Bentota

PLACES TO EXPLORE

Sri Lanka compresses an astonishing diversity of landscape and culture into a landmass smaller than Ireland. Within a few hours’ drive you can move from ancient kingdoms carved in stone to rainforests dripping with endemic birdlife, from surf towns to elephant corridors, from colonial forts to cloud-wrapped tea estates. Each region holds its own character, rhythm and reason to arrive slowly.

Bentota sits at the mouth of a river that flows into the Indian Ocean, giving it a dual-water character that few Sri Lankan beach towns can match – calm river on one side for boat safaris and water sports, open ocean on the other for swimming and sunsets. The Lunuganga estate, designed by legendary Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa, sits nearby and represents one of Asia’s most influential private gardens.