Culture, food & everyday life

The Cultural Triangle links Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Kandy and all of the historic monuments and ancient cities that sit within this area such as Dambulla, Sigiriya, Mihintale. This area is also known as ‘The Ancient Cities’ as well.

There are many amazing cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka including Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, Kandy, Galle Fort and Dambulla. There are also 2 natural UNESCO protected areas; Sinharaja Forest Reserve and the Central Highlights

Sigiriya is spectacular and incredibly impressive and is definitely worth visiting and climbing. In high season or when it’s hot, we’d recommend doing this early in the morning or later in the evening to avoid the crowds as Sigiriya is becoming increasingly busy.

Buddhist is the main religion, but there’s also a large Hindu, Christian and Muslim population.

Hatton, Nuwara Eliya and Ella are all popular parts of the hill country in Sri Lanka. Many boutique hotels have opened up around Castlereagh Lake. However, we particularly like Thotalagala due to its very authentic and untouched nature.

Yes is absolutely is, please see our Colombo Food Guide for more information.

Colombo is excellent, so is Galle. We feel that Ahangama and Hiriketia are also brilliant options for dining in Sri Lanka.

Try and classic chicken or fish curry, hoppers and kothu roti (chopped flatbread stir-fried).

Not particularly hot - but feel free to ask if you would like less spice

Yes Sri Lanka is an excellent destination for vegetarians, with lots of vegetarian and plant based options such as dhal, vegetable sambols, jackfruit curry, aubergine curry.

Yes in certain locations but not all as the location of some hotels can be very remote. If this is important to you, please let us know and we can design your trip accordingly.

Street food is generally very safe in Sri Lanka but always choose street vendors serving very hot fresh food that you can see being cooked. We’d recommend doing a street food tour with one of our guides in Colombo or Galle as they will know the best places to try.

Sinhala (spoken by more than 80% of the public) and Tamil are the national languages. English is widely spoken and understood in all but the most remote areas, making communication easy for visitors.