Sri lanka by Bike
Discover Sri Lanka by bike over 10 days, cycle touring from the capital, Colombo, through lush highlands to the coast. Along the way, you'll enjoy South Asia's best cycling, nature-packed hikes and safaris through national parks, luxurious hotels, delicious cuisine and the rich history and culture of Sri Lanka's welcoming people.
Highlights
- Explore Horton Plains National Park and take a walk to World’s End for dramatic mountain views.
- Take a tea tour to learn about the interesting process, then make tasty Sri Lankan curry in a cooking class.
- A jeep safari through Yala National Park reveals elephants, leopards, wild boar, buffalo, and monkeys.
- Ride amazing, almost non-traffic roads, through stunning vistas of hills covered in tea plantations.
Tour details
Take a 10-day guided adventure in paradise. Not only does this trip to Sri Lanka include some of the most beautiful bike touring in South Asia, but it also includes great hikes through national parks, a jeep safari with the chance to see leopards, luxurious lodgings, mouthwatering food and a cultural experience like no other.
Sri Lanka, a small island with a big heart, is well known for its highland tea plantations that we will spend some days riding through. We also take in the city of Kandy with its sacred Buddha tooth relic and pleasant climate. Pedal by Yala National Park where we often see animal and birdlife and spend some time on the southern coast with its crashing surf, relaxed pace of life and historic Portuguese forts.
This is the perfect bike tour to see some of the best of Sri Lanka in just over a week. You’ll get a taste of the highlights & hidden treasures and be blown away by the diversity this small island nation boasts.
272-412 Km riding. On this tour, most days will provide you with a choice between a short ride and a long ride. The short option doesn’t mean you’ll be stuck in a van following the riders, it means that we have carefully coordinated everything so that you will arrive at a start point in a car, ready to ride with the long ride group as they come through. Both groups will have a guide with them and you will have a GPS for navigation.
The terrain is a mix of sealed and unsealed roads on secondary roads and quiet country lanes. There are a few sustained climbs (although not too steep) at times and some thrilling descents. There is always a support vehicle on hand to give you a lift if you need a break from the riding.
Pricing
- TBA
Bike Rental
- Regular bike: $140
- E-bike: $280
- Helmets provided on a complimentary basis.
TOUR GALLERY
DAY BY DAY SCHEDULE
Day 1. Arrival into Sri Lanka.
At this point in time it is too early to predict flight times and prices into Colombo (the best price I have found on current schedules is $831Cad. From Toronto direct to Colombo) this is a twenty hour flight and approximate time of arrival is between midnight and 2am, local time. Considering this issue we will get you at the airport and drive you to a Local hotel. I will be on this bus to greet you I am considering the Hotel OZO in Colombo. Get to the hotel, freshen up and hit the hay. No bike check until we get to close to Kandy (the former capital) . This is a 3 hour uphill train journey on one of the world’s most exotic railways.
Meals included will be a breakfast in Colombo and a lunch close to the bike check. I still need to work out this lunch location.
Day 2. Kandy – Take a Train Ride, then a Bike Ride.
Riding: 16mi Meal: LD.
We start today with an early pickup from your Colombo Hotel before we drive to a small village station to board the train that takes us up into the hills towards Kandy. The scenic journey takes 3-4 hours before we arrive around lunchtime, to meet our support team and our bikes. To warm up our legs, we’ll cycle from the train station into the center of town, pedaling down small roads to escape the traffic. Our ride takes us along a river and its local villages.
In the evening, there is time to visit the Temple of the Tooth, where the sacred Buddha tooth relic is placed with supporting stories illustrated in a prayer hall. Tonight we’ll enjoy our first dinner together in Kandy.
Day 3. Ride & Train to Nuwara Eliya, Colonial-era Hill Station.
Riding: 16 or 27mi Meal: BLD.
Today we pedal back roads and find ourselves climbing soon after leaving Kandy. As we go, the population thins out and the tea creeps in. As we weave our way through tea plantations, keep an eye open for roadside shops selling delicacies such as fresh dates and dried corn crackers. We then enjoy some descents today and a wide variety of road surfaces, always with minimal traffic.
