Why would one opt to ride horses? This is surprisingly a question that riders often hear from time to time… The list of answers is endless but at its core we believe is the connection that we develop with another gentle being. To be able to communicate with one twitch of a riders’ muscle and one flicker of a horses’ ear is enough to convey a sense of emotion of the most calm and peaceful feelings. Enjoy an equestrian tour all around the island!
This itinerary has been carefully designed to give you a taste of the exciting, endless possibilities and can be tailored to suit your exact preferences.
Drive time: 45 minutes approximately
Highlight: Negombo fish market and around
Overnight: Villa Hundira – Bed & breakfast basis
Meet your English speaking Chauffer at the airport and transfer to the nearby villa overlooking the Negombo lagoon. Stretched along the west coast, the beach town of Negombo is only a short dash from the Airport and a placid way to get your bearings when arriving in Sri Lanka!
You can get yourself lost in the buzz of Negombo exploring long and colorful streets. You will find yummy freshly made food, seashell ornaments, creamy ice creams and many more surprises while walking the streets. A quick visit to the traditional fishing port, locally named as “Lellama “will definitely be a memorable experience. There is a line of decent restaurants you would want to try as per your pocket.
Rest at the villa with a drink in your hand to shake off the jetlag and adjust to the new time zone.
Drive time: 3 hours approximately
Highlight: Horse ride in bird sanctuary
Overnight: Ruwala Resort, Kalpitiya – Chalet – Bed & breakfast basis
Rise early for a breakfast of egg hoppers before driving two hours to the Anawilundawa area, which is known for the scenic off-the beaten paths and the large bird sanctuary. Meet your riding tea, instructor and the gracious horses and get introduced to them all whilst having a light snack and chat.
Review all safety procedures and obtain your helmet, tack and riding gear from the riding instructor and start your horseback exploration around the area of the bird sanctuary. Anawilundawa is a peaceful area with natural beauty. The horseback ride and exploration will be approximately 4 hours at a pace to suit the rider team.
When a rider is on a horse, there is a quiet conversation continuously going on between the horse and the rider!
The exclusivity of Anawilundawa is its instant closeness to three massively different ecosystems; the mangroves, the coast, and the fresh water tanks making it a RAMSAR Wetland. This unique ecological setting has made it a favorable nesting and breeding ground for hundreds of species of birds. These reservoirs store water for irrigation and agriculture and acts as a natural habitat and sanctuary for 150 species of water birds as well as for species of threatened Amphibians, Mammals, Reptiles and Fish.
After an exhilarating riding adventure, dismount your horse and your chauffer will transfer you to Kalpitiya Eco Resort where the beach is serene and divine (Approx. 1 hour drive). End the day at leisure by the ocean.
Highlight: Horse ride in Kalpitiya Ocean
Overnight: Ruwala Resort, Kalpitiya – Chalet – Bed & breakfast basis
Have a simple breakfast in the morning and meet your horse and riding team to embark on a beach and village ride for approximately 4 hours. Enjoy the peaceful nature and great bonding with your gentle horses. The horses especially love walking leisurely on the beach just away from the proximity of the rippling waves.
During the sunset, you will also be able to see the horses relaxing and splashing in the ocean at sunset! Join them or relax in solitude on the pristine mostly-untouched beach. You can help rub down your horse and bond with him or her further in the evening if you wish.
Drive time: 3.5 hours approximately
Highlight: Horse ride in Kalpitiya village, Dambulla cave temple
Overnight: Heritance Kandalama – Bed & breakfast basis
Meet your horse and riding team after breakfast at the resort and embark on a village ride seeing the small villages and how life goes on a daily basis. Your riding instructor will take different well known and tested paths at the best pace for the riders and you can see the area and the off-the-beaten-paths with small streams and hills. You will be surrounded by trees, birds and butterflies and hear nothing except the wind and the bird calls.
Set off from coastal Kalpitiya to experience the inland delights in Kandalama by car and settle into your resort.
Break your journey to explore the Dambulla cave temple; the well-known rock cave temple which is recognized for its glory of a heritage site. Inside the caves, around the temple there are statues and paintings all around, all connected to the life of Lord Buddha and his life, concerning the events of Vishnu, Ganesha and Mara – who are deities and who also have sculptures of them speckled around. Witness the stunning sunset to mark a perfect end for the day.
