Sri Lanka 8 Day Itinerary: Culture, Tea and Coast

Check-in is at 2pm, and the first stop, at 3pm, is Gangaramaya Temple, founded in the late 19th century and today Colombo's most eclectic Buddhist temple: the same grounds hold a museum with antique clocks, ivory elephants and even classic cars donated by devotees, alongside gilded stupas and a reclining Buddha. Entry is free, though a small donation is expected. An hour covers the temple and its adjoining museum.

Ten minutes by tuk-tuk from the temple, Galle Face Green is Colombo's seafront esplanade, reclaimed from the sea by the British in the 19th century as a golf course. By late afternoon it becomes the city's favourite hangout: kites in the air, vendors grilling corn and spicy peanuts, and sunset over the Indian Ocean. Thirty minutes on foot close the first day before dinner.

On the way to Sigiriya, about 3.5 hours' drive from Colombo, Matale Spice Garden is a near-mandatory stop for anyone on this road: cinnamon, clove, cardamom and vanilla grow side by side, with a free guided walk (the garden's income comes from the shop at the exit, no obligation to buy) explaining how each spice is harvested and processed. Forty minutes explain why Ceylon gave its name to cinnamon worldwide.

Check-in in Sigiriya is at 2pm, and the climb rewards better in the late afternoon, once the heat eases. Sigiriya is a 200 metre granite outcrop rising out of the jungle, on top of which King Kashyapa built a fortified palace in the 5th century, after murdering his own father and fearing revenge from his brother. The climb of roughly 1,200 steps passes the Sigiriya Maidens frescoes, painted in ochre and still vivid, and the Lion's Gate, today just two giant brick paws at the base of the final staircase.

Entry costs US$30 for foreign adults (50% off for SAARC citizens), bought on the Central Cultural Fund website or at the counter, and the full climb, including photo stops, takes two to three hours. Bring water: there's little shade along most of the way.

Twenty minutes from Sigiriya, Dambulla Cave Temple is the largest cave temple complex still in use in Sri Lanka, with over 2,200 years of continuous Buddhist history. Five caves hold 153 Buddha statues, including a 14 metre reclining Buddha carved directly into the rock, and the ceilings are covered with mural paintings layered across different centuries.

Climb the roughly 350 steps barefoot (shoes come off throughout the temple grounds, and the stone floor heats up by midday, so go early). Entry costs around US$10, and ninety unhurried minutes cover all five caves.

An hour's drive from Dambulla, Polonnaruwa was Sri Lanka's second ancient capital, at its peak between the 11th and 13th centuries, and is today a sprawling archaeological park best covered by bicycle, rented cheaply at the entrance. The highlight is Gal Vihara, four Buddha statues carved into a single granite outcrop in the 12th century, including a 14 metre reclining Buddha whose serene expression local guides like to compare with Dambulla's stricter one.

Entry costs US$30 and includes the small museum at the entrance. Set aside two to three hours to cycle among the ruins, which spread over a larger area than the map suggests.

Sigiriya to Kandy is about a three hour drive, and the 2pm check-in leaves time to rest before the evening ceremony at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, home to what Buddhists venerate as a tooth of the Buddha, smuggled into Sri Lanka hidden in a princess's hair in the 4th century. Drum and offering ceremonies take place three times a day, and the 6:30pm one is the busiest, with lines to glimpse the relic through the inner sanctum door, opened only at those hours.

Entry costs around US$6 to US$13 depending on the source consulted on a given day, and ninety minutes covers the ceremony and the Buddhist art museum upstairs.

After the ceremony, Kandy Lake sits five minutes' walk from the temple, ordered dug in 1807 by the last king of Kandy on land that had been a paddy field. The walk around it, lit at night, is the city's most relaxed activity: giant fruit bats fly over the small central island at dusk. Thirty minutes close the day.

Fifteen minutes from Kandy, the Royal Botanical Gardens Peradeniya were founded in 1821 on land that had already served as a royal garden in the 14th century, and hold over 4,000 species within a river loop that nearly isolates the park into a green peninsula. The Royal Palm Avenue, planted in 1905, and the orchid house, with over 300 varieties, are the two stops worth the detour.

Entry costs around US$17, and ninety minutes cover the essentials before heading to the station.

The Kandy to Ella train is considered one of the most beautiful rail journeys in the world, and the reputation is earned: six to seven hours cutting through terraced tea plantations, tunnels and misty valleys, with stops at British colonial-era stations practically untouched since the 19th century. Reserved 2nd class is the most sought-after, with window seats facing the valley, and sells out up to 30 days ahead in high season (November to April): book through the Sri Lanka Railways website as soon as your dates are set.

Tickets run from about US$1 to US$4 depending on class, and the highlight comes near the end, when the train crosses the Nine Arch Bridge, a 1921 stone viaduct with nine arches that becomes a stage for those who get off in Ella just to photograph the train passing overhead.

Walking or taking a tuk-tuk back to the Nine Arch Bridge, the right time is between 6:30 and 9am, when two or three trains cross the viaduct in sequence and the morning light hits the valley head-on. It's free, and the fifteen minute trail from central Ella passes through tea plantations that already warm up the day.

Five minutes by tuk-tuk from the bridge, the Little Adam's Peak trail climbs about 45 minutes on wooden steps through tea plantations to a 360 degree viewpoint over the Ella Gap, the valley cutting through Sri Lanka's central highlands. It's much shorter and easier than the neighbouring full-day Ella Rock hike, making it the right pick for anyone with only the morning free.

Back in central Ella, a local tea factory welcomes visitors for a short tour through Ceylon tea production, from leaf picking to drying and grading, ending with a tasting included. Thirty minutes of tour plus tasting time, and the factory shop usually sells the tea cheaper than any touristy shop in town.

Ella to Galle is about a five hour drive, and Udawalawe National Park sits practically halfway, making it the natural stop for the travel day. Created in 1972 around a reservoir, it has the highest concentration of wild Asian elephants in Sri Lanka, with herds of up to 50 animals easily spotted right from the jeep, without the luck a leopard safari in Yala requires.

A half-day safari costs from US$30 to US$45 per person, including jeep, driver and licensed guide, plus the park entry fee of US$42.50. Three hours of safari, then the rest of the day is road to Galle, with check-in at 2pm.

Galle Fort was built by the Portuguese in 1588 and rebuilt in stone by the Dutch from 1663, and is today a UNESCO World Heritage site: a whole walled, still-inhabited neighbourhood, with cobblestone streets, Dutch churches and colonial houses turned into guesthouses and cafés. The two kilometre rampart can be walked in about an hour, and late afternoon, with the sun hitting the lighthouse, is the most photographed hour.

At the fort wall's southeastern tip, Galle Lighthouse was built in 1848, destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1939, and is the oldest lighthouse still operating in Sri Lanka. It's not open inside, but the surrounding area, with the sea hitting the rampart's base directly, makes the fort's farewell photo before heading to the beach.

Thirty minutes' drive from Galle, Mirissa is the white sand, coconut-palm-lined beach that tops most "best beaches in Sri Lanka" lists, and also the main departure port for blue whale and sperm whale watching, with a season from November to April and a sighting rate of 70 to 80 percent in that window. Tours leave early morning, run three to five hours and cost from US$40 to US$50 per person, usually including breakfast.

Without a whale tour on the plan, the beach alone is worth the final afternoon before the transfer to Colombo Airport, about two and a half hours away.