Sri Lanka Top 10 Activities

Sri Lanka has it all – beaches, mountains, wildlife, cuisine, culture and history.
Our Sri Lanka Top 10 Activities list is just the start…

No 10 – Eco Living

Try out a tree-top cabana. Everywhere you look in Polwaththa, you’ll see a wealth of fascinating insects, butterflies, giant squirrels and birds. There’s also an abundance of edibles growing like weeds in the surrounding jungle areas.

Polwaththa Eco Living – Sri Lanka Top 10 Activities

No 9 – Temple of the Tooth

The celebrated Temple of the Tooth is where they keep one of Buddha’s teeth as a holy relic. The relic is regarded as a symbolic representation of the living Buddha and is the focus of a daily series of offerings, rituals, and ceremonies.

Temple of the Tooth – Sri Lanka Top 10 Activities

No 8 – Jungle Beach

Jungle Beach is well worth the 40-minute walk from Unawatuna town. A perfect place for swimming and snorkeling. If the beach restaurant doesn’t get too busy, there’s good food to be had as well: the barracuda & salad went down very nicely.

Jungle Beach, Unawatuna – Sri Lanka Top 10 Activities

No 7 – Hilltop Tea Plantations

From Polwaththa, we took a tuk-tuk to one of the many tea plantations in this area of the mountains. Here, we toured the factory, observing the successive stages of tea production from plant to tea leaves. There are a lot of processes involved and a dedicated machine for each process. Don’t forget to buy a couple of packs of Ceylonese tea to take with you!

Ceylonese tea in the making – Sri Lanka Top 10 Activities

No 6 – Soursop & Woodapples

In Sri Lanka, don’t miss out on the exotic fruit: wood apple, jack fruit, red bananas, and our personal favorite – soursop, a custard-textured tangy delight.

Exotic Soursop – Sri Lanka Top 10 Activities

No 5 – The Indian Hut, Galle

The good news about Galle is that there’s an excellent restaurant close to the lighthouse called The Indian Hut. This relaxed Indian restaurant makes mouth-watering mutton masala and chicken tika masala, as well as delicious fruit lassies, all at reasonable prices. A nice break from the ubiquitous Sri Lankan rice and curry.

The Indian Hut – Galle

No 4 – Knuckle Mountains

Trek through the thickly-jungled mountain areas surrounding Kandy. Emerging into a clearing, you can see the Knuckle Mountain Range bathed in mist in the far distance.

The Knuckle Mountains – Sri Lanka Top 10 Activities

Local residents simply refer to them as Dumbara Kanduvetiya meaning ‘mist-laden mountain range’.

No 3 – Tangalle Beaches

Tangalle boasts some terrifically long, unadulterated beaches. We literally walked for hours from our Guesthouse base. Tangalle beach itself stretches for around 8 or 9 kms eastwards as far as Turtle Point.

Tantalizing Tangalle – Sri Lanka Top 10 Activities

No 2 – Climb Lion Rock

The name “Sigiriya” (literally “Lion Rock” in Sinhalese) refers to an ancient fortress palace built on top of a massive column of rock. The rock is nearly 200 metres high – so quite a steep climb. You need to be in reasonably good physical condition and obviously not afraid of heights.

The Lion Rock, Sigiriya

No 1 – World’s End

From the World’s End plateau, the cliff plunges down dramatically for 870m. The early morning (between 6am and 10am) is the best time to arrive at the plateau, before the clouds roll in. If you’re lucky, this will give you an unencumbered view south towards the coast.

World’s End – Sri Lanka Top 10 Activities

For a full Sri Lanka itinerary see our Sri Lanka Travel Plan – Central & South. Just looking for inspiration?  See also: