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Local tour operator Sri Lanka
We live here. That is the whole advantage.
Ceylon Lanka Trails is a family-run, SLTDA-licensed tour operator based in Dambulla, at the centre of the island and forty minutes from Sigiriya.
Our story
Fifteen years, one road at a time
Dilshan Perera started driving visitors around Sri Lanka in 2004, in a borrowed Toyota with a hand-drawn map on the dashboard. By 2011 enough of those guests had sent friends that a company became inevitable. Ceylon Lanka Trails was registered that year with one vehicle and one telephone.
Today we run fourteen vehicles, employ nineteen people and have taken more than 4,200 trips across the island. What has not changed is that the person who plans your holiday has driven the route, slept in the hotels and knows which viewpoint is worth the extra hour.
We are deliberately not the biggest. We turn down group departures and coach contracts because they would change what we are good at. Everything we sell is private, and everything we sell we have done ourselves.
4,200+
Tours completed
15
Years operating
38,000
Happy guests
41
Countries served
Our mission
Make it easy to travel well, and fair to the people who make it possible
Tourism in Sri Lanka is a chain of small businesses — drivers, cooks, boat crews, village hosts, estate workers. Our job is to connect you to the best of them and to pay them properly and on time. Guides are salaried rather than commission-dependent, so nobody is steering you into a gem shop. Village hosts keep the full fee. We do not sell elephant rides at any price.
The commercial version is simple: when the people on the ground are treated well, your holiday is better. That is most of what fifteen years has taught us.
Meet our team
The people who will answer you
Send an inquiry and one of these four names will reply. Not a shared inbox, not a chatbot.
Dilshan Perera
Founder & Head of Planning
Started as a chauffeur-guide in 2004 and founded Ceylon Lanka Trails in 2011. Answers most first inquiries himself.
Nirmali Fernando
Senior Travel Consultant
Handles UK, Dutch and Australian bookings. Fluent in English and German. Fifteen years designing family itineraries.
Kasun Jayawardena
Naturalist & Safari Guide
National guide licence and a zoology degree. Leads our Yala, Wilpattu and Minneriya wildlife departures.
Sunil Rathnayake
Head Chauffeur-Guide
Twenty-two years on Sri Lankan roads without an incident. Named in more of our reviews than anyone else on the team.
Our values
What we will and will not do
Say no honestly
If a route does not work in your month, or a hotel is not worth its price, we will tell you before you book rather than after.
No commission steering
Our guides are salaried. There are no gem shop stops, no batik factory detours, no kickback lunches.
Animals stay wild
No elephant rides, no bathing with chained elephants, no captive photo opportunities. Wild parks only.
Pay locally, pay quickly
Village hosts, boat crews and safari drivers are paid in full within seven days, in cash, at rates above the local norm.
Small groups only
Private tours exclusively. We have turned down coach charters for fifteen years and will keep doing so.
Answer the phone
Someone picks up, every hour of the day you are in Sri Lanka. It is the cheapest thing we do and the most valued.
Licences & memberships
Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority · SLTDA/TA/1842 SLAITO Member IATA Accredited Agent TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice 2025 Registrar of Companies PV 00218842
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
Start planning
Plan your tour with a local team
Tell us your dates and the shape of the trip. We will send an itinerary, named hotels and a fixed price — free, and yours to take elsewhere if you prefer.
- 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.