Best Places to Visit in Sri Lanka

Kitulgala Forest Reserve

Kitulgala sits on the Kelani River among lowland rainforest and is Sri Lanka's main base for white water rafting. Canyoning, waterfall abseiling and jungle treks fill the rest of the day, and the village was a filming location for The Bridge on the River Kwai.

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Singharaja

Sinharaja is Sri Lanka's largest remaining lowland rainforest and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Guided trails lead past streams and waterfalls, and most of the island's endemic birds can be found here, often in noisy mixed feeding flocks.

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Horton Plains

Horton Plains is a misty plateau of grassland and cloud forest high in the central hills. An early walk on the circular trail takes you to the cliff edge at World's End and to Baker's Falls, with sambar deer grazing along the way.

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Gal Oya

Gal Oya National Park surrounds the Senanayake Samudraya reservoir in the east. It is one of the few parks in Sri Lanka with boat safaris, and in the dry months elephants are sometimes seen swimming between the islands.

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Wasgamuwa

Wasgamuwa National Park lies between the Mahaweli and Amban rivers and sees few visitors. It is a good park for elephants and sloth bears, with ancient ruins and around 140 recorded bird species.

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Kaudulla

Kaudulla National Park, near Habarana, is built around an ancient tank on the elephant corridor with Minneriya. Late in the dry season many herds move here, making it one of the best places in the country to watch elephants graze.

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Kumana

Kumana National Park, south of Arugam Bay, is one of Sri Lanka's best places for water birds. Pelicans, storks and spoonbills nest in the Kumana Villu wetland around May and June, and leopards and elephants share the park with far fewer jeeps than Yala.

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Bundala

Bundala National Park on the south coast is a maze of shallow lagoons, salt pans and dunes. Sri Lanka's first Ramsar wetland, it draws flamingos and thousands of migrant birds from about September to March.

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Minneriya

Minneriya National Park is known for the gathering, when large herds of elephants graze around an ancient tank in the dry season, usually from about July to October. It is easy to combine with Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa.

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Udawalawe

Udawalawe National Park, around a large reservoir on the edge of the hills, is the most reliable place in Sri Lanka to see wild elephants on safari. The Elephant Transit Home nearby raises orphaned calves for release back into the wild.

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Wilpattu

Wilpattu, on the north-west coast, is Sri Lanka's largest national park. Natural lakes called villus dot its quiet forest, and leopards and sloth bears are the main reasons to spend a day on its sandy tracks.

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Jaffna

Jaffna, in the far north, is the heart of Sri Lankan Tamil culture. Visit the golden Nallur Kandaswamy temple, walk the ramparts of the Dutch fort, eat crab curry and take boats out to islands such as Delft and Nainativu.

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Mannar

Mannar is a flat, dry island in the north-west, joined to the mainland by a causeway. It has a Dutch fort, giant baobab trees, the sandbanks of Adam's Bridge and some of the best bird watching in the country from October to March.

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Delft Island

Delft is the largest of the islands off Jaffna, a windswept place of coral-stone walls, wild ponies and Dutch fort ruins. A ferry from Kurikadduwan makes it a full day trip from Jaffna.

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Hatton

Hatton is a tea town in the central hills and the main gateway to Adam's Peak. Estates around Dickoya and Maskeliya surround it, and St Clair's and Devon falls lie on the road towards Talawakele.

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Knuckles Range

The Knuckles Range, north-east of Kandy, is a UNESCO-listed mountain area of cloud forest, grassland and waterfalls. Trails lead to viewpoints such as Corbet's Gap and to remote villages like Meemure.

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Arugam Bay

Arugam Bay, on the east coast, is Sri Lanka's best known surf town, with point breaks that work from about April to October. Lagoon safaris, Lahugala and Kumana parks and old forest monasteries lie close by.

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Pasikuda

Pasikuda, near Batticaloa on the east coast, has a long bay so shallow and calm in season that you can wade far out. Resorts line the shore, and Kalkudah beach and Batticaloa's lagoon and fort are nearby.

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Tangalle

Tangalle, on the south coast, has wide, quiet beaches and lagoons that feel far from the busier resorts further west. Turtles nest at Rekawa, and the Mulkirigala rock temple rises inland.

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Weligama

Weligama, on the south coast, has a wide sandy bay with gentle waves that make it one of the best places in Sri Lanka to learn to surf. Stilt fishermen and tiny Taprobane Island are close by.

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Mirissa

Mirissa is a palm-lined beach town on the south coast and the main base for whale watching in Sri Lanka, with boats out from about November to April. Coconut Tree Hill, surf breaks and quiet coves are a short walk away.

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Koggala

Koggala, east of Galle, lies between a long beach and a lake scattered with islands. Boat trips, the stilt fishermen and the Martin Wickramasinghe Folk Museum make it a quieter base on the south coast.

