Sri Lanka in December

Sri Lanka's cultural capital, home to the sacred Temple of the Tooth Relic.

A lush hill-country village with iconic train rides, waterfalls, and tea plantations.

An ancient rock fortress rising 200m above the jungle - a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ancient capital with massive stupas, sacred Bo tree, and sprawling ruins.

Ruined medieval capital with palace, temples, and monuments scattered across a vast park.

Sri Lanka's energetic capital - colonial quarters, temple treasures, seafront promenades, and the island's best food.

'Little England' - a cool hill-station surrounded by endless tea estates.

A crescent beach paradise with world-class whale watching and surf breaks.

A UNESCO-listed Dutch fort town with cobblestone streets, boutiques, and ocean views.

A dramatic highland plateau with World's End cliff and misty cloud forest.

A golden beach resort town known for water sports, ayurveda, and luxury hotels.

Five golden caves filled with 153 ancient Buddha statues and stunning religious murals.

A rugged limestone range with hiking trails, cloud forests, and endemic wildlife.

Sacred mountain with a pilgrimage trail and sunrise views across the Central Highlands.

Nuwara Eliya's centrepiece lake - swan boats, pony rides, and misty mountain reflections in 'Little England'.

Sri Lanka's great multi-faith pilgrimage town, sacred to Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and Veddas alike.

A riot of sacred colour on the Kandy–Dambulla road - one of Sri Lanka's most spectacular Hindu gopurams.

A famous banana-shaped bay minutes from Galle, with calm swimming, reef snorkelling, and a jungle-clad headland.

Colombo's beloved ocean-front lawn - kites, street food, and the whole city gathered for sunset.

Colombo's most famous Buddhist temple, with the serene Seema Malaka pavilion floating on Beira Lake.

Beach town famous for coral reefs, diving, and a lively backpacker scene.

A tiny, palm-fringed crescent bay - the definition of a hidden gem.

A perfect crescent bay with fishing stilt boats, gentle surf, and a vibrant village atmosphere.

The home of Sri Lanka's spectacular devil-dance masks and traditional mask-carving workshops.

Bevis Bawa's flamboyant garden estate - five acres of romantic terraces, artworks, and jungle theatre near Bentota.

A Ramsar wetland of lagoons and dunes where greater flamingos winter alongside crocodiles and elephants.

Badulla's famous 'bridal veil' waterfall, reached by a fun kilometre-long jungle path.

The safari crossroads of the Cultural Triangle - a village lake, catamaran rides, and every park within reach.

A historic Dutch fort city at the island's southern tip - star fort, island temple, and the end of the coastal railway.

A lively fishing city near the airport, famous for its lagoon, Dutch canals, and fiery seafood.

Ella's iconic colonial railway viaduct - nine stone arches curving through jungle and tea, best seen as a train crosses.

The oldest historically documented tree on Earth - grown from the very Bo tree beneath which the Buddha awoke.

A sleepy fishing town flanked by some of the south's longest, emptiest beaches and rocky coves.

The most reliable place in Sri Lanka to see wild elephants - hundreds live around the great Udawalawe reservoir.

Sri Lanka's tallest waterfall - a 263-metre thread of white falling through pine forest near Kalupahana.

One of Sri Lanka's oldest ports - a golden beach, a busy fish harbour, and the historic Ketchimalai Mosque on the headland.

A waterfall shaped perfectly like a sacred Bo leaf - Sri Lanka's most symmetrical cascade, minutes from Ratnapura.

A river-mouth town crowned by the great white Kalutara Chaitya - the rare stupa you can walk inside.

The last king's ornamental sea - Kandy's mirror, ringed by a walking path and crowned by the Tooth Temple.

A medieval capital ringed by giant animal-shaped rocks - climb Elephant Rock for sunset over the city and its lake.

Ella's beloved sunrise hike - forty-five easy minutes through tea to a ridge with enormous views.

The stupa marking the Buddha's first visit to Sri Lanka - the island's oldest place of Buddhist worship.

Colombo's classic beach suburb, built around a grand colonial hotel and famous golden-hour views.

A seven-terraced rock monastery with painted caves and a giant reclining Buddha - the 'little Sigiriya' of the south.

Sri Lanka's highest mountain at 2,524m - a cloud-forest summit you can actually drive to.

Visit the indigenous Veddha people and learn about traditional forest knowledge.

Sri Lanka's 'Little New Zealand' - rolling dairy pastures at 1,800 metres with farm visits and fresh milk.

A dizzying spiral tower on a mountain summit near Gampola, with 360° views and a heart-pounding final staircase.

A majestic 12-metre standing Buddha carved from a single granite cliff in the 5th century.

The hill country's mildest address - a planters' town of orchards, colonial hotels, and perfect walking weather.

