Sri Lanka, the 'Teardrop of India', is a collection of ancient and natural delights that will bedazzle visitors as you move from religious to monarchical to colonial sites. Left behind by Buddhism, Hinduism, the British, Dutch, Portuguese, and Indians these influences are seen throughout our trail of historical and cultural sites.
Sri Lanka Heritage Tour was an excellent combination of cycling, good sightseeing, great food and good accommodation.
Riding through the beautiful Sri Lankan nature, with our excellent guide and helpers, the excellent hotels and super delicious food, made this trip unforgettable. I will be back :)
DestinationsSri Lanka
Tour MeetsBandaranayake International Airport
Fly in toBandaranaike International Airport (CMB)
Group Size2-16 riders
SpiceRoads jerseyWater bottleSupport vehicleGuide(s)Meals (as indicated)Airport pick upAirport drop offAccommodationBike and helmetSnacks and drinks
International flightsDomestic flightsVisa feesAlcoholTips
Our bicycle journey will be on quiet back roads, estate tracks, and gravel paths. We cover 222 km in 5 cycling days, and much, if not most, of the terrain is undulating. When you combine the great variety of cycling with the cultural and natural attractions, there is plenty to delve into and enjoy.
Suitability: This trip is an active tour, which means you can expect to exert yourself on some sections of the ride. Cyclists should be in relatively overall good physical shape with at least a moderate degree of cycling experience. Being physically fit will, of course, be a huge asset, but as the tour is fully supported, the van is always close at hand if needed.
Biking Conditions: The road surfaces are mixed: most days, we ride on reasonably good quality asphalt roads, but there are enough sections on very badly broken or dirt tracks that you will need a mountain bike, preferably one with front shocks. However, there is nothing technical involved on this tour, and anyone, assuming they have a reasonable level of fitness, will be able to join. A support truck is always available to help.
We will meet you at Bandaranayake International Airport upon your flight arrival and transfer you to our nearby hotel in Negombo for a welcome dinner.
Suriya Resort
DinnerWe depart in the early morning and transfer from Negombo to fertile Mawanella. Our ride begins amidst coconut and rubber plantations and skirts rice paddy fields and local villages. After a gentle warm-up, it's time to start climbing up to and through the Balana Gap. We then ride down to the Royal Botanical Gardens where we take a break to see some of the more than 4,000 species of plants. It's then a short ride onto the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage town of Kandy, one of Sri Lanka's most sacred destinations. Surrounded by mountain ranges and built around a lake, Kandy is home to the Temple of the Tooth, where a sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha has been enshrined since the 4th century AD.
Thilanka Hotel KandyBreakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Ride 42km
+806m
-479mAfter breakfast we have a short transfer to the town of Matale, known for its cultivation of spices. Here we start riding towards Dambulla using a mix of tarmac and red dirt roads. Our scenery will again be dominated by bright fruit orchards, rice paddy fields, and the huge elephant grass that grows wild. Our destination is the Golden Temple of Dambulla, a UNESCO Heritage site. This famous rock temple dates back to the first century BC, and we explore the caves that sheltered King Walagamba during his 14 years of exile from Anuradhapura. Once he regained the throne, he built some of the most magnificent rock temples to be found on the Island. We finish at our hotel where there'll be time for a swim before dinner.
Sigiriana ResortBreakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Ride 40km+357m-534mOur tour pedals out of Dambulla and proceeds to the unique ancient 5th century rock fortress of Sigiriya (Lion Rock). As we ride along the shores of Kandalama Lake, we’ll get excellent views of Sigiriya, another UNESCO World Heritage site. We park our bikes and climb up to the abandoned royal palace, converted to a Buddhist monastery. On our way up, we pass famous frescoes and mirror wall. The views from the top are fantastic and more than worth the effort. Once we have explored Sigiriya thoroughly, we'll have a short transfer to our hotel in Polonnaruwa.
Giritale HotelBreakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Ride 35km+230m-244mAn early morning jeep safari awaits as we head to Minneriya National Park to hopefully find some wild elephants. This morning is the chance to see some signature wildlife of Sri Lanka in an uninhabited wilderness environment. The park is the habitat for wild elephants, buffaloes, boar, spotted deer, sloth bear, sambhur leopards, crocodiles, jackals also varieties of butterflies. Our morning safari ends with a snack, and then it's time to mount the bicycles again. We cycle back to Polonnaruwa on a smooth tree-lined road through a forest reserve. When we reach the Polonnaruwa Tank, a very large man-made lake, we have lunch and relax as we still have a busy afternoon ahead of us. We next explore our fourth UNESCO Heritage site, Polonnaruwa, the 10th century capital and best preserved of Sri Lanka's ancient cities.
