The Northern Circuit

Day by day

1. 

   Day 1

   Arrive at Negombo

   Met in the arrivals hall and driven twenty-five minutes to the coast rather than the hour Colombo would take. Nothing is scheduled: most flights from Europe land at dawn, and the day is better spent sleeping and swimming.

   • Airport meet-and-greet and garlanding on arrival
   • The rest of the day at leisure — the beach and the lagoon are both at hand

   Distance

   12 km · approx. 25 min

   Hotel

   Regal Reseau Hotel, Negombo

2. 

   Day 2

   North to Anuradhapura

   Up the coast road to Chilaw and Munneswaram, the first of the five Pancha Ishwaram, where tradition holds that Rama stopped on his return from the war. Then through Puttalam and the coconut country to the sacred city.

   • Munneswaram Kovil at Chilaw — the first of the five Pancha Ishwaram
   • If time permits, Manavari Kovil, where the Ramalingam stands
   • The coastal road north through Puttalam

   Distance

   200 km · approx. 4 hr 30 min

   Hotel

   Rajarata Hotel, Anuradhapura

3. 

   Day 3

   The sacred city, then Mannar

   A morning among the monuments — the Sri Maha Bodhi, grown from a cutting of the tree at Bodh Gaya, and the great brick stupa of Ruwanwelisaya. In the evening, Thiruketheeswaram at Mannar, standing where the old port of Mantai received ships from India.

   • Anuradhapura Sacred City by vehicle — Sri Maha Bodhi, Ruwanwelisaya, Isurumuniya
   • Thiruketheeswaram Kovil at Mannar — the second Pancha Ishwaram

   Distance

   125 km · approx. 3 hr

   Hotel

   The Palmyrah House, Mannar

4. 

   Day 4

   Rama Setu, and on to Jaffna

   The island ends at Talaimannar, where the sandbank chain runs thirty kilometres towards Rameswaram and the nearer banks are plainly visible on a clear day. Baobabs, a Dutch fort and wild donkeys, then north across the Sangupiddy bridge into the peninsula.

   • Talaimannar and the Rama Setu sandbanks towards India — view point
   • The Mannar baobabs, the Dutch fort and the causeway
   • North by the Sangupiddy bridge into the Jaffna peninsula
   • Optional: evening puja at Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil

   Distance

   125 km · approx. 2 hr 30 min

   Hotel

   Jetwing Jaffna

5. 

   Day 5

   The islands and the springs

   A short boat crossing to Nainativu, where Nagapooshani Amman — one of the Shakti Peethams — and the Buddhist Nagadeepa Viharaya stand a few hundred metres apart. Then north to Keerimalai, where freshwater springs rise within metres of the sea.

   • Nainativu by boat — Nagapooshani Amman Kovil and Nagadeepa Viharaya
   • Keerimalai springs and Naguleswaram Kovil — the third Pancha Ishwaram

   Distance

   100 km · approx. 3 hr 15 min

   Hotel

   Jetwing Jaffna

6. 

   Day 6

   The northern tip and the town

   Point Pedro, where the road simply stops at the sea, and the empty sand at Casuarina Beach. The afternoon belongs to Jaffna itself — the fort, the rebuilt library, and the market, which is the best place in the north to understand what grows here.

   • Point Pedro and Casuarina Beach
   • Jaffna Fort, the public library and the market

   Distance

   100 km · approx. 3 hr

   Hotel

   Jetwing Jaffna

7. 

   Day 7

   Down the A9 to Trincomalee

   The longest drive of the circuit, out past Elephant Pass and across the dry zone. Arrival is timed for evening puja at Koneswaram, standing on the cliff a hundred metres above the sea.

   • Koneswaram Kovil on Swami Rock at evening puja — the fourth Pancha Ishwaram
   • Fort Frederick and the view from Swami Rock

   Distance

   250 km · approx. 5 hr

   Hotel

   Trinco Blu by Cinnamon, Uppuveli

8. 

   Day 8

   The harbour, then Pasikudah

   A slower day. The morning is free for one of the world's great natural anchorages, then the coast road south through Kinniya and Vakarai — a stretch of shoreline almost empty of traffic — to a bay where the water stays waist-deep a long way out.

