Discover
Choose a landscape, or choose a feeling.
Travel styles
Warm sand, slow mornings, endless horizon.
Leopards, elephants and dawn safaris.
Cloud forests, waterfalls and summit sunrises.
Two thousand years carved into stone.
Clay pots, coconut, cinnamon and fire.
Private shores and candle-lit evenings.
Regions
Rock fortresses, royal cities and frescoes older than most nations.
Cultural Triangle
Blue trains, waterfalls and mountain villages wrapped in mist.
Central Highlands
The highest density of leopards on earth and elephants by the hundred.
National Parks
Colonial ramparts, whale-watching bays and palm-shaded lagoons.
South
Long right-handers, barefoot cafés and the easiest days of your life.
East & South
Emerald terraces, colonial bungalows and the world's finest Ceylon tea.
The rock fortress and sky palace of King Kassapa, rising sheer from the plains.
Cave temples painted with centuries of Buddhist art, on the road between Kandy and the ancient cities.
A medieval royal capital of stupas, palaces and carved stone Buddhas, best seen by bicycle.
Sri Lanka's first great capital: sacred bo tree, vast reservoirs and dagobas older than Rome's ruins.
Forest monastery ruins inside a strict nature reserve — quiet, green and rarely crowded.
A calm village base for the Cultural Triangle, elephant parks and rural lake life.
Lakeside hill capital, home of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic and the gateway to the hills.
Central Province
Spice-garden country in the hills above Kandy, where true Ceylon cinnamon is peeled by hand.
Elephant country on the Kandy road — an easy, family-friendly stop between the west and the hills.
Dry-season grasslands where herds of wild elephants gather by the reservoir in their hundreds.
A quieter alternative to Minneriya for elephant viewing in the same reservoir system.
Remote park between the Cultural Triangle and the Knuckles, with elephants and few vehicles.
Cool colonial hill station at 6,000 feet, ringed by working tea estates.
Mountain village of viewpoints, waterfalls and the Nine Arch Bridge below the train line.
Ridge-top tea village with long views to the southern plains on a clear morning.
Mild-climate hill town among tea estates, useful as a calm hill-country base.
Gateway to the high tea estates, reservoirs and Adam's Peak trailheads.
High-altitude plateau of grassland and cloud forest ending at the World's End escarpment.
Rugged conservation range of cloud forest, villages and trekking routes east of Kandy.
Windswept ridges and mini World's End views on the northern edge of the Knuckles.
Rainforest river town and the home of Sri Lankan white-water rafting.
Rainforest
The island's last major stretch of primary lowland rainforest, dense with endemic birds.
Scrub, lagoons and rock outcrops holding the island's best-known leopard population.
Open reservoir country with reliable elephant sightings all year and easy family game drives.
Vast northwestern park of forest villus, quiet tracks and elusive leopards.
Boat safaris across a wild reservoir where elephants swim between islands.
Dutch-walled fort town of ramparts, courtyards and cafés above the Indian Ocean.
Curved swimming bay minutes from Galle, easy for families and first stays on the coast.
Reef, turtles and a long strip of beach cafés on the southwest coast.
Wide, forgiving bay — the island's most popular place to learn to surf.
Palm-fringed crescent bay and the main harbour for blue whale and dolphin trips.
Horseshoe bay with a point break, yoga decks and a slow, barefoot rhythm.
Long empty beaches, lagoons and quiet luxury on the deep south coast.
Working southern town with a star fort, temples and uncrowded stretches of sand.
The island's port capital: markets, colonial streets, rooftop bars and the best food scene.
West Coast
Fishing town beside the airport — the natural first or last night of a Sri Lanka trip.
River-and-sea resort strip with water sports and long southwest beaches.
Sheltered west-coast bay with calm swimming and easy access from Colombo.
Riverside town of temples and coconut groves on the road south from Colombo.
Long right-hand point break and a barefoot surf village that empties into the season.
East Coast
Deep natural harbour, hilltop temple and warm, flat swimming water on the east.
White sand and Pigeon Island reef snorkelling just north of Trincomalee.
Shallow, calm bay made for swimming, with resort comfort on the east coast.
Lagoon city of forts, bridges and singing fish stories, still largely untouristed.
Northern cultural capital: Tamil temples, palmyra plains, islands and a distinct cuisine.
Northern Province
Baobabs, windmills, salt flats and causeways towards Adam's Bridge.
Coral-walled island of wild ponies and Dutch ruins off the Jaffna peninsula.
