Two weeks in Sri Lanka without rushing

The island is small enough to tempt you into doing everything and big enough to punish you for trying. Roads wind, trains are slow by design, and the distance between a beach and a tea estate is measured in hours rather than kilometres.

A fortnight splits comfortably into three. Give the south coast five nights, the hill country five, and the cultural triangle four. Move on a travel day, not on an afternoon, and you keep the mornings — which is when Sri Lanka is at its best anyway.

What usually goes wrong is the last-minute addition. A day trip to somewhere four hours away costs you the two days either side of it. If something will not fit, leave it for a second visit; most people come back.

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