Where to go in Sri Lanka

Colombo is home to Sri Lanka’s only international airport, which means all visits start and end here. This cosmopolitan city boasts a rich colonial heritage and diverse cultures, where you’ll see bustling street markets overflowing with colourful silks, aromatic spices, and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Discover its diversity through temples, mosques and churches that congregate on the same streets, and explore iconic sites such as the Khan clock tower, Fort Station and the Red Mosque. Take a tuk-tuk ride around the city, sip high tea in a colonial-style hotel that overlooks the ocean and indulge in a mouth-watering array of cuisine.

Sri Lanka’s ‘Cultural Triangle’ contains five of Sri Lanka’s eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. At its northern tip is the ancient city of Anuradhapura the Mihintale Buddhist centre, to the eastern corner the ruins of Polonnaruwa, and to the south and west the Dambulla cave monastery and legendary Sigiriya ‘Lion Rock’. The area also contains Minneriya and Kaudulla National Parks, where huge herds of elephants can often be spotted. This broad low-land area is filled with lush paddy fields, rough patches of forest and scrub, and tranquil reservoirs, making it especially atmospheric.

Sri Lanka’s emerald hill country is one of the most stunning tea growing areas in the world. The hills rolls between elevations of more than 2,300m around Horton Plains and Adam’s Peak to 1500m around the serene lakes of Castlereigh or Bogawantalawa. Throughout you’ll mist-enveloped rolling hills, usually carpeted in neat rings of tea, offering up outstanding hiking and possibly the most dramatic train rides in Asia. Popular destinations within the Hills include Ella, site of the iconic Nine Arch Bridge; Nuwara Eliya, a former hill station known as ‘Little England’, and Mihintale, with its connections to the Lipton tea empire.

Galle is the jewel in the crown of south coast Sri Lanka. The largest city in the south of the island, the historic bastion is a true melting pot, with the feel of a European city that’s been stolen and dropped into the tropics. Your time here will be centred around the late 16th-century Dutch Fort, with its perfectly preserved colonial streets now filled with charming hotels, cafes and boutiques. A popular choice is to stay in one of the quieter beach villages nearby but remain within touching distance of the Fort for all your dining and shopping needs. Further activities – such as cooking classes, rural cycling tours, whale-watching trips, or watersports – can be arranged locally.

For many, the villages east of Galle are the sweet spot. The scenery becomes more picturesque, with tighter coves offering postcard-perfect beaches ideal for swimming and bathing, and development is usually ‘just so’ – busy enough to offer cafes, seafood restaurants, perhaps a small spa or boutique, but still mostly placid and well away from the over-developed resorts to the southwest. Mirissa and Weligama are the busiest towns here, while isolated upscale properties can also be found in Koggola, Dalawella, and Ahangama

Sri Lanka’s east coast comes into its own during the summer months of May through to September. During this time the weather across the south and west is changeable, but out here it’s gloriously clear and warm. The historic naval city of Trincomalee is an interesting visit with beaches Nilaveli and Uppuveli nearby; further down the coast the newly developed resort areas Passekudah and Kalkudah offer excellent family and honeymoon accommodation; while at the bottom of the coast Arugam Bay is Sri Lanka’s most famous surf hangout.