Sightseeing in Sri Lanka

On the globe or the map of the world, Sri Lanka might look like a tiny green fleck on the surface of the huge sphere of water, but this tiny green fleck is one of the finest tourism spots in the world. It is indeed considered a pearl found in water in the shape of a pear by people who have visited the country and its natives. Sightseeing in Sri Lanka can genuinely become a dream come true for people who wants to enjoy a perfect holiday amidst nature.

There is no end to places in Sri Lanka where one can visit to attain aesthetic pleasure. One will find old forts, museums, temples, churches, wildlife sanctuaries, golden beaches, cascading waterfalls, and also underwater gardens, mountains covered with tea plantations, ethnic ancient cities and many more to add to the list.

Names of a few famous tourist attractions are as follows:

  -   The Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, a sanctuary run by the government of Sri Lanka where baby elephants are looked after by foster parents.
  -  The charismatic hill city, Kandy, the second largest city of the country after Colombo, which also is renowned as it has the maximum number of sacred Buddhist shrines and also the World Heritage Site, Temple of the Tooth.
  -  The Bentota town that is mostly a tourist location and is famous for its sunny beaches and coral reefs. Sri Lanka's most popular beach resort Hikkaduwa us also located in this town.
  -  Adam's Peak also known as 'Samanalakande' which means the mountain where butterflies go to die, is the second highest mountain in Sri Lanka. Christians believe that when Adam had first set his foot on Earth, it was this place that he had stepped on. The Sri Pada which means Sacred Footprint is another famous mountain of the country as Buddhists believe that the footprint at the peak of the mountain is that of Lord Buddha. Hindus believe the same to be Lord Shiva's mark.
  -  The Anuradhapura that was established around the 4th century BC was the first capital of the island.
Among many other forts in Sri Lanka, Sigiriya is famous as it still stands upright at the acme of a 200 meter high rock mound which however was built in the 5th century AD.