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Destinations
an island of a thousand worlds
Discover Sri Lanka
The places that define an island — explored in depth. Read the story of each, then step straight into the journeys that take you there.
Sigiriya
Rising two hundred metres from the jungle, Sigiriya is a fifth-century sky palace built by a king who feared the ground. Climb past mirror walls and the famous frescoes of celestial maidens, through the lion's paws, to a summit of royal gardens floating above the canopy. It is Sri Lanka's most breathtaking single sight, and a UNESCO World Heritage marvel of ancient engineering.
Kandy
Cradled by misted hills around a serene lake, Kandy was the last kingdom to fall to colonial rule and remains the island's cultural soul. At its heart stands the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, holiest shrine in the Buddhist world, where drumming marks each day's rituals. Come evening, Kandyan dancers spin and fire-walkers tread — a living tradition unbroken for centuries.
Ella
Ella is the hill country distilled — a village wrapped in tea terraces, waterfalls and cool mountain air. Walk to Little Adam's Peak at dawn, cross the storied Nine Arch Bridge as the blue train curls through, and end the day watching the mist roll up the valley from a tea-estate verandah. The rail journey here is called the most beautiful on earth.
Galle
A Dutch-walled fort jutting into the Indian Ocean, Galle is where colonial history meets ocean light. Wander ramparts at sunset, lose yourself in lanes of boutique galleries, cafés and jewellers, and climb the lighthouse for a view across terracotta rooftops to the endless blue. The best-preserved colonial sea fort in South Asia, and impossibly photogenic.
Yala
Yala holds the highest density of leopards on earth, and a dawn jeep safari here is Sri Lanka at its wildest. Beyond the leopards roam elephants, sloth bears, crocodiles and painted storks across a mosaic of scrub, lagoon and jungle meeting the sea. Few places on the planet reward patience with such drama.
Mirissa
A crescent of gold sand fringed with palms, Mirissa is the south coast at its most beguiling — and the launch point for the finest whale watching on earth. From November to April, blue whales and sperm whales cruise the deep water just offshore. Onshore: coconut cocktails, surf breaks and the slow rhythm of the tropics.
Anuradhapura
For over a thousand years this was the island's capital — a vast sacred city of towering dagobas, monastery ruins and the Sri Maha Bodhi, a tree grown from a cutting of the very fig under which the Buddha found enlightenment. Cycle between colossal white stupas older than most of the world's standing monuments.
Trincomalee
On the far side of the island, Trincomalee guards one of the world's finest natural harbours and the powder-white sands of Nilaveli and Uppuveli. Snorkel the coral gardens of Pigeon Island, visit the clifftop Koneswaram temple, and — from June to September — watch blue whales in the calm eastern sea.
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