Jaffna
Sri Lanka’s northern Tamil capital and one of its most distinct and undervisited destinations. Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil is a masterwork of Dravidian architecture whose 25-day annual festival transforms the city each August. The boat trip to Delft Island’s colony of wild ponies and the city’s completely distinctive cuisine make Jaffna unlike anywhere else on the […]
Sigiriya and Dambulla
Two UNESCO World Heritage Sites within 20 kilometres of each other. Sigiriya is a 5th-century royal palace on a 200-metre volcanic rock with ancient hydraulic gardens, cliff face frescoes, and a summit view that no photograph prepares you for. Dambulla’s five cave chambers hold 153 Buddha statues and 2,100 square metres of painted murals spanning […]
Kandy
Sri Lanka’s cultural capital and last seat of the Kandyan kingdom, built around a man-made lake and defined by the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic whose puja ceremonies have continued since the 4th century. The Esala Perahera festival in July and August – a ten-night candlelit procession of elephants and drummers – is one […]
Polonnaruwa
Sri Lanka’s medieval capital at its artistic peak, where the Gal Vihara rock sculptures carved from a single granite face represent the finest Buddhist artworks on the island. The flat terrain and shaded cycling paths make it one of the most rewarding archaeological sites to explore at your own pace.
Anuradhapura
One of the ancient world’s great capitals, continuously occupied for over a millennium. The Sri Maha Bodhi tree here – grown from a cutting of the original Bodhi tree in 288 BCE – is the oldest documented human-planted tree on earth. Best explored by bicycle at dawn, when the sacred zone belongs almost entirely to […]