Giritale HotelBreakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Ride 45km+355m-355mWe start the day with a drive of about 2 hours, so we can ride through the ruins of Anuradhapura, the most celebrated of Sri Lanka’s ancient cities. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. From the 4th century BC, it was the capital of the Sinhalese until the beginning of the 11th century AD. During this period, it remained one of the most stable and durable centres of political power and urban life in South Asia. Considered sacred to Buddhists, we'll see the Bodhi-Tree said to have grown from a branch of the tree under which the Buddha gained enlightenment. The riding will be flat and interesting, and you have a cool down in the hotel pool to look forward to after our day of cycling.
Rajarata HotelBreakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Ride 60km+319m-365mAfter breakfast, we transfer you to Colombo for your flight onwards or trip extension to Galle.
BreakfastDisclaimer: The adventure cycling tours we operate often go beyond the beaten track, and the countries where we ride are not always predictable. Due to these reasons, it is occasionally necessary to reroute or update itineraries. Our guarantee is that we will not change a trip unless for safety or to improve it. Our listed hotels are always accurate at the time of writing, but should we have to change any hotel, it will always be for a similar or better one.
Included in this tour are well-known makes of mountain bikes
If you bring your own bike, please make sure it is a mountain bike, preferably with front suspension, in good mechanical order.
We also have E-Bikes available for hire. but they are limited in number & size - please send an email to us to check on availability.
Basic spares and tools are carried by the guide and on the support vehicle, though we cannot guarantee having spares for every conceivable problem. Carrying a basic tool kit, a spare tube and a pump while riding is recommended.
Wearing a helmet is required on all our biking adventures and is non negotiable. If you do not wear a helmet you will not be allowed to cycle. Your tour leader is trained in first aid and emergency rescue, but to a large degree you must be responsible for your own safety while riding. It is therefore compulsory that you take out travel insurance that will cover you for a mountain biking tour.
You will be led by a local English-speaking guide and if the group is 9 people or more we will add another guide to the tour. All our guides are well informed in the history, culture and religions of the area where you are biking and are skilled at passing that knowledge on to you. Your guide is also medically trained and an experienced cyclist, able to handle most minor repairs en route.
Keep in mind that the ETA is valid for six months from the date of issue, so plan accordingly to avoid it expiring before your trip. The processing time usually takes 1-3 working days, but it can sometimes take longer, so it’s best to apply at least a week in advance to be safe.
We recommend that you visit a travel medical doctor and ask about vaccines and /or antimalarial tablets. This is also a good opportunity to discuss important travel health issues including safe food and water, accidents, sun exposure and insect bites as the problems experienced cannot be prevented by vaccinations and other preventive measures need to be taken.
Sri Lanka has a tropical climate, with distinct dry and wet seasons. The seasons are slightly complicated by having two monsoons. From May to August the Yala monsoon brings rain to the island’s southwestern half and the Maha monsoon blows from October to January, bringing rain to the North and East. There is also an inter-monsoonal period in October and November when rain can occur in many parts of the island. Average temperatures for Colombo and the low-lying coastal regions are 27°C while at the higher altitudes like Kandy (500m), the average temperature is 20°C. A gortex rain jacket and a warm jumper for the central highlands are suggested clothing.
The best months to visit Sri Lanka are from December to March for the west coast, and from April to September for historical sites and the east coast. As we are traveling the length of the country it is likely for us to experience rain, however, it will be warm and we will likely continue riding through it.
The hotels listed are our first choice and where we hope you will stay, however, during festivals or other major events there is a chance we will have to substitute another hotel.
Meals are included as per the itinerary where B = breakfast, L = lunch, D = dinner. Most meals are local and feature rice and curries. Sri Lankan curries come in many varieties of colors and flavors and can be meat- or fish- based dishes, but there are also vegetable and even fruit curries. Many of the spices used have ayurvedic value when used in curries. Meals are a mixture of local and western cuisines, with the local key ingredients being rice, coconut and especially spices, reflecting the island's history as a spice producer and trading center for hundreds of years. Any special dietary requirements can also be catered for as well. Please let us know at the time of booking.
Keeping you completely hydrated is a job we take very seriously. Cold water, some energy-restoring local fruit, and soft drinks are included in the tour price while riding. Soft drinks and other beverages during meals are not included. Beer is readily available everywhere but is NOT included in the price.
