Head Office
EDEN Luxury Travel, The Steamill, Steamill Street, Chester, Cheshire CH3 5AN
Telephone
01244 567000 / 0207 1580997
Opening Times
Monday to Thursday 9.00am to 5.30pm
Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm
Saturday 9.30am -to 3.00pm
Our Travel Boutique
27 King Street, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6DW
Telephone
01565 656000
Opening Times
Our travel boutique embraces a flexible work environment.
Visit us in-person Monday to Thursday, 9:30am - 5:00pm.
Our dedicated team also works remotely on Fridays,
ensuring seamless support throughout the week.
Walking tours are an unparalleled way to immerse yourself in Colombo's captivating history. The market buzzes with activity from dawn to dusk, so book a guide so they can help you navigate the most fascinating streets and, time permitting, introduce you to some of the local's secret treasures like the Red Mosque and the Dutch Period Museum.
Kandy. The Temple of the Sacred Tooth is revered for housing the left canine tooth of the Buddha, retrieved from his funeral pyre and a symbol of the living Buddha. Devotees believe that worship at the temple greatly enhances one's karma, so the shrine attracts a steady stream of worshippers and tourists.
Yala National Park. Embark on a private jeep tour where you can encounter elephants, monkeys, deer and crocodiles. However, for many, the star attraction is the endangered leopard, which you may spot slinking through the underbrush or resting atop a rocky boulder.
Tangalle. Between December and April, the southern coast of Sri Lanka is regarded as one of the world's premier locations for observing blue whales, frequently seen alongside sperm whales and sizable groups of spinner dolphins.
This port has been a wide-open door to visitors for centuries. The shopping opportunities reflect the many varied faces of the capital: from the sophisticated nursery slopes of Paradise Road and its glam gifts, via the unmissably original Barefoot, to the black runs of the Pettah, Colombo’s tantalising pavement bazaar. Try tapas at ZaZas, sushi at Nihonbashi, or re-live the Raj on the veranda at the grand old Galle Face Hotel. And, if you can’t even handle first gear, slip into neutral at the serenely minimalist Buddhist ‘island’ temple on Beira Lake.
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Ancient cities don’t get much bigger than Anuradhapura and few capitals around the world have been as long-lasting. Dating back to the 4th century BC, it was established around a cutting from the fig tree under which the Buddha gained enlightenment and this cutting – the Sri Maha Bodhi – is Anuradhapura’s spiritual heart, thought to be one of the world’s oldest trees. The extent of the ruins, historical sites and monasteries – over 24 square-miles – are overwhelming and often too much to explore in one day, so peddling your way around by bike is often the best way to cover more ground and actually appreciate just how extensive this fascinating city once was.
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Kandy is one of Sri Lanka’s most scenic cities – once an impenetrable fortress for the Sinhala monarchs, now the capital of the central province and the second-largest city in the country. Frequently visited by Buddhists (especially of the Theravada School), Kandy is famous for being home to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, Sri Dalada Maligawa, which houses Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist relic, the relic of the tooth of the Buddha. Also worth a visit are the Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya – the Kew of Kandy – which started out as a royal pleasure park in 1747.
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Hatton literally screams with the successes of the pioneering tea-planters who made Ceylon tea a household name after the 1865 coffee blight. Old Ceylon’s up-country plantations were devastated – but not so the spirits of the quick-witted Brits who threw in a crop of tea and never looked back. Enigmatically surrounded by a tapestry of tea fields, reservoirs and sloping hills, Hatton is living proof that this major industry not only stood the test of time, but also made the countryside a stunning place in the process. Start your day with an adrenaline-fuelled hike up Adam’s Peak, take a tea factory tour, punt on a reservoir and savour high tea atop manicured lawns before a languid croquet match.
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The oldest and most prominent of Sri Lanka’s national parks spanning almost 250,000 acres of dry thorny scrub and dusty glades, Yala is an experience of epic proportions that brings you up close and personal with an untamed world of wildlife. Among its more famous residents are majestic elephants, sloth bears, sambars, jackals, spotted deer, peacocks and crocodiles, not to mention the world’s biggest concentration of leopard. While you can never guarantee you’ll see one of these famously elusive creatures, the chances are pretty high, especially if you stay inside the park itself. Visit between February and July when the water levels of the park are quite low and the wildlife comes out into the open.
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Known for its tranquillity, deserted beaches and unique eco-system, laid-back Tangalle is littered with gentle reminders of the Dutch days of the 18th century and some great beaches which stretch for several miles either side of the town (particularly Medilla and Medaketiya – the latter rarely crowded, with fine white sand and excellent swimming conditions). But on top of these, there’s an awesome array of attractions elsewhere: the spectacular Hoo-mane Blowhole; the giant Buddha and shrines of Wewurukannala; and the magnificent rock temples of Mulkirigala, some of which date back over 2000 years. Elsewhere, the beach at Rekawa is the premier spot for watching giant sea turtles lay their eggs at night from January to July and the little-visited Kalametiya Bird Sanctuary is great for bird-lovers.
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The most perfectly preserved heritage town in all of Sri Lanka and a historical and multi- cultured melting pot, Galle is acclaimed not only for its Dutch Fort (the slow-beating heart of the town’s history), but also its intricate Galle lace, ebony, wood-carvings, polished gems and steady string of cultural events, particularly the Galle Literary Festival. Gentle strolls will unravel the fort’s unique history and reveal heritage buildings still in use today, a succession of bijou shops and cafés lining the streets and the ramparts and seawall, where locals and visitors alike gather to fly kites, play cricket or simply inhale the wonders of its maritime legacy.
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