   • Ancient sea port — Trincomalee harbour at your own pace
   • The coast road south through Kinniya and Vakarai
   • Pasikudah bay — shallow, calm and unhurried

   Distance

   125 km · approx. 3 hr

   Hotel

   Amethyst Resort, Pasikudah

9. 

   Day 9

   Batticaloa and the east coast

   The lagoon, the Dutch fort of 1628, and the old Kallady bridge where the water is said to sing on still nights. Then south through the Tamil and Muslim towns of the east to Arugam Bay.

   • Batticaloa lagoon, the Dutch fort and the lighthouse
   • The singing fish at Kallady bridge, if the evening is still
   • Optional: Sangamankanda Point — the easternmost point of Sri Lanka

   Distance

   150 km · approx. 4 hr

   Hotel

   The Blue Wave Hotel, Arugam Bay

10. 

    Day 10

    Into the hill country

    The best transition of the tour. Elephants at the Lahugala tank, then the escarpment: the road turns north and climbs, and within forty minutes the dry zone has become cloud forest. Ravana Falls drops twenty-five metres beside the road near the top.

    • Lahugala tank — wild elephants beside the road
    • The escarpment road into the hill country
    • Ravana Falls, beside the road on the climb
    • Optional: Ravana Cave, up the steps above the falls

    Distance

    180 km · approx. 4 hr 30 min

    Hotel

    Ravana Range, Ella

11. 

    Day 11

    Ella

    The Nine Arches Bridge, a 1920s viaduct built of brick and cement with no steel in it, best timed to a train crossing. Little Adam's Peak is a gentle forty minutes on a made path with a disproportionate reward at the top.

    • Nine Arches Bridge, timed to a train crossing where possible
    • Little Adam’s Peak — gentle, forty minutes, a made path

    Distance

    30 km · approx. As required

    Hotel

    Ravana Range, Ella

12. 

    Day 12

    South to Galle

    Down off the escarpment and west along the coast. At Dondra, beyond Matara, stands the southernmost point of the island and the site of Thondeswaram — the fifth and last of the Pancha Ishwaram — with the tallest lighthouse in Sri Lanka on the headland.

    • The descent through Wellawaya and the dry south
    • Dondra Head — the Thondeswaram site and the island’s tallest lighthouse
    • Arrival in Galle in time for the ramparts at dusk

    Distance

    230 km · approx. 5 hr

    Hotel

    The Lady Hill Hotel, Galle

13. 

    Day 13

    Galle Fort

    A walled Dutch town of the 1660s, still lived in and small enough to see on foot. It is at its best in the last hour of daylight, when the town comes out to walk the ramparts. Above Unawatuna, Rumassala is held to be the piece of the Himalaya that Hanuman let fall.

    • Galle Fort on foot — the ramparts, the church, the lighthouse
    • Rumassala above Unawatuna, and Jungle Beach below it
    • Optional, November to April: whale watching from Mirissa

    Distance

    25 km · approx. As required

    Hotel

    The Lady Hill Hotel, Galle

14. 

    Day 14

    The old coast road to Colombo

    North on the old road rather than the expressway, which costs an hour and is worth it. The Madu Ganga at Balapitiya is the best of the stops — an hour or two among the mangroves with kingfishers, monitor lizards and almost no engine noise.

    • The old coast road — Ambalangoda masks, Bentota, Madu Ganga

    Distance

    130 km · approx. 3 hr

    Hotel

    Cinnamon Red, Colombo

15. 

    Day 15

    Colombo, and home

    A morning in the city, as much of it as your flight allows — the candy-striped Red Mosque in Pettah, Gangaramaya, Galle Face Green, the Lotus Tower and the colonial streets of Colombo Fort. Then the airport, forty-five minutes out on the expressway.

    • Colombo city tour, subject to your flight schedule — Red Mosque (Jami Ul-Alfar), Gangaramaya, Galle Face Green, the Lotus Tower and the British colonial streets of Colombo Fort
    • Departure transfer to Bandaranaike International Airport

    Distance

    60 km · approx. 2 hr

    Hotel

    — Departure