Sigiriya, Kandy, Ella, Yala and Bentota Tour from Bangalore 8 Days & 7 Nights

The package is priced from Rs 62,590 per person on twin sharing, with 3-star and 4-star hotels, daily breakfast and a private air-conditioned car with an English-speaking chauffeur-guide for all eight days. It is a land package. Your agent adds return flights from Bangalore to the quote on request, usually about Rs 14,000 to Rs 25,000 per person. Every day can be changed, from the hotel class to an extra night in Ella or Mirissa. Want a shorter or cheaper option? Compare every Sri Lanka tour package from Bangalore in one place.

TravelTriangle has served 3,270+ travellers for Sri Lanka. Quotes come from up to three verified local agents who compete for your booking, and you pay in easy instalments once you approve one.

Highlights

• Climb Sigiriya Rock Fortress at opening time, past the frescoes and the Lion's Paw terrace

• Walk round Kandy Lake and the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, then watch the Kandyan dance show

• Visit Seetha Amman Temple, a Ramayana site near Nuwara Eliya

• Ride the hill-country train to Ella and stand under the Nine Arch Bridge

• Look for leopards and elephants on a dawn jeep safari in Yala National Park

• Stop at Hikkaduwa Beach and take a boat through the Madu River mangroves

Route and drive times, day by day

The longest days are Day 1, Day 4 and Day 5, about four to five hours of travel each, and on Day 4 three of those hours are the scenic train ride to Ella. Every other day is three hours or less, and Day 6 has no transfer at all, so the week never turns into a road trip.

Itinerary

Day 1: Bangalore to Colombo Airport, Pinnawala and Sigiriya: Arrival

Fly in, meet the elephants, sleep near the rock

Fly from Kempegowda International (BLR) to Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) at Katunayake, about an hour and a half nonstop. At arrivals our representative meets you with a free water bottle and a local SIM card with 100 LKR of credit. Your chauffeur-guide then drives you inland to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. The herd walks down to the Maha Oya river to bathe twice a day, around 10 am and 2 pm, so a morning flight lets you catch one session.

Continue to Sigiriya and check in at the hotel, usually around 6:30 to 7 pm after a midday landing, since sunset here is close to 6 pm all year. The village safari (a bullock-cart ride through paddy fields, a catamaran across the village tank and tea at a farmhouse) needs daylight, so it runs today only if your flight lands early enough to reach Sigiriya by about 4:30 pm. Otherwise ask your agent to move it to the afternoon of Day 2 before the drive to Kandy, or skip it. Turn in early tonight, because the rock is climbed at opening time tomorrow.

Day 2: Kandy: Sigiriya Rock, Dambulla and Kandy Sightseeing

Lion Rock at 7 am, Kandy by evening

Be at the gate of Sigiriya Rock Fortress when it opens at 7 am, before the heat and the tour buses. The climb is about 1,200 steps and takes 1.5 to 2 hours up and down, passing the 5th-century frescoes and the giant lion paws carved at the last stage. Wear shoes with grip and carry water. Back at the hotel, breakfast and check-out.

On the way south, visit the Dambulla Cave Temple, a UNESCO site of five painted caves filled with Buddha statues, then stop at a Matale spice garden for a free 15-minute massage. Reach Kandy by about 3:30 pm for a short city drive and a visit to the gem museum, then walk around Kandy Lake. Watch the Kandyan cultural dance show at about 5 pm, and finish at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic for the 6:30 pm puja. Cover shoulders and knees for the temple. Then check in for a comfortable overnight stay.

Day 3: Nuwara Eliya: Transfer and Sightseeing

Tea country and Little England

After breakfast, check out of your hotel and head up into tea country. The road climbs past Ramboda Falls and the Sri Bhakta Hanuman Temple at Ramboda, then a working tea factory where you watch fresh leaf being withered and rolled and taste a cup of Ceylon tea at the end of the line. There is also a strawberry farm on the way into town.

