Six days is enough for Kandy, the tea country at Nuwara Eliya, two nights on the Bentota coast with a day in Galle, and Colombo, all by private car from the airport and back. This is the route our 6 Days Sri Lanka Kandy Galle Bliss follows. Below are the days with their drive times and tickets, where you sleep, and the two other ways our 6-day trips use the same week: more beach, or Sigiriya instead of the coast.
The shape of the six days
| Day | Night in | The day |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kandy | Airport, Pinnawala elephants, lake drive, dance show |
| 2 | Nuwara Eliya | Temple of the Tooth, gardens, up to the tea hills |
| 3 | Bentota | Seetha Amman temple, Ramboda falls, down to the coast |
| 4 | Bentota | Galle Fort and Mirissa |
| 5 | Colombo | Drive up the coast, city tour |
| 6 | Home | Airport, 45 minutes |
Day 1: Colombo airport to Kandy, with the elephants
Non-stop flights reach Colombo in about 1 hour 20 minutes from Chennai, 1 hour 25 minutes from Bengaluru and 2 hours from Hyderabad; flights are quoted separately from the package, and the options for each city are on the Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai pages. Your driver meets you at arrivals for the drive inland to Kandy, about three hours and 120 km.
Land by late morning and you can stop at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, just off the Kandy road, where the herd goes down to the Ma Oya river to bathe at about 10 am and 2 pm. The ticket counter closes at 5 pm, and a SAARC adult ticket is US$11.80, about ₹1,130. In the evening, a drive around Kandy Lake and a Kandyan dance and drumming show, both in the package. Night in Kandy.
Day 2: the Temple of the Tooth, then up to Nuwara Eliya
Morning in Kandy, Sri Lanka's last royal capital: the white Buddha statue at Bahirawakanda Vihara for the view over the city, the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, and the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, the country's most revered Buddhist shrine. The temple is open from 5.30 am to 8 pm and the ticket is LKR 2,500 for SAARC nationals, about ₹730. Shorts and sleeveless tops are turned away, so cover shoulders and knees; covering clothes can be had at the entrance.
Then the hill road climbs 77 km to Nuwara Eliya, two and a half to three hours through the tea estates. The town sits at about 1,870 metres and is cool enough for a jacket at night. Night in Nuwara Eliya.
Day 3: Ramayana stops in the tea country, down to Bentota
A morning around Nuwara Eliya: the Seetha Amman temple about 7 km out of town, linked by tradition to Sita in the Ramayana, then Victoria Park. The Ramboda falls and the Hanuman temple at Ramboda stand on the Kandy road, about 50 km from Kandy, so the driver fits them into the drive. Then comes the longest day on the road, down from the hills to the south-west coast: back past Ramboda and through Kandy it is roughly 300 km, two and a half to three hours to Kandy and about four more to Bentota, so start early and expect to reach the coast in the evening. Night in Bentota.
Day 4: Galle Fort and Mirissa
Galle is about an hour down the coast from Bentota (56 km). The walled town, founded by the Portuguese in the 16th century and built up by the Dutch, is a World Heritage Site: walk the ramparts, which are free, to the lighthouse, and see the Dutch Reformed Church and the maritime museum. Mirissa is about 45 minutes further east, for its curved beach and the walk up Coconut Tree Hill. The ramparts are at their best at sunset if you can stay for it. Night in Bentota.
Days 5 and 6: Colombo, then home
Day 5: the drive up the coast to Colombo takes about two hours with city traffic (78 km). The city tour covers the Gangaramaya temple, the Lotus Tower and the Pettah floating market; Galle Face Green, the seafront promenade, is a short drive away if you want the sunset. Night in Colombo.
Day 6: breakfast, some shopping if the flight time allows, and the transfer to the airport, about 45 minutes on the expressway (41 km).
Where to stay and how you move
- Kandy, one night: the temple, the lake and the dance show.
- Nuwara Eliya, one night: the coolest night of the trip.
- Bentota, two nights: the beach base for the Galle and Mirissa day.
- Colombo, one night: 45 minutes from the airport for the flight home.
The package uses handpicked 3-star hotels with breakfast and one more meal a day; the trip page adds ₹6,000 per person for the Deluxe option with the best available 4-star hotels. If you book hotels yourself, rough planning figures are ₹2,000 to ₹4,000 a night for a budget double, ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 for a 4-star hotel or boutique bungalow, and ₹15,000 and up for luxury. Every leg runs in an air-conditioned private car with an English-speaking driver, so there are no train or bus connections to manage. If you want the hill-country train on a longer trip, check the line first: Sri Lanka Railways has trains running again between Badulla and Nanu Oya after Cyclone Ditwah, but travel guides updated in June 2026 still reported the Kandy end suspended.
Two other ways to spend six days
We run three 6-day routes, all private and all from Colombo airport and back:
- 6 Days Sri Lanka Kandy Galle Bliss, from ₹41,000 per person on twin sharing: the plan above, with Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Bentota and Colombo.
- 6 Days Sri Lanka Kandy Coast Getaway, from ₹38,000: no hill country. Two nights in Kandy with a day of sightseeing, two in Bentota with a free afternoon on arrival and the Galle and Mirissa trip, and one in Colombo. Less time in the car and more on the sand.
- 6 Days Sri Lanka Sigiriya Dambulla Adventure, from ₹35,000: no beach. Two nights at Dambulla with a day for the Sigiriya Rock Fortress, Kandy on the way to two nights in Nuwara Eliya with the Ramayana stops, then Colombo. The Dambulla cave temple is about half an hour from Sigiriya; budget US$35, about ₹3,350, for the Sigiriya ticket.
If Sigiriya and the beach both matter, add a day: the 7 Days Sri Lanka Kandy Sigiriya Escape from ₹48,100 does both.
Questions we are asked most
Is 6 days enough for Sri Lanka?
Six days covers Kandy, a night in the Nuwara Eliya tea country, two nights on the Bentota coast with a Galle and Mirissa day, and Colombo. Sigiriya fits only if you drop the beach, as our 6-day Sigiriya Dambulla route does, or add a day.
What is a good 6-day route for Sri Lanka?
Colombo airport to Kandy for one night, Nuwara Eliya for one, Bentota for two with a day in Galle and Mirissa, and Colombo for the last night. Every leg is by private car; the longest is the drive down from the hills to the coast.
How much does a 6-day Sri Lanka trip cost from India?
Our 6-day land packages start at ₹35,000 to ₹41,000 per person on twin sharing. Add a return flight from South India of roughly ₹20,000 to ₹30,000, entry tickets and one meal a day. The ETA is free for Indians as of September 2026.
The full budget is in Sri Lanka trip cost from India, the entry rule in Sri Lanka ETA for Indians and the month to go in the best time to visit Sri Lanka. When you are ready, pick a route on the Sri Lanka tour packages page and send us your travel month, departure city and group size; flights are quoted separately on request.
