Sigiriya
Rising two hundred metres out of the central plains, Sigiriya is a fifth century royal citadel with mirror walls, water gardens and a summit palace reached past the paws of a long vanished lion. It is the island’s most spectacular single sight and best climbed at first light.
Dambulla
A short drive from Sigiriya, the Dambulla cave temple is a UNESCO listed complex of five shrines carved into a granite outcrop, filled with more than one hundred and fifty Buddha statues and ceilings painted in intricate murals.
Polonnaruwa
Sri Lanka’s second ancient capital is a remarkably intact medieval city of royal palaces, temples and the serene rock cut Buddhas of the Gal Vihara. Compact and shaded, it is best explored slowly by bicycle.
Anuradhapura
The island’s first and longest serving royal capital is a vast sacred city of colossal brick stupas, mirror still bathing tanks and the Sri Maha Bodhi, a sacred fig grown from a cutting of the tree under which the Buddha found enlightenment.
Kandy
The hill capital and last kingdom to fall wraps around a calm lake and guards the country’s holiest Buddhist shrine, the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. Misty and green, it is the gateway between the coast and the tea hills.
Jaffna
Long off the tourist trail, Jaffna is the proud heart of the island’s Tamil culture, a sun baked peninsula of golden Hindu temples, colonial forts, palmyra palms and quiet offshore islands. Its food, festivals and warmth reward the traveller who ventures north.