Sri Lanka Tour Package in December 2026: Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Bentota 4 Days & 3 Nights

It suits couples, families and friends who want a short first trip to Sri Lanka over the Christmas break, and it starts at Rs 34,000 per person on twin sharing, land only.

TravelTriangle has planned Sri Lanka trips for 3,270+ travellers so far. Every day of this itinerary can be changed. Send your dates and up to three verified local agents quote on it, so you compare prices before you pay anything, and you can pay in easy installments once you book.

Highlights

• Watch the Pinnawela elephants walk down to the Maha Oya river for their bath

• Walk the orchid house and palm avenues of the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens

• Attend the evening puja at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa) in Kandy

• Taste fresh Ceylon tea at a working factory on the Ramboda road

• Visit Seetha Amman Temple at Seetha Eliya, a stop on the Ramayana trail

• Ride a boat through the mangroves of Madu Ganga and see turtle hatchlings at Kosgoda

• End the trip on Bentota's beach in its calmest month of the year

Sri Lanka in December at a glance

Why December Suits This Sri Lanka Route

December is a good month for this tour because the heaviest north-east monsoon rain falls on the other side of the island. The central hills still catch some of it: Kandy and Nuwara Eliya each average roughly 200 mm of rain in December, mostly as afternoon showers that ease later in the month. The monsoon's real downpours hit Jaffna, Trincomalee, Pasikudah and Batticaloa. The west coast around Bentota and Colombo moves into its dry season through the month, so the sea calms down and beach afternoons become reliable.

The hill country is the honest exception. Kandy can get a short afternoon shower, and Nuwara Eliya often wakes up to mist that burns off by mid-morning. Neither stops the sightseeing. It is also why Sigiriya and the Cultural Triangle are left out of this short trip, since the dry zone gets its main rains in December. If you want those sites, look at a longer route in January or February.

For a month-by-month view of the whole island, read our best time to visit Sri Lanka guide. For places to see, food and a longer December itinerary, our Sri Lanka in December travel guide goes deeper.

Day-by-Day Itinerary: Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Bentota

Day 1: Airport to Kandy via Pinnawela and Peradeniya

Your driver meets you outside arrivals at Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake, and the car heads inland towards Kandy, the last royal capital of the Sinhalese kings and a UNESCO World Heritage city.

About two hours into the drive you reach the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage. The herd crosses the village road twice a day, late morning and early afternoon, to bathe in the Maha Oya river with their mahouts, and a riverside café gives you a front-row table. If time allows, the next stop is the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, 6 km before Kandy, with its orchid house, cabbage-palm avenue and the giant Java fig that shades half a lawn.

Check in at your hotel in Kandy, then head out for a Kandyan cultural dance show near the lake (fire-walkers close the show) and the evening puja at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, when the drummers start and the inner shrine opens. Cover shoulders and knees, and leave your shoes at the gate.

In December, treat Peradeniya as optional: unless your flight lands early in the morning, skip it so you still reach Kandy for the evening puja (Day 2 is already a full day). Carry a small umbrella for the gardens. No meals are included today, so dinner is at your own cost. Overnight in Kandy. About 115 km and 3.5 to 4 hours on the road. With both stops this is a 7 to 8 hour day, so both fit only with an early-morning arrival.

Day 2: Kandy to Nuwara Eliya through tea country

After breakfast, check out and climb into the hills on the Ramboda road. The air cools with every bend. Stop at Ramboda Falls, then at a working tea factory to see leaf turned into Ceylon tea and taste a fresh cup.

Nuwara Eliya, at about 1,868 m, still looks like the British hill station it was built as, with a Tudor-style post office, a golf course and trout streams. Walk Victoria Park, take a boat or a pony ride at Gregory Lake (paid locally), then drive out on the Badulla road to Hakgala Botanical Garden and to Seetha Amman Temple at Seetha Eliya. Indian travellers come here for the Ramayana story. The temple marks the place where Sita is believed to have been held. Read more on our Ramayana trail in Sri Lanka page.

In December, evenings drop close to 10°C, so keep a jacket in the car. Christmas week is the town's busiest, so expect queues at Gregory Lake. Breakfast is included. Overnight in Nuwara Eliya. About 77 km and 3 to 3.5 hours on the winding A5, plus about 20 km for the Hakgala and Seetha Eliya loop. With all the stops this is a full day of 8 to 9 hours, so leave Kandy by 8 am.

