Beautiful Places in Sri Lanka

Known For : Sigiriya Rock Fortress Pidurangala Rock Dambulla Cave Temple

Sigiriya, the Lion Rock, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the single most recognised sight in Sri Lanka. The fortress sits on a granite column rising about 180 metres, built in the 5th century by King Kashyapa as a royal citadel. The climb passes water gardens, a mirror wall and the surviving frescoes, and the summit holds the ruins of the palace. Start at opening time to beat the heat and the queues.

Best Time: January to September

13 Sigiriya Attractions

Known For : Galle Fort Sea Turtle Hatchery Centre, Mahamodara Galle Lighthouse

Galle Fort is the reason to come: a Dutch-built walled town on a headland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site you can walk around in an afternoon. Inside the ramparts are colonial townhouses, museums, cafes, and churches, temples and mosques within a few streets of each other. Walk the walls at sunset, when locals come out and the lighthouse catches the light.

Best Time: December to April

36 Galle Attractions

Yala is Sri Lanka's most visited park and has one of the highest leopard densities anywhere, though sightings still need luck and an early start. Elephants, sloth bears, crocodiles and around 200 bird species share a landscape of scrub, waterholes and coastal lagoon. Morning safaris are better than afternoon ones. Book a jeep ahead in the February to July dry months.

Best Time: February - July

Sri Pada, or Adam's Peak, is climbed overnight so you reach the 2,243 metre summit for sunrise, when the mountain casts a triangular shadow across the plain. It is sacred to Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians alike, each reading the rock footprint at the top differently. The pilgrimage season runs December to May, when the steps are lit and tea stalls stay open.

Best Time: December to May

Known For : Whale Watching in Mirissa Sunset Walk at Coconut Tree Hill Sunset Cruise in Mirissa

Mirissa is the whale-watching base on the south coast: blue whales and sperm whales pass offshore from November to April, and dolphins year round. Pick an operator that keeps its distance rather than chasing pods. Onshore it is a small crescent of beach with palm shade, surf schools and bars, plus the climb up Parrot Rock for the view back along the bay.

Best Time: December - April

20 Mirissa Attractions

Known For : Bentota Beach (Ventura Beach) Bentota River Safari Ayurvedic Spa at Bentota Ayurveda Center

Bentota is the easiest beach stop from Colombo, about two hours south, and the one geared to water sports: jet skis, windsurfing, banana boats and diving, plus river safaris up the Bentota Ganga through mangroves. Brief Garden, the landscaped estate Bevis Bawa built inland, is worth the short detour. The resorts here suit families more than backpackers.

Best Time: November - April

28 Bentota Attractions

The Temple of the Tooth holds a relic said to be a tooth of the Buddha, which makes it the most important Buddhist site in the country. The complex is part of the old Royal Palace, with painted ceilings, carved timber and gilded roofs. Puja ceremonies run three times a day and are the time to visit. Dress covers shoulders and knees, and shoes come off at the gate.

Known For : The Royal Palace of King Parakramabahu Gal Vihara  Dalada Maluva Polonnaruwa

Polonnaruwa was the island's capital in the 11th and 12th centuries and its ruins are the best preserved of the ancient cities, spread over a compact site you can cycle around in a morning. The highlight is Gal Vihara, four colossal Buddha figures cut from one granite face. The Royal Palace, the Quadrangle and the Parakrama Samudra reservoir fill the rest.

Best Time: November to March

16 Polonnaruwa Attractions

Known For : Kandy Esala Perehera Festival Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa) Kandy Lake

Kandy sits in a bowl of hills at 500 metres, the last capital of the Sinhalese kings and still the cultural centre of the island. The Temple of the Tooth is on the lake, which has a walkable path and colonial buildings around it. The Esala Perahera procession in July or August is the biggest event in the Sri Lankan calendar. Book far ahead if you want to see it.

Best Time: December to April

53 Kandy Attractions

Known For : Seeta Amman Temple Horton Plains National Park Gregory Lake

Nuwara Eliya sits at 1,868 metres and the British built it to feel like home, which is why the racecourse, the golf course and the mock-Tudor hotels are still there. It is genuinely cold at night. Tea estates surround the town and several factories run tours, and Gregory Lake and Victoria Park fill an easy afternoon. The train in from Kandy is the best way to arrive.

