3-Day Sri Lanka Highlights Tour

Your driver meets you in arrivals and turns north almost immediately, leaving the airport bustle for coconut groves, rice fields and the rising heat of the dry zone. Breaking the journey near Dambulla keeps tomorrow's sunrise start to a short hop rather than an ordeal, and the road is at its most forgiving in the late afternoon.

If your flight lands by early afternoon there is time for the Golden Cave Temple on the way — five shrine caves tucked beneath a great overhanging rock, their walls and ceilings covered in Buddhist murals and ranks of painted figures. The late light suits the caves, and the view across the plain from the entrance is a gentle introduction to the Cultural Triangle. Travel-weary arrivals simply head for the hotel and save the caves for the following morning; your driver will advise once your flight times are fixed.

An early start: Sigiriya is climbed at first light, when the air is still cool, the frescoes sit in soft sun and the coaches have yet to arrive. The ascent involves roughly 1,200 steps, including enclosed spiral staircases around the fresco gallery; take it steadily, carry water, and allow two to three hours with time on the summit for the far-reaching views over forest and tank country. The monumental lion's paws halfway up give the rock both its name and its drama.

After a late breakfast the road bends south through Matale, where a spice-garden stop is optional — cinnamon, pepper and vanilla are all grown here, and the short tour is more interesting than it sounds. You reach Kandy by mid-afternoon, in time to settle in before walking to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic for the early-evening puja, when drums fill the courtyard. Shoulders and knees must be covered and shoes come off inside; your driver will brief you on the etiquette beforehand.

A green interlude before the flight. The Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, six kilometres from the city, are at their best in the first hours of the day: an avenue of royal palms, an orchid house, a grove of towering bamboo and the vast canopy of the great Javan fig. Allow a generous hour and a half — the gardens reward wandering far more than racing.

From Peradeniya the road falls steadily out of the hills to the coastal plain, and your driver times the run to your flight; an evening departure is ideal. If the schedule allows there is room for a late lunch of roadside curd and treacle, a stretch of the legs on Negombo beach, or a first look at Colombo. If not, the expressway puts you at the terminal with time to spare.