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Sunset with fishing boats on Sri Lanka’s south coast
Small group & private tours · English-speaking guides

Sri Lanka holidays with time for the island

Travel the island in a small group, escorted by our own English-speaking guide, or privately with your own driver-guide. Planned by our team in Sri Lanka, with two nights in most places.

★ 5.0 from 55 reviews · You pay after your trip
5.055 reviews on Tripadvisor
You pay after your tripNo deposit – you pay when your tour ends
English-speaking guidesExperienced and based on the island
Team in Sri LankaOn the ground, day and night
Small group or privateMax. 11 guests · or just you

Sri Lanka holidays: three ways to travel

Small group, private, or a tour with beach time at the end: the same hotels, the same team. The difference is who you travel with and how free your day is.

Our holidays

Popular Sri Lanka holidays

Escorted small group tours · fixed dates

Next group departures

No more than 11 guests, escorted by our own English-speaking guide, hotels with character. Prices per person sharing a double room, flights not included.

All 2027 dates
Sigiriya Lion Rock rising above the jungle
11 Jan11–20 January 2027
10 days · High seasonThe ClassicNegombo · Sigiriya · Kandy · Nuwara Eliya · Ella · Yala · Galle
7 of 11 places available
from, per person£1,545
Reserve a place →
Tea estate in the hills around Nuwara Eliya
8 Mar8–21 March 2027
14 days · Dry seasonSri Lanka at LeisureNegombo · Sigiriya · Kandy · Nuwara Eliya · Ella · Yala · Tangalle · Galle
10 of 11 places available
from, per person£2,045
Reserve a place →
Tropical beach in Sri Lanka from the air
11 Jun11–25 June 2027
15 days · East coast seasonNorth & EastNegombo · Sigiriya · Jaffna · Trincomalee · Pasikudah · Kandy
11 of 11 places available
from, per person£1,945
Reserve a place →
All prices in GBP, per person.
Guest reviews · Tripadvisor
5.0

55 reviews from guests from the UK, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal.

★★★★★
“Phillip was by our side every step of the way to ensure we had the best experience.”
Delaney D · via Tripadvisor
★★★★★
“Not a day goes by where I don't think about how awesome this trip was!”
wyattcmw · Georgia, USA · via Tripadvisor
★★★★★
“With a group of ten, I can honestly say not a person was disappointed.”
Kayla C · St. George, Utah · via Tripadvisor
Read all reviews

We don’t sit in an office in London booking Sri Lanka from a catalogue. We live here, know our drivers by name and the hotels from the inside.

I
Two nights instead of packing every dayOur routes are planned so that you sleep twice in most places.
II
Our own drivers, our own guidesEnglish-speaking, experienced and travelling with us for years.
III
One contact from enquiry to flight homeBy phone, WhatsApp or email – on the ground in Sri Lanka.
Ceylonreise on film

The island as we know it

Seventy seconds of Sri Lanka – from morning mist over Sigiriya to sunset on the south coast. Every place in it lies on one of our routes.

Sigiriya rock in the morning mist from the air
Plan your tripPrivate tours
Philipp Müller, founder of Ceylonreise
Personally led

“German and Sri Lankan – I know both worlds. That’s why I plan trips that feel easy for you and still bring you really close to the island.”

Philipp MüllerFounder & CEO · Offices in Saarbrücken and Sri Lanka
My story
To browse and print

Your Sri Lanka travel brochure

Every one of our tours as a beautifully designed brochure: day by day, with hotels, prices and a route map – to browse at your leisure, print and share with your travel companions.

Small group tour · 10 days

The Classic

Sigiriya rock fortress, the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, the train into the hills, a Yala safari and Galle Fort.

  • 8 pages · PDF
  • Day by day
  • Hotels
  • Prices
  • Route map
from £1,295
View the tour →
Choose a brochure
Small group tour · 10 daysThe Classic8 pages · PDF
Small group tour · 14 daysSri Lanka at Leisure8 pages · PDF
Small group tour · 15 daysNorth & East8 pages · PDF
Private tour · 7 daysSri Lanka Compact8 pages · PDF
Private tour · 10 daysIsland of Contrasts8 pages · PDF
Private tour · 14 daysThe Grand Tour8 pages · PDF
Where you sleep

Hotels we chose ourselves

A house inside Galle Fort, a lodge on the edge of Yala National Park, a riverside hotel in Kandy and a quiet beach in Tangalle – this is where you stay on our tours. Prefer boutique or luxury? On a private tour you choose the hotel level.

See all hotels
Tangalle
Ananthaya Beach
2 nights · The Grand Tour
Destinations

Five places every holiday should include

All destinations
Sigiriya rock fortress from the air
Cultural Triangle
Sigiriya
The Lion Rock at sunrise
Monks on a temple stairway in Sri Lanka
Hill country gateway
Kandy
Temple of the Tooth
Train crossing the Nine Arches Bridge near Ella
Hill country
Ella
Nine Arches Bridge & hill walks
Leopard in Yala National Park
South
Yala
Leopards & elephants
Stilt fishermen at Koggala
South coast
Galle Fort
Ramparts & colonial lanes
On the move

The island in motion

Short glimpses of places on our routes.

Elephant in the river with its mahout
Elephant in the river
Bay with boats on the south coast from the air
Bays of the south
View of the sea from the open door of a coastal train
By train along the sea
Plan your holiday

Before you book

Sri Lanka travel guide

Sri Lanka holidays, planned on the island

A Sri Lanka holiday can be many things: ancient cities and cave temples, misty tea estates, leopards and elephants on safari, and long palm-fringed beaches – often all within two weeks. What makes the difference is the planning. Our team lives in Sri Lanka and plans every route with the season, the roads and your pace in mind.

Whether you choose one of our small group tours with fixed 2027 departures or a private holiday with your own driver-guide, you get the same hotels, the same people and the same attention to detail. Most of our guests stay two nights in most places, so the holiday feels like a holiday, not a checklist.

Holiday packages to Sri Lanka from the UK and US

Our holiday packages include hotels with breakfast, an English-speaking guide or driver-guide, transport and airport transfers. Flights are not included, which gives you the freedom to fly from any UK or US airport with the airline you prefer – we time your pick-up to your arrival. Prices are shown in pounds, US dollars or euros, depending on where you are.

Sri Lanka holiday questions

No more than 11 guests. We travel in a vehicle with far more seats than that, so everyone gets a window.

No – our holidays are land arrangements from and to Colombo airport. We are happy to suggest good connections from the UK and the US.

Yes. Every tour can be extended by 3, 5 or 7 nights on the beach – in the south or on the east coast, depending on the month.

December to April for the south, west and hill country. May to September for the east coast and the north.

10 days cover the highlights. With two weeks you travel at a gentler pace; with three weeks you also see the north and east.

Our small group tours start at £1,295 per person, private tours at £1,095 per person (for 2 travellers), flights not included.

Palm-lined beach on Sri Lanka’s south coast
A personal proposal within 24 hours

Which holiday suits you?

Or book a 20-minute call
1 · How would you like to travel?
Or message us on WhatsApp · we usually reply the same day