Enjoy the luxury of your own private guide to introduce you to Kandy, set in the hills around an artificial lake 115km east of Colombo, is probably the most charming city in Sri Lanka. En route you will visit the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage to see elephants bathing in the river at Pinnawela and then visit a tea factory at Giragama.

In Kandy, visit the Dalada Maligawa/ the Temple of the Tooth Relic, which houses the Tooth Relic of the Lord Buddha, rescued from the cremation flames in 543 BC and brought to Sri Lanka in the 4th Century. The relic cannot be seen as it is encased within seven jeweled gold caskets, each worth a King's ransom.

Continue to visit the Kandyan Arts and Crafts Center to find craftsmen fashioning brass, silver and lacquer work. The next stop is at the Royal Botanical Gardens. See its magnificent Orchid House and the grove of splendid trees, all planted by eminent world figures. You will return to Colombo by evening. Tour includes lunch in Kandy and entrance fees to the Botanical Gardens, Dalada Maligawa and Pinnawela.

Start with a sightseeing tour of Colombo with your own private tour guide driving through the Commercial area of the 'Fort' so named, because both the Portuguese and Dutch had a fort at this point. Drive past 'Pettah' - a noisy Oriental bazaar with a hotchpotch of humanity, ancient vehicles, bargains, mosques and temples.

Visit a Hindu and Buddhist temple and the Jumi-ul Alfar Jumma Mosque.

Continue the tour through the Wolvendhal Dutch Church and Hultsdorf Law Courts, then the residential area of Cinnamon Gardens which was an important cinnamon-growing region during the Dutch period. From here you proceed on to the Independence Square, the Convention Center (BMICH) and the National Museum.

On this private guided tour, leave Colombo for Ambalangoda where the famed 'devil masks' are produced. After visiting one of the workshops, proceed to Hikkaduwa, which is renowned for its varied and colorful coral formations. View these from a glass-bottomed boat.

Drive on to Galle - the Old Portuguese Fort rebuilt by the Dutch. This Fort is still in a fine state of preservation and today, most of the administration of Galle is carried out from here. Galle is also the center of the ebony wood carvers and handmade laces; visit these workshops in the course of the tour. Tour includes lunch and boat ride at Hikkaduwa.