Colombo
Puppet shows were long a part of traditional entertainment in Sri Lankan villages. Performing troupes would stage shows with intricate plots that lasted…
Must-see attractions in Sri Lanka
Colombo
It’s believed Buddha visited the site of this temple on his third visit to Sri Lanka. Suitably grand and labyrinthine, it has a dramatic past. The…
Colombo
The 50-acre University of Colombo campus, which originally opened as the Ceylon Medical School in 1870, is surrounded by long tree-lined avenues lined…
Jaffna & the North
This is the North’s only major Buddhist pilgrimage site. According to legend, the Buddha came to the island to prevent war between a naga king and his…
Matara
This historic, though run-down district, was once the heart of Dutch, and later British, Matara. There are no real sights, but it's an intriguing area…
Jaffna & the North
This lovely complex is an airy Hindu temple set amid mature neem trees. The main temple deity is the naga goddess Meenakshi, a consort of Shiva. (The term…
Galle
More of an antique store than a museum, this Fort townhouse (which dates back to the Dutch days) contains the private collection of a long-time local…
Kandy
To the north of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, but still within the compound, is the 19th-century Audience Hall, an open-air pavilion with stone…
Rakkhiththakanda Len Viharaya Cave Temple
The Hill Country
The rock face around this remote and little-visited cave temple, which is signed off the road to Wellawaya, is covered in faded Kandyan-era paintings…
Hikkaduwa & Around
About 2km north of Hikkaduwa is the Seenigama Vihara, perched on its own island. It’s one of only two temples in the country where victims of theft can…
The South
The Ho-o-maniya blowhole is sometimes spectacular and other times a fizzle. During the southwest monsoon (June is the best time), high seas can force…
Sigiriya
This rocky projection down in the Boulder Garden earned its name because the overhang resembles a fully opened cobra’s hood. The plastered interior of the…
The Hill Country
The Henerathgoda Botanic Gardens near Gampaha, 32km northwest of Colombo, are where the first rubber trees in Asia were planted (in 1876, after being…
Anuradhapura
Surrounded by forest, this huge body of water is thought to have acted as an ancient water storage tank for the Abhayagiri monastery rather than as a pool…
Polonnaruwa
At the southern end of the Quadrangle, the Thuparama Gedige is the smallest gedige (hollow Buddhist temple with thick walls) in Polonnaruwa, but is also…
Colombo
Local retail giant Cargills once had its main store on York St. The now mostly empty ornate 1906 red building still shows its faded elegance in its long…
Kandy
This forest on the north side of Kandy Lake has soaring hardwood trees and giant bamboo, good birding and loads of cheeky monkeys. Birdwatchers can…
The East
Just behind the resorts, this attraction is dedicated to the coconut, surely the world's most remarkable plant, and inexorably linked with Sri Lanka (its…
Polonnaruwa
In the southeast of the Quadrangle, the Vatadage (circular relic house) is typical of its kind. Its outermost terrace is 18m in diameter, and the second…
Jaffna & the North
A tiny islet in the bay is home to the pocket-sized Fort Hammenhiel, a small Portuguese-built bastion that passed on to the Dutch in the 1650s. The thick…
The South
Rarely crowded, this feels like the temple time forgot. Dating from the 13th century, it has some recently restored murals, including some large ones…
Colombo
Chatham St is seeing the ongoing renovations of old buildings, one of the grandest being the old colonnaded 1914 Central Bank building known as Central…
Weligama
Just offshore – you can walk out to it at low tide – is this tiny island. It looks like an ideal artist’s or writer’s retreat, which indeed it once was:…
Polonnaruwa
Also known as the library dagoba, the Potgul Vihara in the far south of Polonnaruwa is an unusual structure. A thick-walled, hollow, dagoba-like building,…
The Hill Country
The 171m-high Diyaluma Falls is Sri Lanka’s third-highest waterfall. Cascading down an escarpment of the Koslanda Plateau, the falls leap over a cliff…
Nuwara Eliya
This colourful Hindu temple, 7km southeast of Nuwara Eliya, is said to mark the spot where Sita was held captive by the demon king Rawana, and where she…
Polonnaruwa
The Royal Palace constructed by Parakramabahu I was a magnificent structure measuring 31m by 13m, and is said to have had seven storeys. Today its…
Millennium Elephant Foundation
The Hill Country
The Millennium Elephant Foundation houses elephants rescued from aggressive mahouts, and elephants retired from working in temples. Be aware that though…
Nuwara Eliya
One of Sri Lanka's newest (2006) and smallest (29 sq hectares) national parks, Galway's Land is a dense patch of montane forest a couple of kilometres…
Anuradhapura
This 4th-century statue, seated in the samadhi (meditation) pose, is regarded as one of the finest Buddha statues in Sri Lanka. When constructed, it was…
The Hill Country
A local landmark, Farr Inn was a hunting lodge for high-ranking British colonial officials, but now incorporates a basic but expensive cafe and a visitor…
Polonnaruwa
The Gal Pota (Stone Book) is a colossal stone representation of an ola book. It is nearly 9m long by 1.5m wide, and 40cm to 66cm thick. The inscription on…
Nuwara Eliya
This is one of the country's most attractive, and best-maintained, town parks. A stroll around its paths, past manicured lawns, is a pleasure. The park…
Colombo
Casting a shadow over Slave Island, the 350m Lotus Tower is set to open by sometime in 2018. With a bulbous top meant to resemble the namesake blossom,…
Jaffna & the North
An offbeat attraction, this ancient baobab tree was allegedly planted by Arab traders. It has a circumference of 20m and is believed to be over 700 years…
Trincomalee
About 17km south of Trinco, there's a turn-off on the left for Marble Beach (signposted just before the Kinniya bridge), a glorious cove bookended by…
Jaffna & the North
Beside the KKS road at the 13km marker, south of the village of Tellippalai, the vast Thurkkai Amman Kovil is set behind a fairly deep, stepped pool. The…
Galle
The Main Gate in the northern stretch of the wall is a comparatively recent addition – it was built by the British in 1873 to handle the heavier flow of…
The East
For a break from the beach, stroll up to this beautifully kept cemetery. This is the last resting place for 364 Commonwealth servicemen who died at Trinco…
Jaffna & the North
About 2km north of the AB19 along a dirt track is a sombre memorial to Lieutenant General Denzil Lakshman Kobbekaduwa and others. In 1992, the LTTE set…
- placement: fullWidth
- path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
- possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [300, 250], [320, 50], [1, 1],
- targeting:
{ "position": "superzone" }
