Wildlife guide
This wildlife travel guide is meant to be like a trailer for the new Attenborough series. Because we also have individual travel guides for more specific wildlife holidays, such as our safaris, bear watching and whale watching.
Elephant watching holidays guide
Positive interaction with pachyderms sums up an elephant watching holiday nicely – whether they’re in the wild or in wonderfully caring camps and sanctuaries.
There’s a lot to love about elephants. Physically extraordinary and highly intelligent, they are able to experience and exhibit self awareness, grief, compassion and cooperation. So, it’s understandable that for some elephant fans, spotting them on an African safari doesn’t entirely scratch the ele itch. Happily, alternative elephant encounters exist, with Asia leading the way in positive, ethical and educational holidays packed with pachyderms.
Sri Lanka and Nepal are the best countries for an elephant watching holiday, with the former offering the chance to see elephants both in the wild and at a sanctuary that works to return orphans to the wild. In Nepal, meanwhile, a pioneering camp where elephants enjoy the freedom to be elephants, welcomes visitors who come simply to hang out with them. Within both trips there’s the chance to spot other wildlife, visit local villages and conservation projects, and travel further afield, but the elephants remain the star attraction and are definitely – ahem – worth trumpeting about.
Our Elephant watching Holidays
Sri Lanka wildlife and culture holiday
Amazing value for money! Experience Sri Lanka private tour.
From
£1840 to £1940
14 days
inc UK flights
Wildlife tour and beach holiday, Sri Lanka
Big 5 of Sri Lanka with leopards and relaxing beach stay
From
£2780 to £4000
13 days
inc UK flights
Stay with Elephants near Chiang Mai, Thailand
Conservation project returning elephants to the forest.
From
£290 to £430
4 days
ex flights
Stay with the Karen hilltribe and watch elephants in Thailand
Conservation project returning elephants to the forest.
From
£240 to £380
4 days
ex flights
Sri Lanka holiday, tea, trains and elephants
Best of Sri Lanka with mixcure of wildlife and culture.
From
£1250 to £1490
12 days
ex flights
Elephant watching holidays are…
a chance to see Asian elephants and observe their natural behaviour.
Elephant watching holidays aren’t…
about exploitative shows, riding, petting or feeding elephants.
WHAT DOES AN ELEPHANT WATCHING HOLIDAY ENTAIL?
An elephant watching holiday does what its name suggests: it gives you the opportunity to observe elephants at close range. This is a responsible, respectful experience, though, so no elephant riding, no selfies and certainly no elephant performances. It’s a chance to see elephants being elephants, to learn about their lives and the challenges faced by the Asian elephant. Crucially, though, this isn’t a conservation or volunteering holiday; it’s simply an opportunity to indulge your inner elephant obsessive, with perhaps a smattering of other sightseeing and wildlife watching, too.
Unlike African safaris which also, of course, bring you close to elephants, elephant watching holidays usually take place in Asia, in countries that have wild populations of elephants, but also a history of ‘domesticating’ elephants for work. Some of the elephants you’ll meet on an elephant watching holiday, for instance in Nepal, were used to carry tourists on wildlife safaris. Others may have been orphaned, injured or maltreated and are now cared for in sanctuaries.
Your visit contributes directly to the costs of feeding, accommodating and keeping elephants healthy, but it’s important to research any elephant facility you might visit as part of an elephant watching holiday carefully.
Hannah Hesford, from our supplier Rickshaw Travel, has this advice:
“We collaborate closely with our local partners and NGOs to work to ensure that our animal experiences are as responsible and meaningful as possible. To arm travellers with as much information as possible when it comes to choosing reputable elephant sanctuaries, our friends at World Animal Protection advise that genuine elephant sanctuaries ‘should have animal welfare at the core of what they do. They will not use elephants in performances for tourists or allow the elephants to be ridden. Genuine sanctuaries show that neither cruelty nor harsh treatment are ever needed to manage the elephants in their care.”
