Sri Lanka

Tangalla is the gateway to the wide-open spaces and wide-open beaches of southeast Sri Lanka. It's the last town of any size before Hambantota and has some old-world charm. But you're really here to find your perfect beach, and there are several nearby.

Framed by soaring highlands on its northern boundary, the Uda Walawe National Park is one of the world's best places to see wild elephants. Largely comprised of grasslands and bush forest, it's also one of the best national parks in Sri Lanka for game spotting.

You don’t have to be on Sri Lanka’s west coast for long to realize that the coastline has something of a multiple personality. North of the capital is Negombo, a cheerful beach town crowned with church spires that is, thanks to its proximity to the airport, a staple of almost every visitor’s Sri Lankan journey. Head further north, though, and you enter a wild and little-visited region that seems to consist of nothing but coconut plantations and lagoons, sparkling in the sun and filled with dolphins.

Crumbling temples, lost cities and sacred Buddhist sites are the reason to head up country to the cultural heartland of Sri Lanka. It was here on the central plains that ancient Sinhalese dynasties set up their first capitals and supported massive artistic and architectural endeavors. Eventually these kingdoms fell, slowly to be reclaimed by the forest and jungles.

Sri Lanka's Hill Country is the island at its most scenic, a mist-wrapped land of emerald peaks and stupendous views, of hillsides carpeted with tea plantations and graced by astonishing waterfalls. This is a place where you can wear a fleece in the daytime and cuddle up beside a log fire in the evening. Where you can enjoy a memorable meal in the eternal city of Kandy or at a roadside shack in lovely Ella. A region where you can walk to the end of the world, stand in the footsteps of the Buddha and be surrounded by a hundred wild elephants. Ride a train utterly bewitched by the vistas. Paddle a raft down a raging river. Enjoy the drumbeat of traditional dance and then savour the silence on a lonely mountaintop.

Sri Lanka har underbara stränder, men efter ett tag tröttnar man på solsvedda axlar och sand mellan tårna. Då är det dags att åka tåg, vandra uppför klippor, bo på kolonialhotell, meditera, leva hälsosamt och spana i det tropiska djurlivet.

This most holy of towns is a compelling mix of pomp and procession, piety and religious extravagance. Along with Adam’s Peak (Sri Pada), Kataragama is the most important pilgrimage site in Sri Lanka; a holy place for Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Veddah people.

Much less visited than nearby Yala National Park, Bundala National Park is an excellent choice for birders, and you've a good chance of spotting crocs, wild boar, mongooses, monitor lizards, monkeys and elephants. Most people visit on jeep tours from Tissamaharama. Bundala is open year-round, allowing wildlife junkies to get a wet-season fix.

Dambulla’s famed rock cave temple is an iconic Sri Lankan image – you’ll be familiar with its spectacular Buddha-filled interior long before you arrive in town. Despite its slightly commercial air, this remains an important holy place and should not be missed.

Maybe you're searching for somewhere in Sri Lanka a little less developed, a coastline that retains a more earthy, local feel. Or maybe you just want the best beach of your life. Well, the East might just offer that place and that beach.