Sri Lanka, Tea, Leopards and the Sea

A loop of about 300 miles through southern Sri Lanka, with a night in Colombo, three on the tea estates, two on the edge of Yala and three on the south coast. Each step is a drive of a few hours.

Length: Nine nights
Pace: Four stays
Style: City, tea country, leopards, beach
Route: Colombo to Hatton to Yala to Weligama

ColomboOne night
HattonThree nights
YalaTwo nights
WeligamaThree nights

Days 1 to 2 · one night

Colombo

One night in Colombo, a port shaped by Portuguese, Dutch, British and Indian traders. A tuk-tuk takes you through the bazaar streets of the Fort district, past the Pettah tea and spice shops around 4th Cross Street and on to the Dutch Museum and Wolvendaal Church, with a stop at the National Museum for its royal treasures and ritual masks. You see the Sri Subramania Kovil and the Seema Malaka temple on Beira Lake, drive through Cinnamon Gardens, and end at Galle Face Green as the kites go up at dusk.

Where you stay

Paradise Road Tintagel

Paradise Road Tintagel is a heritage house in Colombo 7, with interiors by Udayshanth Fernando and a small number of suites. It hosted the then Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Days 2 to 5 · three nights

Hatton

About 89 miles by road into the hill country for three nights on the tea estates. You tour the Dunkeld tea factory to follow the leaf from plucking to drying, walk the Bogawantalawa valley and its planters' bungalows, and, for those who want it, set out at night with the pilgrims to climb Adam's Peak and reach the summit at sunrise.

Where you stay

Ceylon Tea Trails

Ceylon Tea Trails is made up of five restored tea planters' bungalows from the 1920s, spread across working estates around Castlereagh Lake near Hatton. There is butler service, pools and gardens, with mountain views and walks from the door.

Days 5 to 7 · two nights

Yala

About 119 miles down to the coast at Yala for two nights. Game drives in Yala National Park go out in search of leopards.

Where you stay

Wild Coast Tented Lodge

Wild Coast Tented Lodge stands on the edge of Yala National Park, where the jungle meets the beach. Guests stay in large cocoon-shaped tents, and the lodge has pools, a spa, a library and a kitchen given to Sri Lankan cooking.

Days 7 to 10 · three nights

Weligama

About 100 miles west along the coast to Weligama for the last three nights, with the beach below and time for the sea and water sports before you leave.

Where you stay

Cape Weligama

Cape Weligama is a clifftop resort above the Indian Ocean at Weligama, with villas and suites, ocean-facing pools and a beach club on Cove Beach. It arranges surfing, whale watching and cooking classes.

Ways to make it yours

The Kataragama Festival in July and August, a pilgrimage of 10 days honouring Skanda, shared by Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims

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.