Our top Elephant watching Holiday
Sri Lanka wildlife and culture holiday
Amazing value for money! Experience Sri Lanka private tour.
From
£1840 to £1940
14 days
inc UK flights
Tailor made:
Tailor made: Available all year where everything is tweak-able, giving you the freedom to build a unique and personal trip for your chosen date. Upgrade your accommodation for all - or just part - of your trip, slow down the pace with few extra nights here and there or add a few more active adventures along the way.
Tailor made: Available all year where everything is tweak-able, giving you the freedom to build a unique and personal trip for your chosen date. Upgrade your accommodation for all - or just part - of your trip, slow down the pace with few extra nights here and there or add a few more active adventures along the way.
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about Elephant watching or need help finding a holiday to suit you we're very happy to help.
Chiara Vitali from World Animal Protection explains what you should expect from any facility that keeps elephants:
“You should expect to see elephants interacting in a natural environment and in a natural way. Elephants are highly social creatures with strong family bonds and friendships. Elephants that are allowed sufficient freedom will likely move in herds and carers may be able to identify social groups for visitors. There will likely be a great deal of communication between the animals in the form of trumpeting, rumbles and various other sounds. The elephants may also engage in play. Most importantly, the animals should be allowed the freedom to do as their instincts tell them and express their natural behaviours – none of which is possible in ride- and show-based venues, where elephants spend most of their day in chains – and not be forced into any interaction with tourists. In order to enjoy this experience safely, visitors should be mindful of the wild nature of elephants, behave respectfully of the animals (most of the time this includes keeping an appropriate distance) and follow the instructions given by trained staff.”
All the elephant watching places featured on Responsible Travel have been reviewed by us, so you know any holiday that includes a visit to one has been properly screened for welfare. You can read more about our stance on elephant trekking and riding, in our elephant conservation guide.
Sanctuaries doing good work for Asian elephants also exist in Thailand and Cambodia, but it’s very difficult to see elephants in the wild here, so although some organised holidays to these countries take in places such as the Elephant Nature Park for retired elephants near Chiang Mai, they don’t have enough elephant content to be classed as an elephant watching holiday – true pachyderm fans might be disappointed!
A proper elephant watching holiday goes really big on elephants – plain and simple. The most immersive trips involve a couple of days living among elephants retired from elephant safaris. You live in a tented camp close to the elephants, and follow the rhythm of their daily life, getting to know their personalities by observing them as they wake, graze, bathe, play, feed and sleep, and enjoying village visits and jungle safaris, too.
Some elephant watching holidays combine seeing elephants in the wild with a day or half day visit to a sanctuary. In Sri Lanka, for instance, you can visit the Elephant Transit Home (ETH) in Udawalawe, where orphaned wild elephants are treated, raised and released back to the wild, but then also spot them in Yala, Kaudulla or Wilpattu National Parks, or during the so called ‘great gathering’ of wild elephants. This is the largest Asian elephant gathering known to exist on the planet, and it takes place in Minneriya National Park in August and September, when more than 300 elephants gather to drink from a reservoir each evening.
More about Elephant watching
In Nepal, a new kind of wildlife holiday has been developed. Neither safari, nor sanctuary visit, it’s the chance to live amongst elephants now retired from carrying tourists on safaris. Find out what a few days at elephant camp includes, from walking with the big beasts to watching them river bathing.
More relevant guides
protection
Photo credits: [Page banner: Rosanne Desgagnes] [Elephant introduction: Simon Shaw]
[Are/aren't: Ivo Verhaar]
[What does it entail 1: Richard Whitaker]
[What does it entail 2: Pascal Muller]
[What does it entail 3: John Pavelka]
[Rickshaw travel: Ben o'bro]
[World animal Protection: Paweldotio]
[Elephant conservation guide: Jesse Schoffe]
[Sanctuaries: Bruce Dall]
[A proper elephant watching holiday: Mammalwatcher]
[Elephant transit home: Pol van den Scheetek]
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