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Unawatuna

Unawatuna, just east of Galle, is a sheltered bay with calm swimming in season, diving and snorkelling. Jungle Beach and the Japanese Peace Pagoda sit on Rumassala hill above it.

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Galle

Galle is a historic port on the south coast, best known for its fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walk the ramparts at sunset and explore streets of colonial houses, churches, museums and cafes, with beaches and tea estates nearby.

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Dickwella

Dickwella, on the south coast, has a sheltered swimming bay and the surf cove of Hiriketiya next door. The Hummanaya blowhole and the giant seated Buddha of Wewurukannala are a short drive away.

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Hikkaduwa

Hikkaduwa, on the south-west coast, is one of Sri Lanka's oldest beach resorts. A coral reef close to shore, turtles in the shallows, surf breaks and lively nightlife keep it popular from about November to April.

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Ahungalle

Ahungalle is a quiet beach village between Bentota and Ambalangoda, home to a Geoffrey Bawa beach hotel. The Madu River mangroves, turtle hatcheries and Ambalangoda's mask workshops are all close by.

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Bentota

Bentota, where the Bentota river meets the sea, is one of the best known resorts on the south-west coast. Water sports on the river, a long beach, Ayurveda resorts and Geoffrey Bawa's Lunuganga estate set it apart.

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Beruwela

Beruwala, south of Colombo, is thought to be one of the earliest Muslim settlements in Sri Lanka. A long resort beach, a busy fishing harbour, the Kechimalai Mosque and Bevis Bawa's Brief Garden are its highlights.

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Kalutara

Kalutara lies where the Kalu Ganga meets the sea, about 40 km south of Colombo. It is known for the white stupa of the Kalutara Bodhiya, the mansion of Richmond Castle, river trips and long beaches.

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Wadduwa

Wadduwa, about 30 km south of Colombo, has a long palm-lined beach and several Ayurveda resorts. It makes an easy first or last stop close to the capital.

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Negombo

Negombo is a beach and fishing town close to the airport, the usual place for a first or last night in Sri Lanka. Its lagoon, early morning fish market, Dutch fort and many churches make it worth more than a transit stop.

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Kalpitiya

Kalpitiya is a long peninsula on the north-west coast, known for kitesurfing from about May to October and large pods of spinner dolphins from about November to April. The Bar Reef and quiet lagoon islands lie offshore.

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Dambulla

Dambulla, in the Cultural Triangle, is home to the Golden Cave Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with painted caves and more than 150 Buddha statues. It is a central base for Sigiriya, the ancient cities and elephant safaris.

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Habarana

Habarana is a village at a crossroads in the Cultural Triangle and the usual base for elephant safaris at Minneriya and Kaudulla. Village tours and the forest monastery of Ritigala are close by.

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Colombo

Colombo, Sri Lanka's commercial capital, mixes colonial Fort, the markets of Pettah and the seafront at Galle Face Green with temples, museums and the best food scene in the country. Most trips start or end here.

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Kandy

Kandy, the last royal capital, is home to the Temple of the Tooth Relic around a lake in the central hills. The Royal Botanical Gardens, old temples, dance shows and the Esala Perahera in July or August make it a highlight of any trip.

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Sigiriya

Sigiriya is best known for its 5th century rock fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with frescoes, water gardens and the giant Lion Gate. Neighbouring Pidurangala Rock gives the classic view of it at sunrise.

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Ella

Ella is a small hill town in a gap in the mountains, surrounded by tea estates and waterfalls. Easy hikes to Little Adam's Peak and Ella Rock, and the Nine Arches Bridge on the railway, make it one of the most popular stops in Sri Lanka.

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Nuwara Eliya

Nuwara Eliya, at about 1,900 metres, is Sri Lanka's best known hill station. Colonial buildings, Lake Gregory, Victoria Park and tea factories fill the town, and Horton Plains and the Hakgala gardens are close by.

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Yala

Yala National Park in the south-east is Sri Lanka's most visited park and one of the best places in Asia to see leopards. Elephants, sloth bears, crocodiles and many birds live among its scrub, lagoons and rocky outcrops by the sea.

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Trincomalee

Trincomalee, on the north-east coast, has one of the world's great natural harbours. The Koneswaram temple stands on a cliff above the sea, and Nilaveli, Uppuveli and Pigeon Island offer beaches and snorkelling from about April to September.

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Anuradhapura

Anuradhapura was Sri Lanka's first great capital and a centre of Buddhism for more than a thousand years. Huge stupas, monastery ruins and the sacred Sri Maha Bodhi tree make it an active place of pilgrimage as well as a UNESCO site.

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Polonnaruwa

Polonnaruwa, the medieval capital of Sri Lanka, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of palaces, temples and the Gal Vihara rock carvings. The great Parakrama Samudraya reservoir still waters the fields around it, and the ruins are easy to explore by bicycle.

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