Anuradhapura

For more than a thousand years, Anuradhapura was the capital of Sri Lanka and one of the great cities of the ancient world. Today its sacred precinct is a vast, peaceful landscape of immense white and brick stupas, monastery ruins, ancient reservoirs and finely carved moonstones, scattered across parkland where cattle graze and monks walk barefoot.

At its heart stands the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, a sacred fig tree grown from a cutting of the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, and widely regarded as one of the oldest documented trees planted by people. Pilgrims dressed in white gather here with flowers and oil lamps, and the sound of chanting drifts across the terraces, especially on full-moon Poya days.

Exploring is a pleasure at a gentle pace. Many guests cycle or travel by tuk-tuk between the great stupas of Ruwanwelisaya, Jetavanaramaya and Abhayagiri, the delicate Thuparamaya and the rock temple of Isurumuniya with its carved lovers. A short drive east, Mihintale, where Buddhism is said to have been introduced to the island, offers a stirring climb and wide views at sunset.

Anuradhapura sits on the north-western edge of the Cultural Triangle, so it fits well at the start of a journey from Negombo, as a day from Sigiriya, or as a stepping stone towards Jaffna in the far north.