25 things worth
your days here.

1. Climb Sigiriya at 6.30am. 1,200 steps, an hour up, frescoes halfway, a fifth-century palace on the summit. Go at opening or not at all — by 9am it is hot and crowded. Sigiriya.

2. Track leopards at Yala or Wilpattu. Yala has the highest leopard density on earth; Wilpattu has a fraction of the vehicles. Dawn drive, four hours, February to July is best. Yala safari.

3. Take the train to Ella. Seven hours from Kandy through tea estates and cloud. Doors open, feet out. The train journey.

4. Walk Galle Fort at dusk. Dutch ramparts, Portuguese street plan, boys diving off the walls, the best coffee on the island. Galle.

5. Blue whales off Mirissa. December to April, 6am departure, the largest animal that has ever lived. Charter privately — the group boats are grim.

6. Sleep on a tea estate. A planter's bungalow above Hatton, a butler, a fire at night, mist in the valley at six. Ceylon Tea Trails.

7. Dambulla Cave Temples — five caves, 150 Buddhas, 2,000 years of painted ceiling. An hour. 8. Polonnaruwa by bicycle — a whole medieval capital, best covered on two wheels at 7am. 9. Anuradhapura — older, vaster, still an active pilgrimage site; go with a guide or it is just stones. 10. The Temple of the Tooth, Kandy — attend the evening puja, not the midday tour. 11. Mihintale — where Buddhism arrived in 247 BC, and almost empty at sunset.

12. Udawalawe for near-guaranteed elephants. 13. The Gathering at Minneriya, July to September — several hundred elephants at one reservoir. 14. Sinharaja rainforest with a bird guide; endemics you will see nowhere else. 15. Turtle nesting at Rekawa, after dark, no torches. 16. Sloth bears at Wilpattu in June, when the palu fruit drops.

17. Horton Plains and World's End — leave at 5am, the cliff clouds over by nine. 18. Adam's Peak by night between December and May, arriving for sunrise with the pilgrims. 19. Knuckles Range trekking, the emptiest good walking on the island. 20. Rafting at Kitulgala, grade 2–3, genuinely fun with teenagers. 21. A helicopter hop from Colombo to the south coast — 25 minutes instead of three hours. Helicopter transfers.

22. A rice-and-curry cooking class in a Galle home — twelve dishes, three hours, the best meal of most trips. 23. A proper Ayurveda consultation and a week of treatment, not a spa massage. Ayurveda retreats. 24. Surf at Ahangama or Arugam Bay, depending on the month. 25. The Esala Perahera in Kandy, July or August — elephants in lights, fire dancers, drummers, and a private balcony if you plan far enough ahead.

Nothing on this island is more than a few hours from anything else, which is its great advantage over Thailand or India. A realistic ten-night shape: two nights cultural triangle, two nights tea country with the train, two nights safari, four nights coast.

See our itinerary guide, browse private tours, or read the weather guide to pick your month first.