The northern circuit

Best for: Adventure, wildlife, culture & history

DURATION 14-16 days ROUTE Kalpitiya • Wilpattu • Mannar • Jaffna • Trincomalee WHY DO IT? To experience the warm and engaging culture of the island’s north.

Shaped by its vibrant Hindu culture, proximity to India’s Tamil Nadu and (of course) 26 years of civil war, Sri Lanka’s north has a different feel to the rest of the island. Start at Kalpitiya, an arid peninsular curved around a lagoon popular with kitesurfers, and stay along escapist-feel Alankuda Beach. Wilpattu National Park is around a 90-minute drive away (or stay in a comfy safari camp on its boundary) and it’s worth a look. This vast, lesser-visited reserve is a sanctuary for leopards, sloth bears, crocodiles, turtles and also has abundant birdlife, all drawn to the forests and shallow rain-fed lakes.

Continue to former pearling centre, Mannar, a sun-baked fishing town famous for baobab trees, wild donkeys, gulls and terns, as well as a profusion of mosques, churches and kovils (temples), and a crumbling colonial fort. Accommodation is basic – book well in advance to stay at Abode Hibernation (abodetours.com), a simple beachfront homestay.

Jaffna town is dotted with historic buildings, an old fort and avenues of the region’s prized karthacolomban mangoes, while the peninsular offers enough to fill a good few days; highlights include visiting the Nallur Kovil and Point Pedro Lighthouse (Sri Lanka’s northernmost point), navigating causeways to less-habited islands, taking ferries to Nagadipa Temple on Nainativu Island and Delft Island, and snacking on fried crab at pristine (and popular) Casuarina Beach.

Before flying back to Colombo, drive south via Elephant Pass to

Nilaveli, near Trincomalee’s deep natural harbour, for a final few days. The ocean there is warm and shallow – ideal for snorkelling – while cruises and whale-watching trips operate during the summer.

Sacred sanctuary (clockwise from this) Vallipuram Alvar is one of Jaffna’s oldest Hindu temples; despite their name, sloth bears are far from lazy and can attack quickly; Mannar Fort