Horton Plains Adventure: Explore Sri Lanka's Scenic Wildlife Haven

from $771

Duration

11 hours

Type

Guided, Private

Difficulty

Easy

Spectacular Pergamon & Asceplion Tour From Kusadasi & Selcuk Hotels

Horton Plains National Park – Full-Day Nature & Scenic Tour from Kandy

A full-day journey from Kandy to explore the breathtaking landscapes of Horton Plains National Park, Sri Lanka’s highest and most windswept plateau. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is famed for its wild grasslands, mist-covered forests, cascading waterfalls, and the spectacular World’s End viewpoint — offering dramatic scenery and rich biodiversity.

Early morning pickup from the hotel in Kandy
Scenic drive through lush tea country towards Horton Plains National Park
Enjoy a guided nature walk through grasslands and forest trails
Visit the iconic World’s End cliff and Baker’s Falls
Spot wildlife including sambar deer, purple-faced langurs, and endemic bird species
Learn about the park’s unique montane ecosystem from your guide
Relax and enjoy the cool mountain climate with photo stops en route
Return transfer to your hotel in Kandy

Inclusions

English Speaking Guide
Comfirtable A/C Vehical
Mineral Water Bottle
All Government Tax and Charges

Exclusions

Entrance Fees
Any other service or tour not mentioned above

Tour Plan

Pergamon Ancient City
Your guide and driver will pick you up and then journey to Pergamon. You will visit the breathtaking Acropolis, which was modelled after the site in Athens. The beautiful view from the hill-top will give you a great panorama of the surroundings. Marvel at the impressive Athenaeum library once held 200,000 volumes, which Mark Antony later offered to Cleopatra as a wedding present. The Temple of Trojan is a huge marble building that has been partially reconstructed from the original pieces found on the site.

Asceplion
Following on from this you will discover the famous Sanctuary of Asclepius, located down in the valley from the Acropolis. A sacred fountain where people with health problems could bathe can be found here and legend has it that Asclepius would then give them a vision and explain how they could be cured. After a delicious lunch with Turkish specialities, you will have the opportunity to visit the Archeological Museum of Pergamon where you can see many original artefacts found on the site. At the end of the day, we will enjoy an easy drive through the countryside. Please note that your tour may change the order in which you visit sites.

Itinerary

Expand All

Step 1

Horton Plains in Sri Lanka is the coldest and windiest location in the country. It consists of ecosystems such as Montane evergreen forests, grasslands, marshy lands, and aquatic ecosystems. At an altitude of 2,100 meters above sea level, Horton Plains spreads across over 3,169 hectares of the highest tableland of the island. In view of a large number of endemic flora and fauna species, Horton Plains has declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 30th July 2010.
Horton Plains, its surroundings, forests and the adjoining Peak Wilderness constitute Sri Lanka’s most important catchment area of almost all major rivers. The plains are also of outstanding scenic beauty and conservation importance, containing most of the habitats and endemic plants and animals representative of the country’s wet and Montane zones. The western slopes support the most extensive area of Montane cloud forest surviving in the island. Horton Plains is not merely a destination for nature tourists. Since the rich biodiversity of Horton Plains is still grossly underexplored, it affords invaluable opportunities to those engaged on educational and research activities. Protecting Horton Plains is a call of duty for all Sri Lankans.

Step 2

Often referred to as ‘Little England’, this genteel highland community does have a rose-tinted, vaguely British-country-village feel to it, with its colonial-era bungalows, Tudor-style hotels, well-tended hedgerows and pretty gardens. Indeed, Nuwara Eliya was once was the favoured cool-climate escape for the hard-working and hard-drinking English and Scottish pioneers of Sri Lanka’s tea industry.

A recent construction boom has blighted the scene to a degree, and the dusty and bustling centre is a thoroughly Sri Lankan urban tangle, but Nuwara Eliya still makes a fine base for a few days' relaxation. The verdant surrounding countryside of tea plantations, carefully tended vegetable plots and craggy hills is highly scenic. Treat yourself to a night in one of Nuwara Eliya’s colonial hotels, play a round of golf or a few frames of billiards, and soak up the town’s unique bygone heritage.