This trip strings together three very different places along the Emirates network. Start with three nights in Dubai for the skyline, the Creek and the desert. Then fly four hours to Colombo and head up into the hills to Kandy, Sri Lanka's last royal capital, for temples, tea estates and day trips to the rock fortress at Sigiriya and the cave temples of Dambulla.
To finish, a 90-minute flight takes you to Malé and a ten-minute speedboat ride to your island in North Malé Atoll. A week there, after the busier days in Dubai and Sri Lanka, means you end the holiday properly rested. In Sri Lanka a private driver looks after the road journeys, so you can stop at spice gardens and roadside fruit stalls along the way.
3 stops · 14 nights · flying Emirates
Skyline, souks and the desert
Temples, tea and Sigiriya
Island stay near Malé
Priced with these hotels or similar. Want a different hotel? Your Travel Designer will re-price it for you.
Dubai's beachfront at JBR is a convenient base, with the Marina next door and the metro and taxis to reach Downtown and the old town along Dubai Creek.
Kandy sits around a lake in the green hills of central Sri Lanka and is home to the Temple of the Tooth, the country's most revered Buddhist shrine. It makes a good base for day trips to Sigiriya, Dambulla and the tea estates.
Your resort island is in North Malé Atoll, only ten minutes by speedboat from the airport. It opened in 1972 as the Maldives' first resort and has since been fully modernised, with a house reef, several pools and a choice of restaurants.
Prices for this trip change with the season and availability. Tell us your dates and a Travel Designer will send you today's price.
Get today's priceBest time to go: January to April is the best window for all three: Dubai is warm rather than hot, Kandy and the Cultural Triangle are dry, and the Maldives is in its dry season. December is also good but busier around Christmas.
A suggested plan. Change anything.
Fly from London to Dubai, about seven hours, and transfer to your hotel at JBR.
Ride up the Burj Khalifa, take an abra across the Creek to the souks and walk the Al Fahidi historic district. A desert safari is easy to add.
Fly about four hours to Colombo, where your driver meets you for the drive up into the hills to Kandy.
Visit the Temple of the Tooth and Peradeniya gardens, spend a day climbing Sigiriya and seeing the Dambulla cave temples, and tour a tea estate.
Drive back to Colombo for the short flight to Malé, then a ten-minute speedboat to your island.
Six full days to swim, snorkel, dive or simply rest after the busier first week.
Speedboat back to Malé for your flight home via Dubai.
Live prices for a week with flights, updated daily. Pick one and we'll add the other stops.
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Fifteen minutes by boat from the airport, with overwater cottages and a kids' club.
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Big, busy island with a golf course, dive school and a long house reef. Good value for families.
The sister resort of the revered Bandos Island Resort & Spa, Malahini Kuda Bandos bathes in the aquamarine lagoon of North Male Atoll and offers guests Indian Ocean rejuvenation via…
Nestled in the North Male Atoll, just a short 45-minute speedboat ride from Velana International Airport, lies Summer Island Maldives.
Waterpark, lagoon slides and themed restaurants. Built for children.
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Surf break on the doorstep, water bungalows and a relaxed, well-priced feel.
No hotels match. Airport, month and budget only apply to hotels with a price today, so try clearing those.
Yes, because the flights between them are short: about four hours from Dubai to Colombo and 90 minutes from Colombo to Malé. Only Sri Lanka needs a longer road transfer.
Yes. Adding two or three nights lets you stay near Sigiriya or in the tea hills at Nuwara Eliya, or add a few nights on the south coast near Galle.
UK passport holders need an online ETA for Sri Lanka. The UAE and the Maldives give visas on arrival free of charge.
Yes. Emirates flies to Dubai from Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as London.
Change the hotels, the nights or the order, or add a third stop. A Travel Designer replies within a few hours.
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