At Nuwara Eliya, the town the British called Little England, the city tour covers the Seetha Amman Temple at Seetha Eliya, linked to Sita in the Ramayana, then Hakgala Botanical Garden and Gregory Lake, where pedal boats and pony rides are available. The town sits at about 1,900 metres, and evenings are cool, so pack a light jacket. Proceed to your hotel for check-in and a quiet overnight stay.

Day 4: Ella and Yala: Hill-Country Train, Nine Arch Bridge and Transfer

Tea hills by train, then down to the wildlife coast

Begin with breakfast and check out before boarding the train at Nanu Oya, the station for Nuwara Eliya. The ride to Ella takes about three hours through tea estates, tunnels and cloud forest, and it is the part of the week most travellers remember. Get a window seat, and swap sides with other passengers as the valleys open up first on one side, then the other. Your driver goes ahead by road and meets you at Ella station. If the line is closed for repairs on your date, he drives you the same way through the hills.

In Ella, walk to the Nine Arch Bridge, a colonial-era stone viaduct in the jungle, and try the Flying Ravana zipline and swing if you like (paid locally). Then drive south down the Ella to Wellawaya road, stopping at Ravana Falls beside the highway, to Tissamaharama on the edge of Yala National Park. Check in and get an early night, as the safari jeep leaves before sunrise.

Day 5: Bentota: Yala Safari, Galle and Transfer

Safari, sea views and sights on the way to Bentota

Start the day with an early morning safari in Yala. Jeeps enter the park at about 6 am, when leopards, elephants, sloth bears, crocodiles and peacocks are most active, and the drive lasts about three hours. Yala has one of the highest leopard densities in the world, though no sighting is ever guaranteed. Return to the hotel for a late breakfast and check-out.

Leave Tissamaharama by about 10:30 am and drive west along the south coast, with a short lunch and photo stop at Mirissa Beach. Spend about an hour and a half on the ramparts of Galle Fort, built by the Portuguese and fortified by the Dutch, with its lighthouse, old churches and small cafes inside the walls. Hikkaduwa Beach is a quick sunset stop on the coast road, and you reach your Bentota hotel in the early evening for check-in and an overnight stay. If you want more beach time at Hikkaduwa, your driver can take you back on Day 6, about 40 minutes each way.

Day 6: Bentota: Sightseeing

No check-out today

This is the slow day after five days of moving, with no check-out and no long drive. After breakfast, try water sports on the Bentota river lagoon such as jet ski, banana boat and tube rides, paid at the counter. The sea on this coast is calm enough to swim between December and April. Stay between the lifeguard flags.

In the afternoon, visit the Kosgoda turtle hatchery, where rescued eggs are hatched and the young released into the sea, and take a boat ride along the Madu River through mangrove islets to Cinnamon Island, where you watch the bark being peeled. Spend the evening on the beach for the sunset before an overnight stay at the hotel.

Day 7: Colombo: Transfer and Sightseeing

An evening by the sea in Colombo

After breakfast, check out and drive up the coast to Colombo for a city tour. It covers Gangaramaya Temple, Independence Memorial Hall, the colonial Fort district and the Lotus Tower view, with time for local market shopping at Pettah for tea, spices and batik, or at Odel for branded goods. Our shopping in Sri Lanka guide lists more.

Spend the evening on Galle Face Green, where Colombo families gather by the sea at sunset and the stalls fry isso vadai and kottu roti. Then check in at your hotel for the last night of the trip.

Day 8: Colombo: Departure

Flight home to Bangalore

Your 8-day Sri Lanka trip has come to an end. Start off your last day with breakfast and check out of the hotel. Proceed to Bandaranaike International Airport, 35 km and 45 minutes to an hour from the city, and reach it three hours before departure for your flight back to Bangalore. A box of Ceylon tea from a Kandy or Nuwara Eliya factory makes an easy gift to carry home.

Hotels

Our agents will provide you these or similar hotels depending on availability.