Best Time: December to April

35 Nuwara Eliya Attractions

Known For : Crocodile Rock, Arugam Bay Arugam Bay Beach Elephant Rock, Arugam Bay

Arugam Bay on the east coast is the surf capital, and its season is the mirror of the west: May to October, when the point break works and the town fills up. Outside those months it empties out almost completely. Beyond the surf there are lagoons, Kumana National Park nearby for birds, and a single sandy road of cafes and guesthouses.

Best Time: April to September

10 Arugam Bay Attractions

Known For : Dambulla Cave Temple Dambulla Golden Temple & Museum Sigiriya

The Dambulla Cave Temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest cave temple complex in the country: five caves cut into a rock overhang, holding more than 150 Buddha statues and painted ceilings that follow the contours of the stone. It has been a working monastery since the 1st century BC. The climb up takes about 20 minutes and the view over the plain is the bonus.

Best Time: January to May

11 Dambulla Attractions

Known For : Tissa Wewa Sithulpawwa Rock Temple

Tissamaharama is a town in the southern province of Sri Lanka, located 270 km from Colombo. The city is an interface for tourist expeditions as it is the starting point for visits to Yala National Park and Kataragama.

The town holds artefacts from the past and has historical icons which include three ancient stupas, old reservoirs and five major lakes including the Tissa Wewa.

Best Time: December to April

13 Tissa Attractions

The Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, about 6 km west of Kandy, run to 147 acres in a loop of the Mahaweli river. They hold more than 4,000 plant species, and the set pieces are the orchid house, the avenue of royal palms, the spice garden and a Javan fig whose canopy covers most of a lawn. Allow two hours, and go early before the coach parties.

Minneriya is in Polonnaruwa District, about 200 km and three and a half hours from Colombo, and 30 minutes from Sigiriya. It is known for the Gathering: as the dry season shrinks the surrounding jungle waterholes, hundreds of elephants converge on the Minneriya tank to drink and graze. That peaks between July and September. Outside those months the herds move to Kaudulla nearby.

Best Time: December - March

Hatton is the working heart of Sri Lankan tea, at around 1,200 metres, and the estates on the slopes around it are what most people picture when they think of the hill country. Several factories take visitors through plucking, withering and rolling, ending with a cup. Hatton is also the usual railhead for Adam's Peak, about 30 km away.

The Knuckles range, spanning Matale and Kandy districts, is a UNESCO World Heritage Conservation Area and takes its English name from a resemblance to a clenched fist. Locals call it Dumbara Kanduvetiya, the mist-laden mountains. Thirty-four peaks rise between 900 and 1,900 metres across cloud forest, grassland and villages, and the trekking here is the least crowded on the island.

Known For : Nallur Kandaswamy Devasthanam Jaffna Fort Jaffna Library

Jaffna, at the northern tip, is culturally distinct from the rest of the country: Tamil and Hindu rather than Sinhalese and Buddhist, with its own food, temples and dialect. The city was at the centre of the civil war and reopened to visitors after it ended in 2009, so much of what you see is recent restoration. The Nallur Kandaswamy temple, the Dutch fort and the islands offshore are the draws.

Best Time: January to September

19 Jaffna Attractions

Known For : Koneswaram Temple Fort Frederick Shri Badrakali Amman Hindu Temple

Trincomalee sits on one of the finest natural deep-water harbours in the world, on the east coast about 260 km from Colombo. The beaches north of town at Uppuveli and Nilaveli are the reason most people come, along with Pigeon Island offshore for snorkelling. In town, Koneswaram temple sits on a cliff above the sea. The season here is May to September.

Best Time: May - October

22 Trincomalee Attractions

Known For : Nine Arches Bridge Little Adam's Peak Ella Rock

Ella is the hill country town people end up staying in longer than planned: 1,041 metres up, cool, and small enough to walk. The Ella Gap frames the view south towards the coast, and Little Adam's Peak and Ella Rock are both half-day walks. The Nine Arch Bridge is a short stroll away. The train ride in from Kandy or Nuwara Eliya is the point as much as the town.

Best Time: January to September

31 Ella Attractions

Known For : Ruwanweli Maha Seya Sri Maha Bodhi Jetavanaramaya Monastery

Anuradhapura was the capital for more than a thousand years and is the oldest of the ancient cities, a UNESCO World Heritage Site spread across a wide area you need a bicycle or a driver to cover. The Sri Maha Bodhi, grown from a cutting of the tree the Buddha sat under, is the sacred centre. Ruwanwelisaya and Jetavanaramaya are the great brick stupas.

