6 Incredible Reasons to visit Sri Lanka in 2018

Sri Lanka is one of those far flung places I have always dreamed of visiting, so different to life in the UK and a place I would love to share with my kids as it's such  a beautiful country a holiday here will be filled with visiting cultural attractions, stunning beaches, and exploring the beautiful nature of the surrounding areas. Here are 6 incredible things to do in Sri Lanka and why you should visit in 2018

Explore World Heritage Sites

There are 7 UNESCO Heritage sites in Sri Lanka. Visit the Ancient City of Polonnaruwa that has monuments built by the Chola dynasty, Hanna from Hanna Travels has written a really good review of it. The Ancient City of Sigiriya is 180 metres high and has a series of staircases and a step well. The Golden Temple of Dambulla is a cave temple complex with Buddhist mural paintings. Old Town of Galle and its fortifications were built by early European settlers in Sri Lanka. The Sacred City of Anuradhapura was built around a ‘tree of enlightenment’, the Buddha’s fig tree. The Sacred City of Kandy is a sacred Buddhist site and you should visit the Temple of the Tooth Relic that has a sacred tooth of Buddha preserved in it.

Get Involved in a Volunteering Programme

In Sri Lanka there are plenty of worthwhile volunteering programmes to get involved with, I wish I had done one of these when I was younger, or perhaps I will when the kids are a bit older, Oyster offer some really meaningful programs with something for everyone.. One of the most popular is to look after elephants. The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage has been open since 1975 and the elephants are allowed to roam freely. You can volunteer and do chores like prepare their meals, help maintain their stalls, work in the garden where there food is grown, and help clean up after them. At the end of each day you can go down to the river with them and play games with them while they have their daily bath.

Join a Bicycle Tour

There are many interesting bicycle tours that you can join in Sri Lanka. You can cycle around colonial cities, along mountain roads, through ancient forests, and tour ancient ruins and small villages. This is the perfect way to work up an appetite so you can make the most of the delicious Sri Lankan cuisine.

Walk Through National Parks

Join a walking safari through Uda Walawe National Park where you can see elephants, sambar deer, wild buffalo, sloth bears, water monitor lizards, crocodiles, mongooses, snakes, jackals, and more than 200 kinds of birds. You can also visit the Horton Plains National Park which is a large preserve of stunning waterfalls, grassland, gardens and mountains. Wilpattu National Park is a great place to see stunning lakes and elusive leopards. 

Visit the Beautiful Beaches

This small island nation is known for its stunning beaches. There are many different beaches and you can find beaches that are filled with resorts and exciting activities like snorkelling, scuba diving, surfing, and football. You can also find beaches with very little development where you can just relax in pristine quiet. Some of the popular beaches are Unawatuna, Bentota, Galle, Tangalle and Weligama. Mirissa is a great place to go for a quieter beach and you can also head out whale watching from here.

Stay in a Treehouse

Visit the Tree House in Ginigathena which has cottages built nearly 10 metres off the ground. The tree houses are connected to each other with separate wooden bridges and each house can accommodate two to three people with attached washrooms and private balconies. You can indulge in jungle trekking, river swimming and diving. There are campfires at night and you can explore the jungle during the day to see birds, wild boars, hares, and porcupines.

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