Sri Lanka

What Sri Lanka is actually like

Sri Lanka packs beaches, hill-country tea estates, ancient rock fortresses and a genuine shot at a leopard sighting in Yala National Park into a trip that's often shorter and cheaper to reach than people expect. We usually route south coast beaches with a couple of nights in the hills rather than picking just one.

Worth building the trip around

• Sigiriya rock fortress at sunrise, before the day-trip crowds
• A safari in Yala National Park with a real shot at a leopard
• Tea-estate stays in the cool hill country around Nuwara Eliya
• South-coast beaches for the last two or three days