Amazing Sri Lanka (25 Days)

Spend time on Negombo's sandy beaches and watch the town's centuries-old fishing trade. Try water sports or diving to see the coral and a decades-old shipwreck just off the coast.

Visit this home for young elephants displaced or lost from the wild, now host to one of the largest captive groups of elephants in the world.

Enter the cave temples dating to the 1st century BC to see murals of the Buddha's life and hundreds of Buddha and deity figurines across the five main caves, including the Cave of the Divine King and the Cave of the Great King, plus the golden Buddha statue outside.

Climb the 5th-century rock fortress of King Kasyapa, entering through the lion's paws, to see the ancient murals, the terraced gardens, the old cisterns and the palace ruins on top.

Take an oxen cart ride and a catamaran safari on a calm lake, walk through paddy fields, watch a traditional cooking demonstration and eat a home-cooked lunch served on lotus leaves.

Walk through the ruins of this former capital, which flourished from the 10th to 13th centuries, taking in Gal Vihara, Vatadage, the lotus bath, Lankathilaka Temple and the statue of King Parakramabahu.

Go on safari in search of elephants, which gather here in large numbers in the dry season between May and October, along with other mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.

Visit Euphoria Spice and Herbal near Matale, Sri Lanka's spice capital, to learn about local spices, herbs and the uses of Ayurveda on a guided spice tour.

Visit this UNESCO World Heritage Site, built in the 16th century to house the Buddha's sacred tooth relic, with its painted halls, carved pillars and golden statues.

Walk through the Peradeniya gardens, founded in the early 19th century, home to over 4000 species including orchids, spices and medicinal plants, plus the cannonball tree and a suspension bridge.

See Ramboda Falls, the 11th tallest in the country, along with the Hakgala Botanical Gardens and a walk along the shores of Lake Gregory.

Explore this hill town built by the British in the style of an English countryside settlement, with period homes, an Anglican church, a golf course and a cool highland climate.

Walk through the montane grasslands and cloud forests of Horton Plains, taking in the views from World's End and the spray of Baker's Falls, and look out for the park's endemic wildlife.

Join a jeep safari in Sri Lanka's second-largest national park, with a chance to see leopards, wild water buffalo, sloth bears and elephants among its many species of mammals, birds and reptiles.

Visit this bare coastal plateau, where toxic heavy metals in the serpentine rock have left the ground largely treeless, a site also tied to legends from the Ramayana.

Explore Galle Fort, one of the best-preserved fortifications in Asia and once a Portuguese and Dutch stronghold, along with its museums, lighthouse and cobblestoned streets, with leisure time at the hotel and departure from here at the end of the tour.