The island, place by place.
Honest, in-depth guides to the places worth your time — what to do, where to stay and eat, when to come, and the things only a local would tell you.
West CoastColombo
Most travellers treat Colombo as an arrivals lounge. Give it a day and it rewards you — a seafront capital of colonial arcades, Buddhist and Hindu temples, a roaring street-food scene and a confident new generation of design and dining.
Central HighlandsKandy
The last royal capital of the Sinhalese kings, ringed by hills and built around a lake, Kandy is the cultural heart of the island — home to the sacred Temple of the Tooth and the greatest of all Sri Lanka’s processions.
South CoastGalle
A walled town the Dutch built on Portuguese foundations, Galle Fort is the most atmospheric address in Sri Lanka — a living UNESCO site of coral-stone ramparts, shuttered villas, churches, mosques and the ocean on three sides.
Hill CountryElla
Cradled in the southern hills at the end of the famous railway, Ella is the relaxed heart of tea country — a small town of viewpoints, easy walks, waterfalls and the slow rhythm of the highlands.
Cultural TriangleSigiriya
A royal palace built atop a 200-metre column of rock, complete with frescoes, a mirror wall and water gardens — Sigiriya is Sri Lanka’s most astonishing single sight, and the centrepiece of the Cultural Triangle.
South-EastYala
Sri Lanka’s most famous national park, Yala pairs dramatic dry-zone scenery — lagoons, rock outcrops and scrub — with the highest density of leopards anywhere on earth.
East CoastTrincomalee
When the south coast is under monsoon, the east is in glorious sunshine — and Trincomalee, with one of the world’s great natural harbours, offers the widest, calmest beaches in the country.
Northern ProvinceJaffna
Long cut off and only recently reopened to travellers, Jaffna is Sri Lanka’s most distinctive region — a proud Tamil culture with its own temples, libraries, cuisine and a string of flat, sun-bleached islands reaching toward India.
Hill CountryNuwara Eliya
At nearly 1,900 metres, Nuwara Eliya is the highest and most distinctly colonial of Sri Lanka’s hill stations — a cool, damp town of half-timbered villas, a racecourse, a golf club and the manicured air of an English spa town that somehow drifted to the tropics.
South CoastMirissa
A palm-fringed crescent on the deep south coast, Mirissa is the island’s most loved beach town — relaxed, pretty and, from a December dawn, the launch point for some of the best blue-whale watching in the world.
East CoastArugam Bay
A long sandy sweep on the wild south-east coast, Arugam Bay is Sri Lanka’s surf capital — a famously mellow town built around one of the best point breaks in Asia, and a gateway to lagoons, elephants and the empty beaches beyond.
Cultural TrianglePolonnaruwa
The island’s second ancient capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Polonnaruwa is the most rewarding of the Cultural Triangle’s ruined cities — compact, beautifully preserved, and best explored by bicycle in the soft light of early morning.