We finish our ride down at the Gampola railway station where we board the train for the higher elevations. The train ride is stunning, and the carriage is quite comfortable. We alight at Nana Oya and then travel by car the short distance to Nuwara Eliya. You will need your warm clothes up here, but the hotel does have an open fireplace and a great meal for dinner.
Note that the short ride group today will be able to linger over breakfast a little longer, before taking a short van transfer to their start point at the top of the climb. From there on, the two groups will follow the same route.
Day 4. Hike Horton Plains to Worlds End, Cycle & Tea Factory.
Riding: 24mi Meal: BLD.
A very early start is needed today for the transfer by vehicle up to Horton Plains National Park, and we’ll enjoy some light snacks to get us started. From there, we will walk through the grassy highlands to World’s End Lookout where we take in the astonishing views over the valley from the clifftop. Keep your eyes peeled while you walk, as we may be lucky enough to glimpse deer and monkeys.
From the hike back to town is about 1 hour in the van, then there is plenty of downtime until just after lunch when we have a loop ride that takes us first on a fun descent, then on a sustained, but not terribly long climb up through tea plantations. Here we will stop to visit an operational Tea Factory where those little buds picked by the colourfully dressed ladies are turned into a salable product. We reach a ridgeline and ride through Ambewela, an area known for its dairy farms. We stop off in this quaint little village and then ride the ridge back to Nuwara Eliya through a lovely, lush green landscape.
Day 5. Ella – Ride and take a Cooking Class.
Riding: 18-39mi Meal: BLD.
For the long ride group today, we have the pleasure of a door to door ride with no vehicle transfer time. Leaving the hotel at quite a civilized hour, we start on the same descent as the day before, but this time we don’t have to interrupt it. We get to lose about 1000m in elevation over about 20km, so by the time you need to start pedaling again, you might have forgotten how!
The short ride group will meet us some way into the ride where the terrain undulates before descending into the lovely little town of Ella. The scenery through today is beautiful at every turn. Tea as far as the eye can see and lots of friendly, somewhat surprised villagers, not so accustomed to seeing foreigners riding bikes through their village. We stop for lunch in Banderawella which is a little different to some other towns we have been through in that there is a sizeable Muslim population. Buddhists are the majority in Sri Lanka, but here is a diverse mix of ethnicities and religions in the country, owing to its fascinating past and significant geographic location.
In the late afternoon, we will try our hand at cooking some local dishes and we will enjoy these for our dinner. Ella is a cute town with incredible views! It has become a popular backpacker stop and the vibe and feel are consistent with that. It’s our most modest night of accommodation, but that will still be a clean and comfortable room with an ensuite bathroom.
Day 6. Yala – Ride & Transfer to the Beach.
Riding: 30-40mi Meal: BLD.
Today we leave the hills but before we do, they have a treat for us in the form of one of the most scenic rides of the trip so far. We start out along a ridge, with deep valleys either side and tea plantation workers often hard at work, picking tea or tending to the plants. The first 15km has us climbing to a point where the short ride group will join. Then it is a thrilling, enjoyable, continual downhill ride to the flatlands. When we run out of gravity assisted riding, we stop for lunch in a small village and immediately you will feel that we have moved between regions.
People on the flatlands and plains move a little more slowly and with good reason, it’s pretty warm down here. We are now on the southeast corner of the island and after we load into the van we will drive between two National Parks, the famous Yala on one side and the lesser-known Lunugamvehera on the other. We often encounter Elephants on this road who levy a toll on us, paid in bananas. We reach the coast and our stunningly located resort around the mid-afternoon, so there is time to rest a little and then enjoy a walk on the beach and a sundowner before dinner.
Day 7. Safari of Yala National park seeking Leopards & Elephants.
Meal:BLD.
Today is safari day. We will take our local specialists’ recommendations on whether it should be a morning or afternoon one. That advice will depend on seasonal animal movements and the weather patterns of the day. Either way, the safari will last around 2.5 to 3 hours and there is usually a good chance to see a range of animals. Of course, the Leopard is the star of the show and we do often see them. It helps that our Naturalist knows the park
better than most, so he will guide our driver to avoid other jeeps and will preference sitting in wait rather than driving around constantly trying to find animals.