Highlight: Horse ride in Kandalama jungles, Sigiriya rock climb sunset
Overnight: Heritance Kandalama – Bed & breakfast basis
Have a simple breakfast in the morning and meet your horse and riding team at the resort stables to embark on a ride around the jungles and ancient ruins of Dambulla. The countryside of Kandalama is a still forest of dense green with floating whispers of bird song and the lake shimmering in the distance passing walls of rock cool to the touch. You can help rub down your horse and bond with him or her in the evening if you wish.
Your afternoon is free to ascend the Sigiriya rock fortress to view the sunset from atop. Rising theatrically from the central prairies, the mysterious Sigiriya is perhaps Sri Lanka’s single most intense vision. Near-vertical ramparts rise to a summit that contains the remains of a prehistoric civilization, thought to be the epicenter of King of Kassapa. There are spellbinding vistas across mist-wrapped forests and serene landscapes. Enjoy the climb up to the fortress with the antics of the local monkeys to amuse you and the art and architecture on every level to reward your climb.
Highlight: Visit tea estate, Nuwaraeliya town, Race course stable visit, Waterfalls
Drive time: 5.5 hours approximately
Overnight: Hill Rise Bungalow – Bed & breakfast basis
Your journey will continue further south into the verdant green hills of Sri Lanka’s most scenic region – the hill country – to the Colonial city of Nuwara Eliya. Your horse and riding team will follow you via their trailers.
You will take winding roads through gorgeously lush plantations, past tea bushes trimmed by regular picking and if you’re lucky you’ll see the tea pluckers’ harvesting tea leaves in the fields. En route visit a tea estate and factory and stop at St. Claire’s waterfalls and Ramboda waterfalls to admire the scenery. Often referred to as ‘Little England’, this refined highland does have a rose-tinted, indefinitely British-country-village feel to it, with its Tudor-style hotels, well-tended hedgerows, colonial-era bungalows, and attractive gardens. Indeed this town was once the preferred cool-climate escape for the hard-working English and Scottish inventors of Sri Lanka’s tea trade.
Check into your bungalow which was created around the concept of Horses, Stables and Horse racing; Hill Rise is set on a manicured lawn with flowering hedges. It is a luxurious single story holiday bungalow with warm and welcoming interiors caringly created by its owners. You can also visit the famous race course and see your horse’s stables!
Highlight: Horse ride around the tea estates and Nuwara Eliya town, Garden high tea
Overnight: Hill Rise Bungalow – Bed & breakfast basis
Have breakfast in the morning and then meet your horse and riding team at the race course to embark on a ride around the colonial town, mountains and tea estates. With its magnificent waterfalls, lovely sceneries, thriving tea culture and cool air, the charming appeal of these hills has to be seen to believe. Your horse ride will take you through gorgeously lush plantations and past tea bushes that look like green figures stretching up and down the serene hills as far as you can see. Enjoy your journey – this is the complete experience. With its rose gardens, perfect lawns and brick and stone houses, Nuwara Eliya is a perfect ride.
Relax in the award winning garden of Grand hotel and have a picturesque high tea there! You can help rub down your horse and bond with him or her further in the evening if you wish.
Drive time: 6 hours approximately
You’ll have a heavy heart by now! After hearty Sri Lankan breakfast bid your lovely horse and riding team farewell and your chauffeur will take you to the airport in time for your flight, preferably in the evening.
Learn more about the luxurious properties available for your trip.
…a soft haze hangs over the quiet lagoon, the wind rushes by, gently rustling the Palmyra fronds, an orchestra of birds strike up to welcome another beautiful new day at Ruwala Resort where tranquil pleasures and wild pursuits await: the choice is yours.
A hotel that doesn’t sit on the landscape but is part of it. Where monkeys climb your balcony pillars as if they were trees, swifts nest in the corners of corridors as if they were cliffs, granite crags erupt into the sinuous white walkways.
Hill Rise is set on a manicured lawn with flowering hedges. It is a luxurious single story holiday bungalow with warm and welcoming interiors caringly created by its Sri Lankan owners.
