Sri Lanka Spice Trails

Day 1: Arrival in Sri Lanka
Day 2: Negombo - Dambulla, 34 mi. (54 km)
Day 3: Dambulla Loop, 37 mi. (60 km)
Day 4: Dambulla - Polonnaruwa, 49 mi. (78 km)
Day 5: Polonnaruwa - Kandy, 46 mi. (75 km)
Day 6: Kandy Rest Day
Day 7: Kandy - Hatton, 49 mi (78 km)
Day 8: Hatton - Udawalawa, 36 mi. ( 58 km)
Day 9: Udawalawa loop, 32 mi. ( 52 km)
Day 10: Udawalawa - Mirissa, 50 mi. (81 km)
Day 11: Galle loop, 24 mi. (39 km)
Day 12: Galle - Mirissa - Colombo 

This bike tour often goes beyond the beaten track and therefore not always predictable. It is occasionally necessary to reroute or update itineraries. A tour will not be changed unless necessary for safety or to improve it. The hotels listed are always accurate at the time of writing, but if it is necessary to change, it will always be for a similar or better one.

Day 1: Arrival in Sri Lanka
When you arrive in Sri Lanka, check-in at the Suriya Resort in Negombo for a tour briefing and welcome dinner. (D)

Accommodation: Suriya Resort

Day 2: Negombo - Dambulla, 34 mi. (54 km)
After breakfast, you leave the hotel and ride down the old coastal road. Keeping the sea to your left, you pass the Karavas fishing community's distinctive patchwork sails. Their boats parked along the shore or sailing just off the coast make for great images, as do the several fish shops you'll pass. You leave the seaside road after 30 km and cycle inland on calm back roads that offer you a taste of Sri Lanka. After 50 kilometres, you load the bikes and ride for three hours to Dambulla, stopping for lunch at Kununegala Lake. Dambulla, commonly known as the Golden Temple, is the biggest and best-preserved Buddhist cave temple complex in the nation, including more than 150 Buddha images. After admiring the views from the caverns, you will take a short transfer or ride to our tranquil hotel nestled amid mango trees and rice fields. (B,L,D)

Accommodation: Thilanka Spa & Resort
Elevation gain/loss: + 502 m/- 364 m

Day 3: Dambulla Loop, 37 mi. (60 km)
Today's ride is through the countryside on a mix of tarmac and red dirt roads passing orchards, paddy fields, and elephant grass. You cycle along the shores of Kandalama Lake to the ancient 5th-century rock fortress Sigiriya (Lion Rock) where the 300 m ascent will challenge, but the views of the ruins of King Kasyapa's summer palace will reward. You stop for lunch at a local restaurant after our descent. Our afternoon ride follows an old irrigation canal, and you cycle on red dirt roads framed by tall green grass as you return to our accommodation in Dambulla. (B,L,D)

Accommodation: Thilanka Spa & Resort
Elevation gain/loss: +555 m/-578 m

Day 4: Dambulla - Polonnaruwa, 49 mi. (78 km)
There will be a bit of an elevation over the Kaladuwa Hills as you ride from the hotel. Although the riding is on a good road surface, wild elephants have been known to cross the road on the descent, so please be cautious. You ride across a forest reserve's tree-lined road until you reach Polonnaruwa Tank, a massive man-made lake, and dine at a nearby hotel. The next ride will be through Polonnaruwa's historic park, the 10th century capital and finest preserved of the ancient cities. It was abandoned in the 13th century and rediscovered in the 18th century, and it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Cholas' Brahmanic monuments and chiselled stone monuments demonstrate the splendour of the old Rajarata Kingdom. After visiting the main attractions, you have a 20-minute transfer to our accommodation on the reservoir's banks. (B,L,D)

Accommodation: Deer Park
Elevation gain/loss: +538 m/-655 m 

Day 5: Polonnaruwa - Kandy, 46 mi. (75 km)
A short transfer takes you back to Polonnaruwa, where you ride around the huge lake known as the Sea of Parakrama, named after the great king who built it. Part of the ride is through Angammedilla National Park, built to protect the water source. This small forest reserve is an elephant corridor linking Minneriya and Wasgomuwa National Parks. Here you retrace part of yesterday’s ride, following the Ambon Ganga (river) back towards its start point in the foothills around Naula, said to be the center of the Island. You end the ride here to avoid busy roads and transfer to lunch in Matale, situated in Sri Lanka’s spice-growing region, and on to Kandy, the spiritual and cultural capital of the hill country and Sri Lanka’s second-largest city. (B,L,D)