Day 3: Nuwara Eliya down to the Bentota coast

Have breakfast by 7 am and leave the hills behind. This is the long day: about 6 hours on the road and close to 10 hours door to door with the boat ride and the hatchery, and the temperature climbs by about 10 degrees on the way down to the west coast. If you would rather reach the beach by lunch, ask your agent to move Madu Ganga and Kosgoda to Day 4 morning, before the airport run.

South of Bentota, take a boat on Madu Ganga at Balapitiya. The river winds through mangrove tunnels to a small cinnamon island where a family still peels the bark by hand, and the ride takes about 90 minutes (boat fee paid locally). Then stop at a Kosgoda turtle hatchery, where volunteers bury the eggs collected from the beach and release the hatchlings into the sea at night.

Check in at Bentota, where the Bentota river meets the sea. In December the beach is calm enough to swim, the water sports shacks at the river mouth are open (jet ski, banana boat, paid locally), and the sun sets straight into the Indian Ocean.

In December, if your Bentota night falls on 24 or 31 December, most beach resorts hold a gala dinner with a compulsory supplement. Ask your agent before you confirm. Breakfast is included. Overnight in Bentota.

Day 4: Bentota to Colombo and the airport

Swim early, then have breakfast and check out. The Southern Expressway gets you to Colombo in about an hour and a half. If your flight leaves in the evening, ask the driver for a short city stop at Galle Face Green, Gangaramaya Temple or Pettah market for tea and spices. Colombo's hotels and malls are lit up for Christmas through late December. From the city it is 35 km to Bandaranaike International Airport. Reach the terminal 3 hours before your international departure, and add an hour between 20 December and 5 January, when the airport road is at its busiest.

Breakfast is included. Bentota to the airport is about 100 km, 2 to 2.5 hours.

Your Hotels on This December Tour

Agents confirm these hotels or similar ones depending on availability. In December, ask for a room with a heater or extra blanket in Nuwara Eliya. Want a beachfront resort at Bentota or 4-star rooms throughout? Ask for the upgrade when you request quotes.

Christmas, New Year and Festivals in December 2026

Travelling over New Year's Eve? Our 5-night New Year celebrations package is built around the 31 December party. For church services, markets and where to eat on Christmas Day, see Christmas in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka December Tour Cost from India (2026)

The package price covers your hotels, breakfast, car and sightseeing transfers. Add flights, entry tickets and any festive supplement to get the full cost of a December trip.

A December trip on this route comes to about Rs 55,000 to Rs 70,000 per person with flights from India. Prices peak between 20 December and 5 January, when hotels across the south-west coast are full.

How to keep a December trip cheap. Travel between 1 and 18 December. You get the same weather and lower hotel and flight prices. Book flights before the third week of November and send your quote request early, since agents hold peak-week rooms on a first-come basis. Flying from Chennai, Bengaluru or Kochi is the cheapest way in.

Travelling from Dubai or the UAE? The land package works the same way. Fly Dubai to Colombo (about 4.5 hours) and ask the agents for a quote with your UAE dates.

Add-ons and Ways to Extend Your December Trip

Each add-on changes the price, so list the ones you want in your quote request. For a longer trip with the south coast built in, see our 10-day Sri Lanka trip.

Inclusions and Exclusions

Good to Know Before You Go

ETA. Indian passport holders must apply online for a tourist ETA at eta.gov.lk before flying. It has been free for Indians since 25 May 2026, so check the portal when you apply. Our Sri Lanka visa guide for Indians walks through the form.

Flights. Colombo is about 1 hour 20 minutes from Chennai and about 3 hours from Delhi or Mumbai. There is no road or rail link between India and Sri Lanka.

Money and language. Carry some Sri Lankan rupees for entry tickets and boat rides. Cards work in hotels and malls. Sinhala and Tamil are the main languages, and English is spoken in hotels and at every stop on this route.

More Sri Lanka Packages for December

New Year celebrations in Sri Lanka, 5 nights for 31 December in Bentota or Colombo

Sri Lanka tour in November if you can travel before the peak

Bestselling Sri Lanka tour, 4 nights

Sri Lanka family tour, 3 nights and the longer Sri Lanka family vacation, 5 nights

Sri Lanka honeymoon tour, 3 nights

Browse every route and budget on our Sri Lanka tour packages page, or plan the rest of your trip with the Sri Lanka travel guide.

Edited by TravelTriangle