Itineraries
A Sri Lanka honeymoon, in twelve days
Meet Tom and Priya. They got married in June, in a marquee in Kent that cost roughly what this trip will.
Priya would like to lie on a beach and be brought things. Tom would like to “do stuff”. Both of them would like not to have their first married argument on day four, in a car, about who planned a four-hour drive.
Tom and Priya aren’t real. But every honeymoon we plan has a Tom and a Priya in it, sometimes in the same person. So this is the trip we would plan for them: twelve days that take turns. A morning of doing, an afternoon of nothing. Three nights in the same room where it counts. And a slow last few days on the coast, where the only decision is which side of the bed.
This route works best from December to March, when the south coast is dry. Marrying in summer? The swap is below.
Day by day
Nights: Negombo 1 · Sigiriya 3 · Kandy 1 · Tea country 1 · Ella 1 · Yala 1 · Tangalle 2 · Galle 1
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Day 01
Negombo
Married, jet-lagged, fine
Airport → Negombo · 20 min
- AfternoonCheck into a lagoon hotel. Jetwing Lagoon began life as a Geoffrey Bawa design.
- SunsetDrinks by the water. That is the whole plan.
Stay · NegomboAsk for the room with the lagoon view. Say it is your honeymoon; it usually helps.
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Day 02
Dambulla · Sigiriya
North, slowly
Negombo → Sigiriya · about 4 hr
- MiddayDambulla’s cave temples on the way. Shoulders and knees covered, both of you.
- EveningA couples’ massage and an early night. The balloon is at dawn.
Stay · Sigiriya area, 3 nightsThree nights in one room is the point. Unpack properly.
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Day 03
Sigiriya
Up before the sun, on purpose
No long drives today
- 6:00Hot-air balloon over the tank country, with the rock coming out of the mist. November to April.
- Late morningBack to bed. Nobody will judge you.
- 16:30Pidurangala for sunset, and the view of Sigiriya you will actually frame.
Stay · Sigiriya areaBalloons cancel in bad weather. Book it for day three, not your last morning here.
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Day 04
Polonnaruwa · village
Ruins, then rice and curry
Sigiriya ↔ Polonnaruwa · about 1 hr each way
- MorningPolonnaruwa by bicycle, ending at the Gal Vihara Buddhas.
- AfternoonA cooking lesson in a village kitchen, clay pots and a wood fire.
- EveningEat what you made. It will be better than it has any right to be.
Stay · Sigiriya areaCycle early. There is almost no shade in the ancient city after ten.
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Day 05
Kandy
Drums at dusk
Sigiriya → Kandy · 2½–3 hr
- MiddayA spice garden on the way, if you like being sold cinnamon charmingly.
- EveningThe Temple of the Tooth during the evening puja, when the drums start.
Stay · KandyIn July and August the Esala Perahera is on. Wonderful, busy, and booked months ahead.
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Day 06
The tea country
A planter’s bungalow
Kandy → Nuwara Eliya by road · 2½–3 hr
- MiddayRamboda falls and a working tea factory on the way up.
- AfternoonHigh tea on a lawn that has been mown since the 1800s.
- EveningA fire in the grate. Yes, really. It gets cold up here.
Stay · Tea bungalow near Nuwara EliyaThe Kandy–Nanu Oya railway is still closed, so this leg is by road.
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Day 07
Nanu Oya → Ella
The train, together
Train from Nanu Oya · about 9:00, around 2½ hr
- MorningAmbewela, Haputale and the Demodara loop into Ella. Window seat each; you will want it.
- AfternoonThe Nine Arch Bridge. Wait for a train.
Stay · EllaBook reserved seats about 30 days ahead, and check the timetable the week before.
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Day 08
Yala
Leopards, if they feel like it
Ella → Yala · about 2½–3 hr
- AfternoonSafari in Yala. Leopards are likely; they are also cats, so nothing is promised.
- NightA luxury tented camp, the sound of the park all around you.
Stay · Tented camp near YalaBlocks 1 and 2 can close in September and October during drought. Check before you book.
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Day 09
Tangalle
Do less, deliberately
Yala → Tangalle · 1½–2 hr
- DawnA second game drive, if you are keen. If not, sleep.
- AfternoonTangalle: a long quiet beach and nothing on the schedule.
Stay · Tangalle, 2 nightsThis stretch of coast is the quietest on the south. That is why you are here.
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Day 10
Rekawa · Tangalle
The day with nothing in it
No drives
- All dayBeach, book, lunch, repeat.
- NightRekawa beach, where turtles come ashore to nest after dark.
Stay · TangalleGo with the conservation guides. No torches, no flash, and a lot of patience.
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Day 11
Galle
The fort at golden hour
Tangalle → Galle · about 1½ hr
- AfternoonLanes, bookshops, and far too much good coffee.
- SunsetThe ramparts. The correct last evening of a honeymoon. We will not be taking questions.
Stay · Galle FortStay inside the fort walls for the last night; the evenings are the best part.
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Day 12
Galle → airport
Home, reluctantly
Galle → airport by expressway · about 2½ hr
- MorningOne last walk on the walls.
- AfternoonLeave after lunch for an evening flight.
No need for a last night in Colombo; the expressway does the work.
Opens in our trip builder, ready to edit.
Marrying in summer?
From May to September the south coast gets the rain and the east gets the sun. Keep everything up to Ella, then head east instead of south: Trincomalee and the bays around it have calm, clear water right through the summer, and Arugam Bay is there if one of you surfs. Leave a full day for the drive back to the airport.
Where to spend a little more
If the budget has give in it, spend it in three places: the tea bungalow, where the setting is half the point; the safari camp, because a tent with a proper bed and the park outside is a night you will talk about for years; and the last two nights on the coast, where a villa with its own stretch of beach is worth more than any single activity on this list.
What Tom wanted to add
A day trip to Jaffna, which from the south is most of a day in the car each way, for an afternoon. Adam’s Peak, which starts at two in the morning and is not a honeymoon activity. And whale watching, which is lovely but begins before dawn on a boat that moves a great deal. Priya won all three, and she was right.
A morning of doing, an afternoon of nothing. Repeat for twelve days.
Twelve days, eleven nights, one marriage still intact. That, as honeymoons go, is a result. If you want a shorter first look at the island, our 10-day itinerary covers the essentials.
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