Choose your hotel tier

The same 8-day route runs at three hotel levels. Pick the one that fits your budget, and the agents quote the same sights, car and guide.

Inclusions and exclusions

How much does the 7 nights 8 days Sri Lanka trip from Bangalore cost?

Budget about Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.25 lakh per person in total for this trip from Bangalore, flights and the sights included. The land package is the fixed part at Rs 62,590. Flights and how much you eat out move the rest. These are planning figures per person on twin sharing.

Two levers change the figure most. Christmas to New Year and the Dasara and Diwali weeks push up both BLR to Colombo fares and hotel rates, so book six to eight weeks ahead for those dates. Moving up to the Premium or Luxury hotel tier adds Rs 4,500 to Rs 21,000 per person. For a wider view of daily costs, read Sri Lanka on a budget.

Bangalore to Colombo flights, ETA and the best time to go

IndiGo and SriLankan Airlines both fly nonstop from Bangalore to Colombo, with two or three departures a day and a flight time of about 1 hour 30 minutes. That is shorter than Bangalore to Delhi. Book a morning flight that lands before noon, so Day 1 has time for the Pinnawala elephants before the drive to Sigiriya. For airports, terminals and fares in detail, see how to reach Sri Lanka from Bangalore.

Indian passport holders need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before boarding. Apply online at eta.gov.lk with a passport valid for six months. Under a scheme that began on 25 May 2026 the 30-day tourist ETA is free for Indians. It was announced as a time-bound programme, so check the fee on eta.gov.lk when you apply. Approval usually takes 24 to 48 hours. Our Sri Lanka visa for Indians guide walks through the form.

December to March is the best time for this route, because the hills, the south coast and Bentota are all in their dry season at once. April is hot but still good. From May to September the south-west monsoon brings rain and rough seas to Bentota and Galle, though Yala stays dry. Yala itself can close for part of September and October. In 2026 Blocks 1 and 2 shut from 14 September to 15 October for drought, so avoid those weeks if the safari matters to you. Month-by-month detail is in our guide to the best time to visit Sri Lanka.

Before you book: payment and practical tips

• Payment. You pay the agent you choose after you approve the quote, in instalments if you like, and book six to eight weeks ahead for Christmas, New Year, Dasara and Diwali dates.

• Meal plan. Breakfast is included every day. Ask for half board (breakfast and dinner) in your quote if you prefer to eat at the hotel in Sigiriya, Yala and Bentota, where restaurants are few.

• Money. Shops take Sri Lankan rupees (LKR), not Indian rupees. Use an international card at hotels and carry cash for entry tickets and the safari jeep.

• Packing. Grip shoes for Sigiriya, a light jacket for Nuwara Eliya, earth-coloured clothes for Yala and clothes that cover shoulders and knees for the temples.

• Food. Hoppers, kottu roti and rice and curry are easy to love, and vegetarian and South Indian meals are easy to find in Kandy and Colombo. See our guide to Sri Lankan cuisine.

Customise this trip

• Add a night in Ella. Use it to climb Little Adam's Peak at sunrise and catch the train across the Nine Arch Bridge. Our Sri Lanka train journeys guide covers the line.

• Add Mirissa for whales. One extra night on the south coast between November and April fits a morning whale-watching boat.

• Swap Pinnawala for Minneriya. From July to October, a jeep safari in Minneriya near Sigiriya shows wild elephants gathering at the reservoir.

• Short on leave? The 6 nights 7 days Sri Lanka tour from Bangalore runs the same Sigiriya to Bentota route one night shorter, from Rs 55,210.

More Sri Lanka packages from Bangalore

See every option on Sri Lanka tour packages from Bangalore, or compare all Sri Lanka tour packages from other cities. For sights beyond this route, start at our Sri Lanka travel guide.

From our Sri Lanka desk

Inclusions, the hotel list, drive times, the ETA rule and the flight details on this page were checked by our Sri Lanka desk against supplier contracts, eta.gov.lk and airline schedules in November 2026.

Edited by TravelTriangle