Colombo's lakeside evening park - fountains, food stalls, and plant markets on the Diyawanna Oya.

Sri Lanka's tallest lighthouse marks the island's southernmost point - next stop, Antarctica.

A 14th-century shrine whose carved wooden pillars are counted among the finest woodwork in the world.

A scenic ridge walk overlooking Kandy Lake and the surrounding hill country.

Remote peninsula famous for dolphin and whale watching in pristine lagoons.

A majestic 14th-century temple rising from bare rock, blending Buddhist shrine and Hindu devales under one soaring roof.

A Ramsar-protected river-lagoon of 64 islands, mangrove tunnels, and cinnamon islands near Balapitiya.

Colombo's secret wilderness - a vast marsh of crocodiles, otters, and birdlife minutes from the airport.

Sri Lanka's grandest museum - the throne and crown of the Kandyan kings in a white Italianate palace of 1877.

The highest railway station in Sri Lanka - a misty 1,898-metre platform at the gateway to Horton Plains.

A 109-metre triple-tier waterfall tumbling beside the Kandy–Nuwara Eliya road at the Ramboda Pass.

Pettah's candy-striped marvel - a 1909 mosque so distinctive that sailors used it to recognise Colombo's harbour.

The 'Sea of Bintenna' - an ancient tank with a unique rock-cut sluice, dug by a giant in legend.

A hidden crescent of jungle-backed sand between Matara and Dickwella - one of the south's quietest beaches.

Colombo's green heart - flame trees, a golden Buddha, and the white Town Hall rising over the lawns.

A 13th-century rock citadel with Sri Lanka's most beautiful ancient staircase - Sigiriya without the crowds.

The cave monastery near Matale where the Buddhist scriptures were first written down 2,000 years ago.

The flat-topped mountain shaped like an open book, watching over the Kandy road - a short, superb sunrise hike.

Sri Lanka's oldest surviving wooden bridge - a 16th-century roofed crossing built without a single nail.

Seven colossal figures carved into a jungle cliff - including Sri Lanka's tallest standing Buddha.

A drowned valley of tea and mist near Hatton - Sri Lanka's most beautiful reservoir and its finest bungalow country.

One of Asia's oldest zoos - a leafy Colombo institution of walk-through aviaries, big cats, and butterfly gardens.

A roadside cave temple near Ella hiding a 12-metre unfinished Buddha carved into the cliff.

A cool-climate mountain garden of roses and cloud forest beneath Hakgala rock, steeped in Ramayana legend.

Colombo's stately memorial to 1948 independence - a stone assembly hall on lion-guarded steps, ringed by jogging lawns.

The white phoenix of Jaffna - once among Asia's great libraries, burned in 1981 and rebuilt as a symbol of resilience.

King Dhatusena's 5th-century inland sea, whose canal to Anuradhapura falls just one foot every mile.

A coastal lagoon teeming with waterbirds - Sri Lanka's oldest sanctuary, explored by silent canoe.

The 'Temple on the Hill' at Aluthgama, crowned by a 48-metre seated Buddha gazing over the west coast.

A hillside of colonial stories behind the Tooth Temple - 195 graves and a caretaker who knows them all.

Minneriya's quieter twin, where hundreds of elephants gather around an ancient tank late in the dry season.

A lake-and-beach town of literary fame - island temples, cinnamon gardens, and the childhood world of Martin Wickramasinghe.

The heart of Sri Lanka's turtle conservation coast - nurseries, night nesting walks, and hatchling releases.

A colossal hilltop stupa raised for the temples drowned by the Kotmale reservoir - with tea-country views to match.

A mighty 126-metre cascade in the Maskeliya hills, framed by legend and hydro history.

The panoramic viewpoint above Haputale where Sir Thomas Lipton surveyed his tea empire.

A far-flung island of baobab trees, wild donkeys, colonial forts, and world-class birdwatching.

A perfect circle of ancient stone pillars crowning a rock - the loveliest vatadage in Sri Lanka, and the least visited.

One of the five ancient abodes of Shiva, tied to the Ramayana's ending - and host to a spectacular festival.

The grandest Hindu temple in Sri Lanka - golden gopurams, thunderous pujas, and a 25-day festival like no other.

Sri Lanka's railway story in one yard - vintage steam locomotives and rolling stock at the top of the Kandy incline.

The moated 12th-century capital of Parakramabahu the Great before Polonnaruwa - ruins, legends, and a princess's tower.

Sri Lanka's most important sea-turtle nesting beach, where five species come ashore at night.

The cave temple where silver ore funded the great stupas - with golden Buddhas and a shrine floor of Dutch tiles.

A mysterious mountain of ruined forest monasteries, rising abruptly from the dry-zone plains near Habarana.