Best Time: January - March, June - September

29 Anuradhapura Attractions

Known For : World’s End (Horton Plains) Gommolli Kanda Ohiya

Horton Plains is a plateau at over 2,000 metres, and the only national park in Sri Lanka you walk rather than drive. The 9 km circuit takes in World's End, where the escarpment drops almost 900 metres, and Baker's Falls. Start before dawn: cloud closes in over World's End by around 10 am and the view is gone. Bring layers, because it is genuinely cold up here.

Best Time: January to March

6 Horton Plains Attractions

Known For : Unawatuna Beach Jungle Beach Japanese Peace Pagoda

Unawatuna is a sheltered bay about 5 km from Galle, and the reef across its mouth keeps the water calm enough for swimming when the rest of the south coast is rough. That makes it the family choice. Snorkelling is decent, the beach is lined with cafes, and Jungle Beach and the Japanese Peace Pagoda are a short walk over the headland.

Best Time: October to April

15 Unawatuna Attractions

Udawalawe is the elephant park: around 500 live here permanently, so a sighting is close to guaranteed in a way Yala cannot promise. The landscape is open scrub and grassland around a reservoir, which makes spotting easy. The Elephant Transit Home at the entrance rehabilitates orphaned calves for release and has public feeding times, and is the better stop of the two.

Best Time: December to March

Mihintale is where Buddhism arrived in Sri Lanka, when the monk Mahinda met King Devanampiya Tissa here in the 3rd century BC. It is a hill of 1,840 steps rising past stupas, monastery ruins, rock-cut caves and a hospital complex to a summit platform with a long view over the dry zone. It sits 13 km east of Anuradhapura and pairs naturally with it.

Known For : Maha Saman Dewalaya Kalthota Doowili Ella Falls

Ratnapura means city of gems, and that is still the business: sapphires, rubies and cat's eyes come out of the alluvial pits around it, and the Star of Adam and the Blue Belle of Asia were both found here. The Gem Museum and the working mines can be visited. It is also the southern trailhead for Adam's Peak, and the wettest part of the island.

Best Time: January to March

8 Ratnapura Attractions

Known For : The Bar Reef Kalpitiya Lagoon, Kalpitiya Kalpitiya Beach

Kalpitiya is a peninsula and a scatter of fourteen islands on the northwest coast, and it has become the kitesurfing centre of Sri Lanka thanks to steady wind over a shallow lagoon. The season runs May to October and again December to March. Dolphin pods are common offshore and sperm whales pass in season, and the reef at Bar Reef is the largest in the country.

Best Time: April to October

14 Kalpitiya Attractions

Known For : Polhena Beach Dickwella Beach Weligama Beach

Matara is a working town rather than a resort, which is its appeal: a Dutch fort and star fort, temples, and a long beach used by locals. Polhena has a reef-sheltered pool good for snorkelling, and Madiha next door is a beginner surf break. It is the jumping-off point for Dondra Head, the southernmost tip of the island, and its lighthouse.

Best Time: December to April

3 Matara Attractions

Known For : Diyaluma Falls Diyatalawa Adisham Hall

Haputale is a ridge-top town where the hills fall away on both sides, so the views run to the south coast on a clear morning and the cloud sits below you. It is quieter and cheaper than Ella an hour away. Lipton's Seat, the lookout where Thomas Lipton surveyed his estates, is the walk to do, through tea fields from Dambatenne factory.

Best Time: May to July

5 Haputale Attractions

Kitulgala is the white-water rafting centre of Sri Lanka, on the Kelani river about 90 km from Colombo, with grade two and three rapids that suit first-timers. It is also one of the wettest places on the island, so expect rain. The Bridge on the River Kwai was filmed on this stretch in 1957, and the underwater remains of the set are still shown to visitors.

Best Time: December - March

Wilpattu is the largest national park in the country and the oldest, and it is named for the villus, the natural sand-rimmed lakes scattered through it. Leopard numbers are high, and because visitor numbers are a fraction of Yala's you often have a sighting to yourself. The park sits on the northwest coast about an hour from Anuradhapura, and closes in the September to October wet spell.

Best Time: February to October

Known For : Bridge Market Kallady Beach Kokkadicholai Thanthondreeswarar Temple

Pasikuda on the east coast has one of the longest shallow coastlines in the world: you can wade a long way out over sand with almost no current, which is why it suits weak swimmers and small children. Coral reefs just offshore make the snorkelling good. Batticaloa airport is 34 km away, and the season runs May to September.

Best Time: March to October

7 Pasikuda Attractions