Sri Lanka Tour Operator · Licensed since 2023
The island, at your own pace.
- 4.9 / 5 · 612 reviews
- SLTDA licensed operator
- 24/7 in-country support
- 200 trips since 2023
Why travel with us
A Sri Lanka tour company you can phone at 2am
Most Sri Lanka holidays sold in Europe are handed to a ground operator you never meet. We are that operator. You deal with the people who own the vehicles, employ the guides and answer the phone when a flight is delayed.
Licensed and bonded
Registered with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA/TA/1842) and a member of SLAITO. Every driver holds a chauffeur-guide licence.
Local experts, not resellers
We are based in Dambulla, not in a European call centre. The person who plans your trip has driven the route.
Private tours only
No coach groups, no strangers, no fixed departure dates. Your vehicle, your guide, your pace, from day one.
24/7 support in country
A real phone number answered by a real person for the entire time you are in Sri Lanka, not a ticketing system.
Best price guarantee
Find the same itinerary and hotel standard cheaper with a licensed Sri Lankan operator and we will match it and add a free airport transfer.
Fifteen years, 4,200 trips
Founded in 2011. More than nine in ten of our bookings now come from a past guest or their recommendation.
Sri Lanka tour packages
Popular itineraries
Every one of these is private, guided and yours to change. Prices are per person, based on two sharing, and include your vehicle, driver-guide and hotels.
8 days
Private guided
£845
per person
10 days
Private luxury
£2,390
per person
9 days
Pilgrimage, guided
Anuradhapura · Colombo · Ella · Kandy · Negombo · Nuwara Eliya · Sigiriya · Yala
£920
per person
14 days
Private guided
Anuradhapura · Ella · Galle · Kandy · Mirissa · Negombo · Nuwara Eliya · Sigiriya · Trincomalee · Yala
£1,590
per person
Tailor made tour
Or start with a blank page
Two-thirds of our guests end up on a custom Sri Lanka tour. You tell us how long you have, roughly what you want to spend and what you cannot miss. We send a day-by-day itinerary with named hotels within 48 hours, then rewrite it until it is right. No charge until you are happy.
01
Consultation
A call or WhatsApp thread with a named consultant
02
Design
A full itinerary with named hotels and a fixed price
03
Review
Unlimited revisions until every day works
04
Travel
Your driver-guide meets you in arrivals
Explore by interest
What kind of trip is this?
Wildlife
Leopards, elephants, blue whales
Beaches
South, east and west coasts
Honeymoon
Private villas and quiet bays
Adventure
Trekking, rafting, surfing
Culture
Eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Ayurveda
Doctor-led wellness programmes
Family
Shorter drives, pools, safaris
Luxury
Bawa villas and tea bungalows
Sri Lanka travel destinations
Where you will go
Nowhere on the island is more than a day’s drive from anywhere else. That is what makes a two-week Sri Lanka tour feel like four holidays.
6.8667 N, 81.0466 E
6.0535 N, 80.2210 E
7.2906 N, 80.6337 E
5.9483 N, 80.4589 E
6.9497 N, 80.7891 E
7.9570 N, 80.7603 E
8.5874 N, 81.2152 E
6.3735 N, 81.5089 E
Things to do in Sri Lanka
Experiences worth the detour
Safari at first light, a train through tea country, a whale the length of a bus. Add any of these to any itinerary.
June to October for the Gathering
South Nov to Apr, east May to Sep
Year round, clearest Jan to Mar
Year round
Year round
Dec to May for Adam's Peak
Year round
May to Sep east, Nov to Apr south
Year round
Transport
Chauffeur and vehicle hire
Need a driver rather than a tour? We rent the same fleet and the same guides by the day, with fixed airport transfer rates.
Sedan
1-2 guests · 2 large cases
Toyota Prius, Axio or equivalent hybrid. Efficient, quiet and comfortable for couples on long transfers.
from USD 55 / day
SUV
1-4 guests · 3 large cases
Toyota Rush, Mitsubishi Montero or Land Cruiser Prado. Higher clearance for estate roads and safari boundaries.
from USD 85 / day
Van
4-7 guests · 6 large cases
Toyota KDH or Nissan Caravan high-roof, with reclining captain seats and a luggage bay behind the last row.
from USD 75 / day
Reviews
What our guests say
Rated 4.9 out of 5 across 612 Google and TripAdvisor reviews. These are unedited.
We were nervous about booking direct rather than through a UK operator. Dilshan answered every one of my fourteen emails within a few hours, changed the itinerary twice at no cost, and our driver Sunil became the best part of the trip. The Yala morning alone was worth the flight.
Helen & Marcus Whitfield
Bristol, United Kingdom · via TripAdvisor
Ten days, no wasted hours, and not one hotel we would not return to. The tea bungalow above Nuwara Eliya was extraordinary. They also told us honestly when something was not worth doing, which is rare and made us trust everything else.
Deborah Klein
Portland, USA · via Google
We travelled with a six-year-old and a nine-year-old. Ceylon Lanka Trails rebuilt the standard eight-day route around shorter drives and a pool every afternoon. Our children still talk about the bullock cart. Excellent value compared to the Dutch operators we quoted.
Sanne & Joost de Vries
Utrecht, Netherlands · via Google
4.9 Google - 384 reviews
5.0 TripAdvisor - 228 reviews
SLTDA Licensed
SLAITO Member
Sri Lanka travel blog
Travel guides worth reading before you book
Written by our own consultants and guides. No affiliate links, no filler.
18 June 2026 · 9 min read
30 May 2026 · 6 min read
12 May 2026 · 8 min read
FAQ
Before you book
Do I book directly with you or through an agent?
Directly. Ceylon Lanka Trails is the ground operator – we own the vehicles, employ the guides and contract the hotels ourselves. There is no middleman margin, which is why our quotes usually come in below UK and Dutch tour operators for the same hotels.
How much does a Sri Lanka tour cost?
Our private tours run from around £285 per person for three days to £2,390 for ten days of luxury, based on two people sharing. That covers accommodation, a private vehicle with a chauffeur-guide, safaris where listed and all transfers. Flights, visa and site entrance fees are separate.
Is Sri Lanka safe for tourists in 2026?
Yes. The country is stable, the economic crisis of 2022 has eased, and tourism is running above pre-pandemic levels. Normal travel precautions apply. We monitor UK FCDO, US State Department and Dutch government advisories and will tell you plainly if anything changes.
What is included in a private tour?
Accommodation with breakfast, a private air-conditioned vehicle, an English-speaking chauffeur-guide, all fuel, tolls, parking and the driver’s own meals and lodging, airport transfers, bottled water and a 24/7 support line. Each tour page lists exactly what is and is not included.
Can you customise a published itinerary?
Every itinerary on this site is a starting point. Most guests change something – an extra beach night, a different hotel standard, a slower pace. There is no charge for redesigning, only for what the changes cost.
How do I pay, and is my money protected?
A 20% deposit confirms your booking; the balance is due 21 days before arrival or in cash on arrival. We accept bank transfer, Wise and card payments in GBP, USD, EUR and AUD. We are an SLTDA-licensed operator, and full terms including our cancellation ladder are sent with every quotation.
Start planning
Ready to plan your Sri Lanka holiday?
Send us a rough idea – three lines is enough. You will get a real itinerary with named hotels and a fixed price, written by a person, at no cost and with no obligation.
- Free itinerary design, no obligation
- Reply from a named consultant, not a bot
- 20% deposit, balance on arrival if you prefer
A real consultant replies within 12 hours, usually sooner. No deposit needed to get a full itinerary and quote.