Sri Lanka by Air

Nine nights around Sri Lanka, with short private flights in place of long drives, several of them landing on reservoirs. Kandy and the tea hills, with the Dunkeld factory in the company of the resident tea planter, two nights inside Galle Fort with a day at Geoffrey Bawa's Lunuganga, then three days on the beach at Tangalle, where blue whales pass from December to April.

Length: Nine nights
Pace: Four stays
Style: Tea, heritage, beach, private flights
Route: Hanthana to Hatton to Galle to Tangalle

HanthanaTwo nights
HattonTwo nights
GalleTwo nights
TangalleThree nights

The Temple of the Tooth and its pavilion beside Kandy Lake, below wooded hills.

Days 1 to 3 · two nights

Hanthana

Fast-tracked through Colombo airport and a private flight to Victoria Reservoir, then an hour's drive into the hills. The Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, and an all-inclusive estate with high tea, where the in-house naturalist leads walks through the tea and the forest for endemic birds and butterflies.

Where you stay

W15 Hanthana Estate

W15 Hanthana Estate is a restored tea estate bungalow in the hills just southwest of Kandy, surrounded by forest and gardens in the Kandyan style. Suites and rooms have private terraces, and the in-house naturalist leads hikes through the tea estates and walks for endemic birds and butterflies.

Tea bushes covering rolling hillsides under a pale sky.

Days 3 to 5 · two nights

Hatton

The Royal Botanic Garden at Peradeniya on the way, then a flight to Castlereagh Reservoir. A guided tour of the Dunkeld Tea Factory with the resident tea planter and a tasting that teaches you to tell the estate's teas apart. For the energetic, Adam's Peak, about three and a half hours up a stepped path.

Where you stay

Ceylon Tea Trails

Ceylon Tea Trails is a historic tea estate of over 3,500 acres in the central hills, with five heritage bungalows scattered among working tea gardens. Guests move freely between them, from Norwood with its croquet lawn and billiards room to Dunkeld above Castlereagh Lake, near the Dunkeld Tea Factory.

Days 5 to 7 · two nights

Galle

A flight down to Koggala and a short drive to Galle. The fort on foot with one of Amangalla's own team, a living museum with a history going back to 1588, ending on the ramparts at the lighthouse as the kites go up at sunset, and high tea on the veranda. A day north at Bentota for Lunuganga, Geoffrey Bawa's home and garden, and Brief, the garden of his elder brother Bevis. For Amangalla guests, a half day with a local chef can be arranged, shopping at the produce and fish markets in Galle harbour, then cooking and eating together. Near the sea, the Handunugoda estate, known for its Virgin White Tea, shows how the tea is cut and made, then pours it.

Where you stay

Amangalla

Amangalla lies within the ramparts of the 17th-century Galle Fort, in a historic residence whose rooms and suites keep their original wooden floors, high sash windows and four-poster beds. The Dining Room opens onto the Veranda for high tea over Church Street, and there is a pool and an Aman Spa.

Aerial view of a curved sandy beach between turquoise water and dense palm forest.

Days 7 to 10 · three nights

Tangalle

A drive east along the coast to Tangalle. Beach days and surfing at Hiriketiya Bay for anyone who wants it, a boat on Mawella Lagoon at sunrise for pelicans and kingfishers, and from December to April a morning at sea for blue whales, often with sperm whales and spinner dolphins. Then a private flight from Weerawila to Colombo for the flight home.

Where you stay

Amanwella

Amanwella sits on a wide swathe of golden sand fringed with coconut palms at Tangalle, reached by a winding track through the jungle on Sri Lanka's south coast. Each suite has its own plunge pool and a sea-facing terrace with a dining area, and mornings can start with yoga on the beach.

Arranged on request

Dunkeld with the tea planter

A guided tour of the Dunkeld Tea Factory with the resident tea planter, and a tasting in which you learn to identify the flavour of each tea.

Lunuganga

A guided day at Bentota for Lunuganga, the home and garden of the architect Geoffrey Bawa, and Brief Garden, the country home of his brother Bevis.

The rock temple at Yatagala

At the top of 120 steps in the jungle, a 1,200-year-old rock temple with an ancient Bo tree and a meditation cave, 30 minutes from Galle.

Blue whales off the south coast

From December to April, the south coast is one of the places to see blue whales, often with sperm whales and pods of spinner dolphins.

Galle harbour with a chef

For guests staying at Amangalla, a half day with a local chef: the produce and fish markets in Galle harbour first, then cooking the food and eating it together.

Subject to availability.

Ways to make it yours

A leopard safari in Yala National Park from the south coast.
Two nights in the Cultural Triangle, to climb the rock fortress of Sigiriya before dawn, and at Polonnaruwa to follow the temple monkeys privately with a researcher from one of the world's longest-running primate studies.
Elephants at Udawalawe National Park, within an hour and a half of Amanwella by car.

This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.

Made around you

Most travel is bought. This is designed.

Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.

The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.