Sri Lanka Cultural, religious historic sites Trips

The Explore trip to Sri Lanka was a fantastic experience, with a great balance of culture, nature, and relaxation. Highlights included ancient temples, beautiful tea plantations, incredible wildlife, and stunning beaches. The tour leader and local guides were friendly and knowledgeable, adding real insight into the country and its traditions. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country, and the warmth of the people made the trip truly memorable. I would highly recommend this experience.

This truly is an excellent trip, and way to see beautiful Sri Lanka at a good pace. You cover so much in 2 weeks, and every day is different with sightseeing, walking, cycling, wildlife - there really is something for everyone. Sri Lanka is a fantastic country with wonderfully welcoming people. This trip really makes you feel you are benefitting the local communities that you are interacting with - spending time with local families, playing traditional games and getting a deeper understanding day-to-day life and traditions. You get a better understanding for the tougher and sadder side of the history of the country, while gaining a deeper appreciation for the resilience of the joyful people who live there. It really is a wonderful trip, made better by a great group and leader!

We had two leaders - one in Sri Lanka and another in the Maldives. Both were excellent, but particularly Su in Sri Lanka because we encountered very difficult circumstances due to exceptionally heavy rainfall during our trip.

This was my first trip to Asia and I wanted to get an overview, so the highlights of Sri Lanka really achieved that. The trip was well planned with varied activities, to appeal to most travellers. We did have to put up with Cyclone Ditwah, which made some activities more like an endurance, but nobody could plan for that or do anything to change it. Our Sri Lanka tour guide and his team went way beyond my expectations in order to keep up safe and as comfortable as possible, under difficult circumstances. They deserve their Christmas Bonus! Personally, I would have enjoyed more time at the spice garden and I wonder what the value was of the canoe trip to the curry cooking demonstration. Perhaps it would have been fun in sunshine? The Temple of the Tooth would have been interesting when there was no ceremony going on, to better appreciate the details of the buildings etc. I felt we were intruding on a religious occasion that was of huge importance to local people. Would it be better to spend longer at sites in a smaller geographical area and reduce the travelling between sites. Moving on to the Maldives, this week was great and really hit the spot. We needed sunshine and relaxation and the pace of the week was perfect. Again, the tour guide did an excellent job and supplied us with lovely videos and photos from snorkelling trips. The food on the Dhoni Cruise was excellent, considering the kitchen space and although a bit repetitive, there was a good range to suit all palates. The crew did a great job.

The holiday was brilliant. Well paced with plenty to keep you occupied but enough down time. We saw the highlights of the country and the quality of the hotels was much better than they used to be. The tented camp really wasn't a tented camp and I disliked this place but luckily we were only there for 1 night. We were there during a cyclone which meant we had a lot of rain and we had to miss the Highlands because the roads were washed away and it was impossible to get to. We were looked after extremely well and kept safe and up to date with the situation. The guide and his team were brilliant. Mimi, the guide, Douglas, the driver and Ishan, his assistant were all lovely and brilliant at their jobs. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country and this tour allows you to see that.

Good combination of two very different weeks. Good food and interesting and varied sights in Sri Lanka. Well organised and led, in very difficult circumstances during severe flooding and landslides! The boat tour of the Maldives was excellent, by far the best way of seeing this country. The boat was comfortable with great food and attentive crew. The main activity is snorkelling so if this is your thing you will love it!