Best Summer Time Destinations in Sri Lanka – Sunny Island of Delights

As an island Sri Lanka offers you endless coastlines to savour; gorgeous sandy banks, framed by swaying coconut palms are not the only lure. Yes, it gets better, from west to south and east to north, you can tour the coastline snorkelling, scuba diving, indulging in loads of water sports and whale watching. The thrills are endless with some of the coasts boasting world class surfing destinations too. Chasing waves has never been easier, with the introduction of the air taxi, Sri Lanka is now easily explored; go from surfing in Arugam Bay in the east to exploring the world heritage Lions Rock of Sigiriya, located in the north-central regions in a matter of minutes. With the likes of Cinnamon Air and other domestic airlines operating from the international airport, you can choose to fly out to the furthest corners of the island right on arrival, thus getting your holiday started almost instantly.

Once you decide to cut out driving time and replace it with flying time, the island is your smorgasbord of delights to savour. Minneriya is one place you don't want to miss; the lush park serviced by the huge Minneriya Lake is a corridor for hundreds of migratory elephants passing through its green fields, especially in the month of August. You can book a jeep safari into the scrublands and enjoy sights of unique foliage as well as other wildlife living there.

Kandy the capital of the Hill Country was the last kingdom of Sri Lanka; the place is rich in history and tradition and surrounded by misty mountains. You will find that apart for exploring iconic world heritage sites, like the Temple of the Tooth Relic, Kandy is ideal for experiencing age-old customs and rituals. The Esala Perahera taking place at the end of July to early August in one to experience where magnificently dressed elephants, dancers, fire breathers and acrobats take to the streets to accompany the huge male elephant who proudly carries the golden casket containing the sacred tooth relic of the Buddha on its royally draped body.

By now, the bio-diverse environs of Sri Lanka would certainly have hit you; Little England is, in fact, Nuwara Eliya, a town located at the highest elevation of the island. Developed by the British colonists who found a slice of home there, the place is very much like an English village, boasting cottages, with fireplaces, a glassy lake, mist-covered mountains, beautiful fields of flowers and temperatures that drop to below 4C degrees at times.

An iconic remnant from the islands colonial days, the over 400-year-old Galle Fort was built in 1600 by the Portuguese, enhanced by the Dutch and finally occupied by the British. A world heritage site the fort sits on a peninsula in Galle, a beautiful port city on the south coast. There you can wander the cobblestone streets, explore the vintage churches and lighthouse, look out across the ramparts and wander around the maritime museum.