The Ramayana's fallen Himalayan hill above Unawatuna - jungle, hidden coves, and a white Japanese Peace Pagoda.

The island temple of the god Devol - a shrine on its own rock off Hikkaduwa where justice is sought over the waves.

The 'Little Niagara of Sri Lanka' - twin cascades pouring through tea country near Talawakele.

The holiest shrine in Sri Lanka - home of the Buddha's tooth relic and heart of the Kandyan kingdom.

Colombo's birding secret - an ancient tank and paddy wetland where jacanas and kingfishers commute past the suburbs.

A historic royal forest rising behind Kandy's Temple of the Tooth, laced with shady walking trails.

An eerie red-earth plateau above the sea, tied to Ramayana legend and unlike anywhere else on the island.

A 98-metre plunge into a jungle amphitheatre near Ginigathhena - wilder and quieter than its tea-country cousins.

The south coast's coolest surf strip - consistent reef breaks, stilt fishermen, and a booming cafe scene.

Boardwalks through the old capital's marshes - the wildest corner of Ramsar-listed wetland Colombo.

Sri Lanka's largest natural freshwater lake - boat safaris, birdlife, and lakeside ease an hour from Colombo.

A century-old tea factory turned museum above Kandy - machinery, Lipton lore, and a tasting with a view.

Mirissa's famous palm-crowned headland - a grove of coconut trees above the blue Indian Ocean.

A white-sand cove with a natural swimming lagoon and the south coast's famous palm rope swing.

The engineering marvel where the railway spirals under itself - inspired, legend says, by a turban knot.

Ella's serious hike - railway tracks, tea paths, and a cliff-top summit staring down the whole Gap.

A 64-metre waterfall pouring off the Hunnasgiriya heights above Elkaduwa - Kandy's closest big cascade.

A pink quartz mountain rising from Asia's largest ironwood forest - one of Sri Lanka's strangest, loveliest places.

The 'black water pond' - serene monastery ruins around a dark forest pool near Dambulla, with wildlife for company.

A 116-metre plunge in the gem country near Pelmadulla - among the tallest waterfalls in Sri Lanka.

A vast bird-sanctuary lagoon on the wild north-east coast - flamingos, pelicans, and fishing villages between the waters.

Geoffrey Bawa's country estate - the garden laboratory of Asia's greatest modern architect, on a lake near Bentota.

A serene 11-metre limestone Buddha in the forests of Moneragala - the tallest free-standing ancient statue on the island.

A mysterious stone shrine at the island's very centre, blending Buddhist and Hindu art like nowhere else.

Geoffrey Bawa's island parliament floating on the Diyawanna - the modern capital's defining view.

The site of the world's worst rail disaster - memorials to the 2004 tsunami's victims beside the Galle road.

A dramatic rocky outcrop overlooking Sigiriya - stunning sunrise views without the crowds.

A dramatic 30-metre waterfall framed by jungle, near Ella.

Sri Lanka's first drive-through safari park - lions, elephants, and open enclosures near Hambantota.

Asia's finest botanical garden - 147 acres of royal palms, orchids, and giant trees in a bend of the Mahaweli.

A brightly painted Hindu temple at Seetha Eliya, held to be the very place Sita was held captive in the Ramayana.

A turquoise spring-fed lake ringed by pines and tea, hidden above Elkaduwa in the Knuckles foothills.

A 60-metre film-star waterfall beside the Belihuloya road, reached by a short forest amble.

One of the island's five ancient abodes of Shiva, resurrected beside the lost port of Manthai near Mannar.

The gold standard of elephant care - orphaned calves raised wild and released, watched from a distance at feeding time.

Sri Lanka's tallest dam - a 122-metre concrete arch flung across the Mahaweli gorge, with a spectacular viewpoint.

'Little England's' formal park - flower terraces, cool air, and some of Asia's best urban birdwatching.

A remote riverside park famed for large elephant herds and one of the island's healthiest sloth bear populations.

Home of Sri Lanka's biggest seated Buddha - 50 metres of serene concrete with a walk-through 'hell tunnel' below.

The 'Potato Range' - a railway-flanked peak guarding the Kandyan gap, with one of the island's best half-day hikes.

A 68-metre plunge in the wet hills above Ratnapura - gem country's forest waterfall.

A Ramsar wetland of ancient cascade tanks between Chilaw and Puttalam - heronries, mangroves, and morning bird clouds.

Negombo's dragon-mouth temple - walk through the jaws into halls of vivid murals and a six-metre Buddha.

A 26-metre white Buddha overlooking Kandy - an iconic modern shrine.

An 1889 imperial lighthouse on its own islet off Beruwala - boat trips, reef water, and West-coast maritime romance.

