Sri Lanka and the Maldives
Rock fortresses and tea hills, then a coral island and nothing at all.
An island of forts, temples and a hill-country train, followed by an atoll where the days are unhurried. Close enough that the second is the reward for the first.
WhenBest from December to April, the dry season on Sri Lanka’s west and south coasts and in the Maldives.
01
An island of tea hills, rock fortresses, old forts and southern surf.
Sri Lanka is a compact island with an unusual range: ancient cities and a rock citadel in the dry north, tea plantations and a mountain railway in the centre, colonial forts and beaches along the south coast, and leopards and elephants in the parks between. Colombo, on the west coast, is the arrival point and the capital.
02
A thousand coral islands in rings across the Indian Ocean.
The Maldives is a chain of atolls south-west of India, each a ring of reef enclosing a lagoon, with islands of white sand and palms along the rims. Most resorts have an island to themselves, and the seaplanes and boats between them are part of the journey.
Somewhere else entirely? The concierge starts from a blank page.