Asides from the safari, the day is yours to rest, relax and take stock of the adventure so far. Three meals will be served at the hotel with plenty of flexibility.
Day 8. Udawalawe – Ride & optional Elephant Safari.
Riding: 29-47mi Meal: BLD.
After all that hilly territory that we have ridden through, a day of relatively flat riding might be quite a novelty. The long ride group will make a head start in one van to pass through the nearby town of Tissamaharama and reach their start point. The short ride group will have a little more time to enjoy the resort before moving on. The ride today passes through a dry landscape, punctuated by small villages with bright golden coconuts piled up for sale. The King Coconut as it is known is a daily consumption item and especially good for bike riders who might have had enough of the electrolyte drinks.
As we reach the town of Udawalawe, we will start to see more and more irrigated land where farmers will be growing a variety of crops including rice. This irrigation is made possible by the large “Tank” as it is known, a reservoir that was built by the ancients and one of many across the country. This antique infrastructure has helped to ensure Sri Lanka’s prosperity in so many ways and the lakes create nice places for people to picnic and support the huge range of birdlife in the country.
Udawalawe National Park is located just nearby our hotel. A safari is not organized as part of the tour, but your Tour Leader can easily arrange one for you if you would like to visit the park. This park is known mostly for the Elephants of which there are a great many.
Day 9. Galle – Ride to Historic Galle.
Riding: 32-62mi Meal: BLD.
After a long journey, the long ride distance might be less appealing, but today’s ride allows you to make up your mind partway. We first transfer as a complete group to a high point. Then we enjoy a fun descent, just so that we remember what that feels like. There is a little climbing, but only to set us up for another little descent. We start out in tea country again and end up right by the coast in Galle.
The route today features lots of variety and the short option concludes at lunch. The short ride group will then move on to Galle while any hardy riders wanting to ride the big one can continue on. Approaching Galle you will get a feel for this, Sri Lanka’s second-largest city. It is a historical location and also a location made famous by a game that is very popular in Sri Lanka, Cricket.
Day 10. Guided Walk of Galle Fort – Conclusion of Tour.
Meal: BL.
The story of Galle Fort is fascinating and dates back even further than the 16th century when the Portuguese built the first ramparts. The Dutch arrived later and heavily fortified the settlement and then eventually along came the British. Through these many changes of rulers, the ethnic makeup of the city was born through its significant role as a trading port. Today the families who live in the fort have in most cases, lived there for many generations. This is a story that deserves two hours and we will tell it as we walk through the atmospheric streets and along the ramparts with the ocean crashing against the rocks below.
Lunch in the fort marks the end of our tour. The van will be ready to take you to Colombo City or Colombo Airport. If you are planning to remain in the area for the beaches of Hikkaduwa or Unawatuna, then we will have transport arranged for you.
Inclusions
● Meals as noted in the itinerary
● Tips and gratuities for waiting and service staff (Grasshopper team excluded)
● Air Conditioned support vehicle
● English speaking guides
● Snacks, fruit and water while riding
● National parks entrance fees
Exclusions
● Tips and gratuities for guides and support drivers (recommend $100 per person)
● Drinks at meals
● Laundry & minibar expenses
● Visa application or approval fees [USD 20]
● Any costs of compliance with quarantine requirements
Booking & Cancellation Terms
● Final payment due 45 days prior to departure
● Cancellation of entire tour 46-90 days prior to departure incurs loss of deposit
● Cancellation of entire tour 31-45 days prior to departure incurs loss of 50% of total trip price with funds
returned by wire transfer less fees and charges
● Cancellation of entire tour 8-30 days prior to departure incurs loss of 70% of total trip price with funds
returned by wire transfer less fees and charges
● Cancellation of entire tour 1-7 days prior to departure incurs loss of 100% of total trip price
● Cancellation of individual passengers 31 or more days prior to departure will incur no loss, all funds credited
to final invoice
● Cancellation of individual passengers 8 to 30 days prior to departure incurs 70% of total, individual tour price,
balance of funds provided as credit voucher.
● Cancellation of individual passengers 1-7 days prior to departure incurs loss of 100% of funds paid.
Test. I am looking forward to my return to Colombo