TOUR LEADER PAUL URQUHART

Paul Urquhart is an accomplished garden writer and has been the gardening editor of Australian lifestyle magazines including Better Homes and Gardens, Australian House and Garden, Home Beautiful and Your Garden.

+ Visit World Heritage-listed sites Sigiriya Rock

Fortress, Galle Fort, Polonnaruwa, Dambulla,

Anuradhapura and Kandy

+ Scenic train ride through tea plantations

+ Visit Geoffrey Bawa’s Lunuganga Estate and

Bevis Bawa’s Brief Garden

+ Stay in the Geoffrey Bawa designed Lighthouse

Hotel, Galle and the Heritance Hotel, Kandalama

+ Travel in a small group and make new friends

+ Relax – we’ll take care of everything!

For a detailed itinerary, please visit :

www.rosstours.com/srilanka

HIGHLIGHTS

Kandalama

Colombo

KandyNegombo

Anuradhapura

Sigiriya

Galle

SRI LANKA

Let us take you to the most beautiful places in the world.

I know you’ll be dazzled by this secret tropical island, with a history that dates back 2000 years. Thanks to its colonial past it’s a rich cultural mix of traditions, festivities and exotic cuisine. Enjoy!

Graham Ross VMM, Founder

TO BOOK PLEASE CONTACT ROYCE OR ROSLYN

Visit our website www.rosstours.com

travel@rosstours.com1300 233 200

Discover a paradise island with incredible flavours,

history and culture. Sri Lanka offers World Heritage

sites, bustling cities, tea plantations, serene gardens

and elephants!

22 FEBRUARY - 10 MARCH 2018

THE GARDENS OF

SRI LANKA

DAY 1 THU 22 FEBHOME - COLOMBOMeet your Ross Tour leader at Sydney airport for your flight to Colombo. Late evening arrival and transfer to our hotel in Negombo.

DAY 2 FRI 23 FEBCOLOMBO (B/D)A leisurely morning. Afternoon visit to the first of many lovely gardens on this tour. Stop to admire the Geoffrey Bawa designed Parliament building. We’ll come to understand his importance as an influential architect. Welcome Dinner tonight.

DAY 3 SAT 24 FEBCOLOMBO - KANDALAMA (B/L/D)Visit Dambulla’s famous Royal Rock Temple with hundreds of statues of Buddha. Special stay at the Heritance Hotel in Kandalama for 4 nights, designed by Bawa.

DAY 4 SUN 25 FEBSIGIRIYA (B)We’ll climb Sigiriya Rock Fortress; a UNESCO world heritage-listed site. Walk through Sigiriya Gardens. Then visit Popham’s Arboretum, a planted forest which conserves the biodiversity of Sri Lanka.

DAY 5 MON 26 FEBPOLONNARUWA (B)Visit Polonnaruwa to see 800 year old treasures: tombs, temples, statues and stupas. Stop in Minneriya National Park with wild elephants, sambar deer, buffalo, crocodiles and leopards.

DAY 6 TUE 27 FEB ANURADHAPURA MAHAMEGHA GARDENS (B)Drive to the Sacred City of Anuradhapura that dates to 500BC. See it set out with Mahamegha Gardens along the Malwathu Oya River with a large garden of fruit and flowers.

DAY 7 WED 28 FEBKANDALAMA - KANDY (B/L)Travel to Kandy, the last capital of the Sri Lankan kings. Stop in Matale a town famous for its spice plantations, where vanilla, coconut and cardamon thrive. Lunch in a spice garden included.

DAY 8 THU 1 MAR KANDY (B)Visit the Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya, originally the ‘Royal’ pleasure garden. A city tour of Kandy this afternoon. Visit the famous Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.

DAY 9 FRI 2 MAR KANDY TO NUWARA ELIYA (B/D)Board the scenic train from Peradeniya through tea plantations to Nuwara Eliya. Check into the Hotel Jetwing St Andrews, a former Colonial Country House.

DAY 10 SAT 3 MAR NUWARA ELIYA (B)Tour the town of Nuwara Eliya to learn how abundant rainfall, sunshine, cold nights and misty mornings, are perfect for producing high-quality teas. Afternoon visit to Hakgala Botanical Garden.

DAY 11 SUN 4 MAR NUWARA ELIYA - GALLE (B/D)On the road to Galle, a former Dutch Colonial town on the coast. Stop for lunch where “Bridge on The River Kwai” was filmed.

DAY 12 MON 5 MAR GALLE (B)Visit Galle Fort built 1588 by the Portuguese; UNESCO listed. Learn about cinnamon this afternoon at Villa Mayurana. Discovered by the Portuguese, Sri Lanka now produces 90% of the world’s cinnamon.

DAY 13 TUE 6 MARGALLE - BENTOTA (B/L)Appreciate the genius of Geoffrey Bawa at Lunuganga, built in 1947,

his experiment with structures and spaces that proved to be a work of art and Bawa’s consummate legacy.

DAY 14 WED 7 MAR BENTOTA (B)Visit the Brief Garden of Bevis Bawa, brother of Geoffrey, also an architect and artist. The garden is private and introspective.

DAY 15 THU 8 MAR BENTOTA - COLOMBO (B)We are travelling back to Colombo this afternoon. Explore Colombo city with a tour through the Fort, the commercial hub with restored colonial architecture before we check into the ‘Grande Dame’ of Colombo, the Galle Face Hotel on the seafront. Built in 1864 the hotel reflects the grandeur of the British Colonial period.

DAY 16 FRI 9 MAR COLOMBO (B/D)Geoffrey Bawa’s Colombo townhouse is very different to his country estate. It’s an introspective assemblage of courtyards, verandas and loggias.Free time this afternoon for last minute shopping and later meet up for our farewell dinner.

DAY 17 SAT 10 MAR COLOMBO - HOME (B)Transfer to airport for flights home.

TOUR DETAILS

+ OUR TOUR INCLUDES

° Return group economy airfare Sydney / Colombo / Sydney

° Air-conditioned motorcoach

° Deluxe accommodation for 16 nights

° Breakfast daily, 3 lunches and 5 dinners

° Entrance fees to all gardens and sightseeing including Ancient

monuments of Sri Lanka’s cultural triangle including the Golden

Temple of Dambulla, UNESCO Sigiriya Rock Fortress, Sigiriya

Gardens, Popham’s Arboretum, Archeological Treasures

of Polonnaruwa, Minneriya National Park, Mahamegha

Gardens, Anuradhapura, Spice Gardens Malate, Royal Botanic

Gardens, Kandy, Kandy city tour, Tea plantation tour Nuwara

Eliya, Nuwara City tour, Villa Mayurana Cinnamon Plantation,

Lunuganga Estate tour, Brief Garden, Benota, Geoffrey Bawa

town house, Temple of the Tooth and Colombo city tour

° Escorted by Paul Urquhart

+ OUR TOUR COSTS

° Twin Share per person, land only $6,795

° Twin Share per person, incl. air $7,795

° Single Supplement $1,895

+ DISCOUNTS

° Early bird $200 Book and pay before 20/10/17

° Previous Traveller $100

° Garden Clinic Member $50

All prices in Australian Dollars. All air taxes as at 1st Apr 2017. Price based on minimum 15 passengers. Departure from Sydney. Price from other Australian ports and New Zealand available on application. Group meals do not include beverages. Please refer to Ross Garden Tours standard terms & conditions. Ask us about other sightseeing and travel arrangements including pre and post tour accommodation, transfers, stopovers and other tours.

ITINERARY