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Sri Lanka travel destinations

Places to visit in Sri Lanka

Eight destinations that between them cover every reason people come here — ruins, tea, leopards, reef and sand.

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The Nine Arch Bridge in the hills above Ella

6.8667 N, 81.0466 E

Ella

A gap in the escarpment where the hills fall away to the southern plains, with a railway bridge that has become the island’s most photographed structure.

The ramparts and rooftops of Galle Fort on the south coast

6.0535 N, 80.2210 E

Galle

A Dutch fort that has been continuously inhabited for 400 years: ramparts, coral-stone churches, and a lighthouse over the water.

The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic beside Kandy Lake

7.2906 N, 80.6337 E

Kandy

The last royal capital, wrapped around a lake, holding a tooth of the Buddha and a hill full of Kandyan drummers.

Palm-fringed sand at Mirissa on the south coast

5.9483 N, 80.4589 E

Mirissa

A crescent of sand with a headland at one end and the best blue whale watching in the Indian Ocean from a harbour ten minutes away.

Tea terraces in the hills around Nuwara Eliya

6.9497 N, 80.7891 E

Nuwara Eliya

Sri Lanka at 1,900 metres: tea estates, a racecourse, mock-Tudor bungalows and cold nights the British never stopped trying to recreate.

Sigiriya rock fortress seen across the jungle from Pidurangala Rock

7.9570 N, 80.7603 E

Sigiriya

A 200-metre granite plug crowned by a fifth-century royal citadel, with frescoes halfway up and a lion’s paws at the gate.

Empty sand and clear water on the east coast at Trincomalee

8.5874 N, 81.2152 E

Trincomalee

The clearest water in Sri Lanka, one of the world’s finest natural harbours, and a reef island you can snorkel from the shore.

A Sri Lankan leopard resting in Yala National Park

6.3735 N, 81.5089 E

Yala

The highest density of leopards of any protected area on earth, plus sloth bear, elephant and a coastline of lagoons and dunes.

Travel regions

Six regions, six different countries

Sri Lanka changes completely every hundred kilometres. Knowing the regions is the fastest way to plan a route.

Cultural Triangle

Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, Dambulla. Dry-zone plains, ancient capitals and the island’s densest concentration of UNESCO sites.

Hill Country

Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Ella, Haputale. Tea at altitude, cool nights, waterfalls and the railway that made it all possible.

South Coast

Galle, Mirissa, Tangalle, Yala. Beaches and a Dutch fort from November to April, plus the island’s best-known national park.

East Coast

Trincomalee, Pasikuda, Arugam Bay. Clear water and dry skies from May to September, when the rest of the island is under monsoon.

North

Jaffna, the islands, Mannar. Tamil and Hindu Sri Lanka — palmyra, temples and a landscape and cuisine that feel closer to south India.

West

Colombo, Negombo, Bentota, Kalpitiya. The arrival coast: the capital, the airport, ayurveda resorts and the kitesurfing lagoons at Kalpitiya.

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