Anuradhapura

Anuradhapura is one of the essential stops in Sri Lanka's Cultural Triangle. UNESCO describes the sacred city as a political and religious capital that flourished for 1,300 years and was established around a cutting from the Bodhi tree brought in the 3rd century BCE. The scale of the city is part of the experience: vast dagobas, monastic precincts, reservoirs, stone carvings, and active devotional spaces spread across a broad archaeological landscape. It works best with an early start, a bicycle or driver, and time set aside for both ruins and living shrines.