Accommodation: Thilanka Hotel Kandy
Elevation gain/loss: +620 m/- 381 m

Day 6: Kandy Rest Day
A rest day is scheduled today in picturesque Kandy, an important religious center of the Sinhalese and a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists. Nestled among hills and centered around a lake, picturesque Kandy has long been an important religious center of the Sinhalese and a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists. Today you can explore the town center’s old shops, antique and gem specialists, or the bustling market. A must-do is to see the UNESCO World Heritage site of Sacred Kandy which houses the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic - Sri Lanka's most important Buddhist relic, a tooth of the Buddha. (B)

Accommodation: Thilanka Hotel Kandy

Day 7: Kandy - Hatton, 49 mi (78 km)
After a day of rest, you are ready to tackle hill country. For those who enjoy riding but find hills a bit too challenging, there is the option of taking the train for the final part into Hatton. A short 8-km transfer takes you out of town to Peradeniya, famed for its Botanical Garden and university. Starting the ride from the campus, you wind your way along a river valley with some short climbs opening out to the surrounding vistas, with your first tea stop in Gampola 21 km away; the optional train journey begins here. From Gampola, you start to see the tea-carpeted slopes of the hill country. Riding at a gentle pace, you can stop to take photos of brightly dressed tea pickers and colorful Hindu temples. You regroup at the tea outlets brewing the best tea on the island, fresh from their respective estates. Reaching Hatton, you descend to one of the old colonial tea planter bungalows set in lovely gardens. Those taking the train will be met at the station and shuttled to the bungalow. (B,L,D)

Accommodation: Upper Glencairn Bungalow
Elevation gain/loss: +1530 m/-891 m

Day 8: Hatton - Udawalawa, 36 mi. (58 km)
Today's trip will take you through the heart of Sri Lanka's tea growing zone, via tea plantation trails. As you approach the Peak Wilderness and the unusual triangle-shaped peak known as Adam's Peak, you'll be met by the pickers at work and their children. The long ascent with a low gradient up to Bogowantalawa becomes more difficult for the final 10 km to an isolated pass with stunning vistas. The mountain pass is part of the Peak Forest Reserve, which has numerous rare and unique species as well as the shy bear monkey, which is more commonly heard than seen. The hard ascent is rewarded by a spectacular 30 km, 1000 m descent through tiny towns and tea settlements, ending near Banlangoda. You will mount your bikes after lunch and go to our accommodation on the outskirts of Udawalawe National Park, on the banks of a lake. (B,L,D)

Accommodation: Grand Udawalawe
Elevation gain/loss: +1040 m/-1675 m

Day 9: Udawalawa loop,  32 mi. (52 km)
You cycle 21 km from the hotel to Udawalawe National Park, one of Sri Lanka's greatest locations for seeing wild elephants. The park, which is centred on a reservoir, contains about 400 elephants in tiny groups spread across the park, and mid-morning is an excellent time to watch them close to the water's edge. Wild buffaloes, crocodiles, sambur deer, and monkeys may also be seen. There are plenty of resident waterfowl and hawk eagles to keep photographers entertained. Lunch will be at a local eco resort before cycling back to our accommodation following an irrigation canal. (B,L,D)

Accommodation: Grand Udawalawe
Elevation gain/loss: +415 m/-414 m

Day 10: Udawalawa - Mirissa, 50 mi. (81 km)
Riding from the hotel, you use a network of back roads for some fantastic cross-country riding. Here you get to experience southern Sri Lankan charm - lots of smiling faces and a slow pace of life. It’s quite a long, undulating ride, with lots of fruit stops to break up the day. Be sure to try one of the 14 varieties of bananas in Sri Lanka, each with its own taste and medicinal qualities, to give you energy. You will try to get to the beach by the early afternoon, leaving you free time to enjoy the beach or a nearby surf camp. Tonight you will dine at one of the many nearby restaurants in the evening. (B,L,D)

Accommodation: Mandara Mirissa
Elevation gain/loss: +844 m/-932 m

Day 11: Galle loop, 24 mi. (39 km)
Cycling through open paddy fields and cinnamon estates, you arrive in Galle mid-morning, giving you plenty of time to explore this historic masterpiece. The Dutch expanded the original fort to its present size, and later the British added the court complex and several other outstanding buildings. The different architectural and cultural influences meld to create a magnificent sight. You are free to choose your own lunch and we will meet up again for a farewell dinner. (B,L,D)

Accommodation: Mandara Mirissa
Elevation gain/loss: +237 m/-233 m

Day 12: Galle - Mirissa - Colombo
You are transferred 3 hours to Colombo where you can either be dropped off at the airport or a hotel if you are extending your stay in Sri Lanka. (B)

Please see day to day detail for the preferred hotels. These are carefully chosen accommodations that are the best available for the location and offer a good mix, from local bed and breakfasts to luxurious lodges.