Hakgala Botanical Gardens

Perched underneath the shadow of the Hakgala or Jaw Tooth rock, at an elevation of 1,670m, the beautifully landscaped Hakgala Botanical Gardens spread over nearly 3 sq kms. With magnificent views of the surrounding hills and the jungles of the Hakgala Nature Reserve, the gardens are filled with roses and orchids, eucalyptus, pine and camphor, […]

Sitting in well-irrigated valleys between Adam’s Peak and Sinharaja Forest Reserve, busy Ratnapura (‘City of Gems’ in Sanskrit) is a famous trading centre for the area’s ancient wealth of gem stones. The region’s wet and humid climate encourages the formation of riverbeds, which are the perfect environment for gem stones to develop.

Arugam Bay is Sri Lanka at its most escapist. The relatively isolated beaches and a simple, laid-back lifestyle, away from the main tourist haunts, have many devotees. The local community is a particularly chilled-out and welcoming one where travellers and locals mingle contentedly. Arugam Bay offers high-class surfing (the best on the island) and deserted […]

Nuwara Eliya is often referred to by the Sri Lankan tourist industry as ‘Little England’. While most British visitors struggle to recognise modern England in Nuwara Eliya, the toy-town ambience does have a rose-tinted English country village feel to it, though it comes with a disorienting surrealist edge. Three-wheelers whiz past red telephone boxes.