Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka

Two monsoons mean there's always a dry coast. Surf, leopards, tea hills, and the Kandy train.

beachsurfcultureteawildlifebackpacker

Best time to visit

Month	High	Low	Rain	Season
Jan	27°	21°	141 mm	prime
Feb	28°	21°	87 mm	prime
Mar	31°	22°	78 mm	prime
Apr	32°	23°	152 mm	prime
May	32°	24°	118 mm
Jun	31°	24°	39 mm
Jul	31°	24°	48 mm
Aug	32°	24°	63 mm
Sep	32°	24°	84 mm
Oct	30°	23°	237 mm
Nov	28°	22°	293 mm
Dec	27°	21°	242 mm	prime

30-year averages (1995–2024) from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo. Rain is the monthly total.

Serves travellers at Backpacker→Ultra-luxury level. Typically around $60 a day on the ground.

Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.

Cash rupees for tuk-tuks, markets and small guesthouses; cards at hotels and city restaurants. Cash machines are in towns, not villages.
money · editorial
Temples want shoulders and knees covered and shoes off, and posing with your back to a Buddha image causes real offence. Reserved seats on the hill-country trains go well ahead of time.
know before · editorial
Two monsoons: the southwest coast is wet roughly May to September, the east and north roughly October to January. There is no bad time for the island, only a bad half of it.
when not to go · editorial
South coast towns for surf and sand, Ella and Nuwara Eliya for tea hills and cold nights, Kandy and Sigiriya for the cultural triangle, the east coast when the southwest is wet. Colombo is an arrival and departure stop rather than a base.
where to stay · editorial
Trains along the coast and up through the tea hills are slow, cheap and the point. Buses reach everywhere else. Hiring a car with a driver for a multi-day loop is normal; self-driving is not.
getting around · editorial
The international airport sits north of Colombo. The south coast is about three hours away on the expressway, the hill country four or five by road, longer and better by train.
getting there · editorial

Sigiriya
A fifth-century fortress on top of a two-hundred-metre monolith.
Temple of the Tooth, Kandy
It holds a relic of the Buddha. There is puja three times a day, with drums.
Galle Fort
Dutch walls from 1663 with a living town inside them.
Dambulla caves
Five caves with 153 Buddha statues and the whole ceiling painted.
Nine Arch Bridge, Ella
Built of stone and brick with no steel, during the First World War.
Little Adam's Peak
Forty minutes of climbing and the whole Ella gap in front of you.

Eat a rice and curry with seven side dishes
Rice and curry with seven side dishes
It is not a dish, it is a system. Mix it with your right hand.
Egg hoppers
A crisp bowl of fermented rice batter, with an egg cooked into the bottom.
Tea on a high-country estate
Order it once with no milk and no sugar, just to know.

Take the train from Kandy to Ella and sit in the doorway
The Kandy to Ella train
Seven hours of narrow gauge through the plantations. Travel second class, with the door open.
Stilt fishermen in the south
Few are still fishing for real. Ask before photographing.