Sri Lanka
Pearl of the Indian Ocean
An island the size of Ireland packed with eight UNESCO sites, 8 national parks, leopards, blue whales, ancient Buddhist kingdoms, and a culture that has flourished continuously for 2,500 years. Three weather patterns mean it's always sunny somewhere.
A Compact Empire of Diversity
Sri Lanka — 65,610 km² off the southern tip of India — packs an extraordinary diversity of landscapes and culture into an area you can drive across in a day. The island is home to 22 million people, dominated by Sinhalese Buddhist culture but with significant Tamil Hindu, Muslim and Christian minorities.
The cultural triangle of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya preserves 2,500 years of Theravada Buddhist civilisation. Kandy holds the Temple of the Sacred Tooth, the relic that politically anchored every Sinhalese kingdom. The Hill Country's tea estates were planted by the British in the 1860s and now produce the world's fourth-largest tea crop. The southern beaches of Mirissa are one of the best places on Earth to see blue whales.
Swotah Travel arranges Sri Lanka most often as a beach-and-culture combination with Nepal — Kathmandu's Himalaya followed by 7-10 days on the island. Visa is a 30-day ETA applied for online.
- 01Sigiriya Rock Fortress
King Kassapa's 5th-century palace on a 200 m monolith · UNESCO · stunning frescoes
- 02Temple of the Tooth
Kandy · houses the Buddha's tooth relic · the spiritual heart of Sinhalese culture
- 03Yala National Park
Highest leopard density in the world · Sri Lankan elephant · sloth bears
- 04Hill Country Tea Estates
Nuwara Eliya · Ella · Haputale · 1860s British plantations still producing Ceylon tea
- 05Blue Whales at Mirissa
December–April · world's largest creature off Sri Lanka's southern coast
- 06Galle Fort
17th-century Dutch fort · UNESCO · Sri Lanka's most photogenic colonial town