SpiceRoads does not require you to pay a surcharge for traveling alone. We will arrange for you to share accommodation with another traveler of the same gender and if we can not match you up we will provide a single room at no extra charge. If you prefer not to share a single supplement is payable to guarantee your own room. The cost of the single supplement is listed above.
We recommend that you tuck away a few extra dollars, perhaps US$10 a day for incidentals.
The Sri Lankan currency is the rupee (Rs). There are several money changers in the capital as well as major tourist cities and attractions. They generally don’t charge commission and their rates are pretty good, with unlicensed money changers giving slightly better rates than officially licensed ones. However, ATMs are recommended if you are unsure and afraid of getting ripped off. ATMs have spread to all of the cities and major regional centers of Sri Lanka with Commercial Bank having the largest network of ATMs accepting international Visa, MasterCard, and Cirrus/Maestro cards. Any bank or exchange bureau will change major currencies into cash, including US dollars, euros and pounds sterling. To get the best rates, change rupees back into hard currency before you leave the country.
If this is the tour for you here's what you need to do to confirm your place:
Just complete our online booking form or send your booking details offline (email or post), and we will confirm your participation. No deposit is needed to confirm your place on a SpiceRoads tour.
You are advised to read our Booking Conditions in full before you make your payment and should you require further clarifications of any of the conditions below, please email us or call our office.
There is a minimum number of participants (usually 2) required to enable the trip to go ahead. Once the minimum number is reached, the trip status will change from 'Available' to 'Guaranteed to Depart'. Once a trip is guaranteed to depart you are free to book your flights and make other travel arrangements. If the trip status is ‘Limited’ will mean we have only a small number of spaces available for booking. If you are unsure about the trip status, please email us or call our office.
From the tour page, click the 'Book Now' link. All departures for this tour will appear, just select the date you'd like to travel. For the next steps, you'll need to know the names of the people travelling. If you wish you can also provide extra details such as passport numbers, height (for bike hire), or you can add that later by logging into Manage My Trip (we'll set up an account for you automatically if you don't already have one). Our system will contact you from time to time to fill in the missing information, as it will be required before departure. However, if the trip that you are booking offers a child discount, you will have to fill out the date of birth of each rider (so we can calculate the appropriate discount).
If you are having any problems please send us an email, or give us a call (+66 026 3295) and one of our travel specialists will assist you with your booking.
Just call us or send an email indicating which trip you want to join and we will happily send you a list of questions and process your booking for you.
We do not require a deposit or full payment to book a place for you on a tour.
The balance of the tour’s cost (final invoice) will need to be paid 60 days before the departure date with fees for any bicycle rental(s), single supplement(s) and extra hotel nights.
In the case where a booking is made when there are less than 60 days until the tour departure date, the tour’s cost should be paid in full within 72 hours of receiving an invoice from SpiceRoads. Payment can be made by credit card using our online payment gateway or by bank transfer. When making payment online you will need to confirm that you have read these booking conditions during the "checkout" process, which equates to agreeing to the terms of services and stipulations as indicated in this document.
In all cases, tour fees need to be paid “in full” before participation in a tour. No person(s) will be allowed to join a tour without fully settling their invoice and receiving a confirmation number from SpiceRoads.
The exception can be made for last-minute miscellaneous fees that can be paid locally (visas, additional local hotel bookings, etc.) can be settled on the day of arrival.
If the tour is cancelled or postponed by SpiceRoads because we didn't make the trip numbers and the tour can’t run, we will make a full cash refund (by bank transfer or on your credit card).
If the tour is cancelled for any other reason, including due to Covid related travel restrictions, we will give you a full credit (with no deductions for admin or any other small-print item) to use on any SpiceRoads tour with no time limit. (Exceptions being flights, special permits and other non-refundable items and these will be advised when booking the trip).
Before paying for your tour, you can cancel your booking with no charge and up until 40 days before departure, you can change your booking to another travel date or move your booking onto another SpiceRoads tour with no charges.
If you need to cancel after you have made full payment, please see our cancellation policy.
The information in this document is given in good faith, and covers the average range of conditions likely to be found on this trip. Please note that the itinerary is subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances, however, we will always do our best to adhere to this original itinerary
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We loved exploring the back roads through the countryside and the villages of Sri Lanka. The visits to important sites were interesting and informative. There was a good balance of biking, visiting sites and eating local foods.