LK · North Central Province · 8.34°N 80.41°E

anuradhapura

Huge white stupas, an ancient sacred tree and shady lanes through a former royal city.

Best time
January–March is drier and less hot, and July–August is dry but hot. October–November brings the heaviest rain. Poson, the June full moon, brings huge crowds of pilgrims.
How long
2 days
Getting there
Fly direct from KL to Colombo (about 3.5 hours), then it's about 4 hours by road. Sri Lanka is 2.5 hours behind KL.
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LK · North Central Provinceanuradhapura8.34°N 80.41°Egowherelah.com
Dear group chat,Huge white stupas, an ancient sacred tree and shady lanes through a former royal city.— gowherelahTo: whoever’s drivingAnuradhapuraLK, North Central Province
KLanuradhapura
≈ 2,423 km from KL, as the crow flies
The Ruwanwelisaya is a stupa, a hemispherical structure containing relics, in Sri Lanka, considered sacred to many Buddhists all over the world

Photo: Thisaru Tharuka · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited on each.

Anuradhapura was Sri Lanka's capital for over a thousand years, and its ruins spread through a green landscape of huge stupas, monasteries and ancient reservoirs. It's still a living pilgrimage site, with white-clad families bringing flowers to the sacred tree.

Makan

  1. KiribathRice cooked in coconut milk, set and cut into diamonds, with a sharp onion-chilli sambol.Map ↗
  2. Rice and curryPumpkin, aubergine, dhal and greens around a mound of rice.Map ↗
  3. Pol rotiCoconut flatbread, good with dhal or chilli relish.Map ↗

Things to do

  1. Sri Maha BodhiA sacred fig grown from a cutting of the Buddha's own tree, planted in the 3rd century BC and said to be the oldest planted tree with a known date.Map ↗
  2. RuwanwelisayaA huge, gleaming white stupa ringed by a wall of carved elephants.Map ↗
  3. JetavanaramayaA vast brick stupa, once one of the tallest buildings in the ancient world.Map ↗
  4. AbhayagiriMonastery ruins in the woods, with carved moonstones, guardstones and another great stupa.Map ↗
  5. Kuttam PokunaTwin stone bathing pools, a showpiece of ancient water engineering.Map ↗

Good to know

  • The sites are spread over many kilometres, so a bicycle or tuk-tuk is the way to get round.
  • Shoes come off at the sacred sites and the stone gets very hot, so socks help; shoulders and knees should be covered.
  • The new town has Muslim-run rice-and-curry shops; at the sacred sites there are only snacks.

Last checked October 2026. Things change, so check opening times, fees and transport before you go.