Kandy is the hill capital of Sri Lanka and is a hub city from which all towns in Sri Lanka can be reached. Reached from Colombo by the Colombo-Kandy road, which is the country’s main trunk route, Kandy can also be accessed by rail with the journey being extremely scenic and train services being both regular and reliable. Kandy is home to the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha which has lain here for the past four centuries, since first being enshrined in what is now the DaladaMaligawa by King Wimaladharmasuriya I, and this has seen the city become a focal point of pilgrimages. Its heritage has made Kandyan culture unique, with everything from its food to its attire being different to other parts of Sri Lanka. Located in Peradeniya on the outskirts of Kandy the Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens is spread over 147 acres. Established in 1374 as a pleasure garden for the Kings of Gampola and Kandy, and later added to in times of British rule, the Gardens boast of more than 4,000 species of trees, plants and creepers.

Anuradhapura, a magnificent and sacred city, was Sri Lanka’s political and religious capital for 1300 years before being abandoned following an invasion in 993 AD. The temple was built around a clipping from the Buddha’s BO tree, known as “The Tree of Enlightenment,” which was claimed to have been transported there in the third century B.C. Anuradhapura is home to some of the tallest dagobas, as well as the ruins of palaces, monasteries, and temples, including the famed Temple of the Holy Bo Tree. You may see “the Tree of Enlightenment,” which is claimed to have been transported there about the 3rd century B.C., and embark on a sightseeing tour of the city’s many dagobas, palace ruins, monasteries, and temples.

The boutique style high-end tourist idea in Sri Lanka, a relatively new concept that is quickly gaining traction, originated in Galle, with the Dutch Fort itself hosting some of the best in this category. Galle retains a strong Dutch influence, with its unique architecture, much of which has been painstakingly restored! Galle has attracted a lot of Europeans who have made it their home in the last decade, many of whom run their gorgeously renovated residences as tourist guest houses and hotels. The beaches around Galle are among the greatest that the coastline has to offer, helping to make this location one of the most popular and fabled.

The Dambulla cave temple (also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla) is a World Heritage Site (1991) in Sri Lanka. The Dambulla cave monastery is still functional and remains the best-preserved ancient edifice in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, you can also visit Sigiriya. The Sigiriya rock is believed to be a hardened lump of granite from a long-eroded volcano. Regardless of its age, the magnificence of the palace still furnishes an astonishing insight into the resourcefulness and imagination of its builders.

Polonaruwa is known for its large rock cut images, which have been preserved perfectly over the many centuries. The unique set of statues cut out from a single granite wall with supreme esteem and the town came gradually to become the ‘Country Residence’ of royalty.

Colombo, as tumultuous as it might be at times, has a curious combination of old and new, lending it a unique character. The city’s historic area still has colonial-style architecture, and the great old buildings seem oddly out of place against the backdrop of the more modern multi-story steel and glass towers. Similarly, its clogged major roadways flanked with flashy name boards and flashing neon billboards stand in sharp contrast to the British-planted tree-lined boulevards. It’s a bit of a culture shock for a first-time visitor, but Colombo is the kind of town that grows on you, with its laid-back demeanor making even the most frazzled tourist feel at ease right away.

Sri Lanka’s Sinharaja Forest Reserve is a significant national park. Sinharaja Forest Reserve, designated by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site, is home to a variety of unusual plants and species. The region is densely forested with indigenous flora and animals of Sri Lanka. It is also regarded as the country’s final tract of tropical rainforest, making it extremely important.

Udawalawe National Park, which covers 30,821 hectares, is well-known for its enormous elephant population. As a result, this national park is great for viewing herds of magnificent Asian elephants in their native surroundings. It is reported that over 400 elephants live here in total, with approximately 250 of them considered permanent residents. Many additional animal species live in the national park, including the rusty-spotted cat, fishing cat, and Sri Lankan leopard.