Colombo's beloved suburban temple - a sacred Bo tree of ancient lineage and one of the city's grandest peraheras.

The 'Golden Valley of Ceylon Tea' - a planters' world of estates, bungalows, and mist that time forgot.

Sri Lanka's widest waterfall - a curtain of a dozen cascades in the hills between Welimada and Nuwara Eliya.

Rolling green hills of tea estates where you can pick, process, and taste Ceylon tea.

An 18th-century cave temple across the river from Kandy, holding the finest Kandyan-era murals in existence.

A lagoon village hiding Buddhist history - the island monastery where Western monasticism in Asia began.

A Shakespeare-named cascade pouring through the Pundaluoya tea estates - tea country's prettiest secret.

The waterfall the trains window-shop - a bridal-veil cascade beside the line near Ambewela.

A 14th-century stone temple on a rock summit - the South Indian-styled jewel of the Kandyan three-temples loop.

The waterfall you reach by railway - a jungle cascade a short walk from a station with no road.

The white sentinel of Galle Fort - Sri Lanka's oldest light station on the ramparts' most photographed corner.

A 7th-century tank with sunset views, toque macaques, and the quiet back door to Polonnaruwa.

The garden that changed the world economy - where Asia's first rubber trees were planted in 1876, near Gampaha.

A UNESCO biosphere reserve near Habarana offering reliable year-round elephant safaris.

The quiet stretch below Bentota - clean golden sand, turtle projects, and low-key beachfront ease.

A sacred riverside temple near Colombo, believed to have been visited by the Buddha and adorned with celebrated murals.

The milk-white stupa of the sacred city - where tradition says the Buddha met the king of Kataragama.

The A5's famous tea stop - factory tours, estate views, and the legendary chocolate cake at 1,700 metres.

Where Ceylon tea began - James Taylor's first field of 1867, his rock seat, and the ruins of his cabin.

South Asia's tallest tower - a 351-metre lotus bud over Beira Lake with the island's highest observation deck.

Nuwara Eliya's walk-to waterfall - a 30-metre ribbon above the Pedro tea estate, wrapped in a tragic legend.

The deep south's thermal pools - a renovated bathing garden in the scrub near Sooriyawewa, beloved by safari-goers.

The manor of the 'Kolonne King' - a labyrinthine 17th-century walawwa of courtyards, carvings, and tall tales.

The chief shrine of the god Saman, guardian of Adam's Peak - Ratnapura's great temple and its September pageant.

Nuwara Eliya's mini World's End - open grasslands with a nine-peak panorama and resident deer.

Badulla's ancient heart - one of the sixteen holiest shrines, founded on a visit by the Buddha himself.

A golden hilltop temple west of Kandy with 360° mountain views - Sri Lanka's most photogenic modern shrine.

A sandbar-tethered islet on the deep south coast - wade across at low tide to your own blue-water lookout.

The Tudor-brick darling of 'Little England' - an 1894 post office still stamping letters under its clock tower.

The oldest building in Colombo Fort - a 17th-century hospital reborn as the city's favourite courtyard of restaurants.

One of Asia's largest natural rock shelters - home to 37,000-year-old prehistoric Sri Lankans.

A tiny carved masterpiece - the wayside rest hall whose timber beams rival Embekka's fame.

A famous sanctuary for orphaned elephants, best known for the herd's twice-daily river bathing.

A brand-new district rising from the sea beside Galle Face - promenades, events, and Colombo's future skyline.

The Mahaweli's mightiest reservoir - a vast dam and eagle country on the wild road from Kandy to Mahiyangana.

A 111-metre giant hidden above Hasalaka's paddy terraces - one of the tallest and least-visited falls on the island.

The cliff cave above Ella where legend hides Princess Sita - and archaeology finds 25,000-year-old Sri Lankans.

A spice baron's Edwardian fantasy mansion above the Kalu Ganga - teak, stained glass, and a poignant story.

Colombo's stupa on stilts - a harbour-mouth dagoba raised on arches so arriving ships see it first.

The 'unfinished' twin of the Avukana Buddha - a colossal rock-cut statue in deep countryside solitude.

Sri Lanka's holiest Catholic shrine - 400 years of pilgrimage to a jungle church that sheltered generations.

Colombo's miracle church - a harbourside national shrine where every faith comes on Tuesdays.

A tiny private island with a 1920s villa, wading distance off Weligama - Sri Lanka's most storied address.

Matara's tunnel temple - a 39-metre Buddha above an underground maze of twenty thousand comic-strip murals.

Colombo's grand Dutch survivor - a 1749 church whose floor is paved with the tombstones of colonial governors.

A colossal unfinished stupa mound near Buttala - one of the largest ever attempted, wrapped in a tale of warring brothers.