst the best beaches in the world and make a great place to end any tour to Sri Lanka.

What is the accommodation like on a Sri Lanka Tour?

Whether on a Sri Lanka tour or walking holiday you will enjoy a very good standard of accommodation. From contemporary boutique to Victoria-era grand, Sri Lanka offers hotels of all different sizes and styles, there are also many excellent beach resorts with first-rate facilities. If walking in the hills of the tea country in central Sri Lanka, you may also stay in an original tea planter’s bungalow or in a simple guesthouse or mountain lodge. These properties are full of character and will ensure that you are always close to the trail and immersed in the beautiful scenery. Information about of all the accommodation we use on our Sri Lanka tours can be found in the detailed holiday itinerary which you can download and view at the ‘Itinerary’ tab on each holiday page.

What is the wettest month in Sri Lanka?

If you are travelling in the south or west of Sri Lanka then the wettest month of the year is likely to be May, whereas, if you are in the east or north of the island it will be around November time. This is because Sri Lanka has two monsoons: the Yala monsoon which effects the south and west of the island between May and August, and the Mala monsoon which impacts the north and east between October and January. However, even within the monsoon seasons there can be periods of dry weather whilst, outside of the monsoons you can still experience showers.