Best time to visit
Sri Lanka is a year-round destination. From December to March, the west coast offers ideal conditions -- and in the summer months, the east coast takes over.
Sri Lanka round trips: Ella, Kandy and Yala National Park
Experience Sri Lanka: Tea plantations, temples and dream beaches
Sri Lanka brings together jungle, ocean, highland and World Heritage Sites in a way no other island even attempts. Sigiriya shoots 200 metres straight out of the jungle, with a ruined city perched at the top that's older than most cathedrals in Europe. From here, board the train into the highlands -- the Highland Express winds its way through tea plantations and cloud forests, doors open, feet dangling out, endless green valleys rolling past like a film that never ends. Then elephants cross your path: welcome to Yala National Park. Leopards move through the tall grass, close enough that you can barely keep the camera steady. After that, the coast awaits -- Arugam Bay delivers perfect waves for surfers, blue whales surface off the shore at Mirissa, and Weligama hides behind a curtain of palm trees.
Tips and info for your Sri Lanka trip
Currency
The Sri Lankan rupee (LKR) is the local currency.
Flight time
There are no direct flights. Depending on your stopover, you'll be travelling for between 10 and 14 hours.
Language
Sinhala and Tamil are the official national languages. You'll get by easily with English in tourist areas.
What are the must-sees in Sri Lanka?
Sri Lanka is full of highlights, but these must-sees belong on your bucket list.
West coast: From Colombo to Galle
The west coast is Sri Lanka's first impression -- and it's one that sticks. Colombo doesn't do things by halves: tuk-tuks in constant motion, the scent of spices drifting through street food markets and the Gangaramaya Temple glowing in the evening light between high-rises. The Fort district reveals another layer of the city -- wide boulevards, old trading houses and architecture that has outlasted centuries. Further north, Negombo stirs at dawn: fishing boats rocking in historic canals, the market in full swing before the rest of the world has woken up. To the south lies Galle -- a fortress city right on the ocean, where Portuguese walls meet independent cafés and boutiques. Weligama closes out the coast with gentle waves, making it ideal for beginner surfers.
Highlands: Temples, tea and Adam's Peak
Sri Lanka's highlands begin with temples and end on a mountaintop at dawn. Kandy comes first: the Sri Dalada Maligawa presides over the city -- the temple where a tooth relic of the Buddha is enshrined. Pilgrims stream through the gates, incense burns and the spiritual weight of the place hits you instantly. Dambulla awaits with its cave temples, where golden Buddhas sit enthroned in rock caverns and frescoes glow across the walls. Matale lies in between, its spice gardens heavy with the scent of cinnamon and cardamom. Then comes the highland proper: Badulla opens the door to tea plantations that climb endlessly up the hillsides. Adam's Peak rises beyond -- sacred, steep and firmly on the bucket list. You make the ascent at night, reaching the summit at dawn, and the sunrise stays with you long after you've come back down.
East coast: Surfing, snorkelling and endless beaches
Sri Lanka's east coast runs to a different rhythm from the rest of the island -- wilder, more unspoilt and lined with endless beaches you'll often have almost entirely to yourself. Arugam Bay belongs to the surfers: the waves break perfectly, the atmosphere is relaxed and come evening you're sat barefoot in the sand with a Lion Beer in hand. Further north lies Trincomalee, where turquoise water meets one of the deepest natural harbours in the world. Nilaveli Beach delivers postcard-worthy scenery, Pigeon Island is just a snorkel trip away and beneath the surface a coral reef awaits that surpasses even the colours above. Batticaloa, in the south of the east coast, stays well off the main travel routes -- Tamil culture, lagoons and a city that moves at its own pace.
Ella and Yala: Where mountains meet wildlife
Ella belongs on every Sri Lanka itinerary -- and the train journey to get there ranks among the most beautiful in the world. The route through the tea plantations is far more than a means of getting from A to B: doors open, feet dangling out, green valleys rolling in every direction and clouds hanging low over the hills. Once you arrive in Ella, the pace shifts -- Ella Rock takes you on a steep climb, with tea plantations spread out at your feet at the top. The Nine Arches Bridge sweeps across the green valley below. Then comes the contrast: Yala National Park in the arid south. Leopards move through the grass at a density found nowhere else on earth. Elephants cross your path and crocodiles doze along the riverbanks. From mountain air to savannah, from stillness to adrenaline -- this combination exists nowhere else but Sri Lanka.
