Ten days, the whole island - unhurried

With ten days to play with, there's no need to start at a sprint. Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) sits just south of Negombo, a laid-back fishing town with a long beach, so this first night is about landing softly. Check in, swap travel clothes for shorts, and let the time zones settle.

If your flight gets in early, wander Negombo's lively fish market, take a boat along the Dutch-built lagoon canals, or visit the old churches that earned the town its "Little Rome" nickname. Mostly, though, today is for a sea breeze, a first Lion lager and an early night before the road trip proper begins tomorrow.

Drive into the heart of the island and the Cultural Triangle, the cradle of Sri Lankan civilisation. History lovers should start at Anuradhapura, the island's first great capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where colossal brick dagobas (stupas) and the sacred Sri Maha Bodhi - a tree grown from a cutting of the Buddha's own Bodhi tree, and one of the oldest planted trees on earth - rise from a vast monastic city you explore by bike or tuk-tuk.

In the afternoon, make your way toward Sigiriya, stopping at the Dambulla Cave Temple - five rock sanctuaries holding more than 150 Buddha statues beneath ceilings painted over two millennia. Settle into your base near Sigiriya for two nights, so you can climb Lion Rock at sunrise tomorrow. (Short on time? You can skip Anuradhapura and spend a slower morning at Dambulla and Sigiriya instead.)

Beat the heat and crowds with a dawn climb of Sigiriya Lion Rock, the UNESCO-listed fortress locals call the eighth wonder of the world. In the 5th century King Kasyapa built a palace on its 200-metre summit, reached through water gardens, past a gallery of ancient frescoes, and up a staircase that once rose between the paws of a giant brick lion. It's around 1,200 steps and the view over endless jungle is unforgettable. On a budget - or to photograph Sigiriya itself - climb neighbouring Pidurangala Rock instead; with a relaxed schedule you can do both.

In the afternoon, cycle the superbly preserved ruins of Polonnaruwa, the island's medieval capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, ending at the serene rock-carved Buddhas of the Gal Vihara. Wildlife lovers can swap it for an afternoon jeep safari into Minneriya or Kaudulla, where hundreds of wild elephants gather around the reservoir in the dry months.

Drive south into greener, cooler hills toward Kandy (around 2.5–3 hours), perhaps stopping at a spice garden near Matale. Set around a lake and cradled by forested ridges, Kandy was the last capital of the Sinhalese kings and is the island's cultural capital. With a relaxed itinerary you can also fit the lovely Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, a sweep of giant trees, orchids and lawns.

Kandy's heart is the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa), which enshrines a tooth of the Buddha and is one of Buddhism's most revered sites. Time your visit for an evening puja ceremony, when drummers play and white-clad pilgrims file past with lotus blossoms. Cap the day with a colourful Kandyan dance-and-fire show or a tuk-tuk up to the Bahirawakanda Buddha for a panorama at dusk.

Climb from Kandy into Sri Lanka's hill country (around 3 hours), the landscape shifting from forest to endless contoured tea. Pause at Ramboda Falls and a working tea factory - Mackwoods, Pedro or Blue Field are classics - to watch Ceylon tea being plucked, withered, rolled and graded, then taste it at the source.

Nuwara Eliya, "Little England," sits at over 1,800 metres in a bowl of green hills. It's worth an afternoon for its half-Victorian charm: the half-timbered post office, the racecourse, the lake at Gregory and the cool, fragrant air that feels worlds away from the coast. Pack a layer - evenings here are genuinely chilly.

Today the journey is the destination. The hill-country train to Ella is rightly famous - blue carriages threading through emerald tea fields and misty ridges, doors thrown open to the breeze, vendors selling tea and snacks down the aisle. The stretch from Nuwara Eliya's Nanu Oya station down to Ella is the prettiest of the whole line.

It's a slow, joyful three hours or so. Sit by an open door (carefully), watch the right-hand side for the best views, and let the highlands roll past. You'll arrive in Ella by late afternoon with time for a café with a valley view.

Ella tempts you to slow right down - lazy café mornings, big green views and short, rewarding walks. Start before dawn with the gentle 45-minute climb up Little Adam's Peak for sunrise over the tea valleys. Mid-morning, walk out to the Nine Arch Bridge, a graceful colonial-era viaduct deep in the jungle - time it for a passing train and the photo is yours.

Cool off at Ravana Falls, browse the tea-town shops and tuck into hoppers and fresh juice in a café. If your legs are willing, the longer Ella Rock hike rewards with the day's biggest views. With two nights here you never have to rush.

Drop from the hills to the dry southern plains for one of Sri Lanka's great thrills: a jeep safari. Yala National Park has one of the highest leopard densities in the world, along with elephants, sloth bears, crocodiles and spectacular birdlife. Udawalawe, closer to the hills and far quieter, is the surest place in the country to see large herds of wild elephants up close. Either makes a heart-pounding morning.

After the game drive, continue to the south coast - your reward for a rich week and a half. Check into a beach base like Mirissa, Weligama or Unawatuna, peel off the hiking shoes, and feel the pace drop to the rhythm of the waves. Fresh seafood by the sand is the only plan you need tonight.

Now you slow down. In season (roughly November–April) start at dawn with a whale-watching boat from Mirissa, where the seabed plunges deep just offshore and blue whales - the largest animals that have ever lived - pass startlingly close to land, alongside spinner dolphins that ride the bow on most trips.

Spend the rest of the day in beach mode: laze on Mirissa's golden bay, climb the red-clay headland of Coconut Tree Hill, snorkel the sheltered reef at Unawatuna, or find the hidden cove of Jungle Beach. For a full guide to this stretch, see our dedicated 3-day South-Coast Escape.

Save the prettiest town for last. Galle Fort is a 17th-century Dutch-built walled town and UNESCO World Heritage Site that's still a living maze of cobbled lanes, boutiques, galleries and cafés ringed by a kilometre of sea walls. Walk the ramparts past the lighthouse and the old gates, browse for Ceylon tea and gems, and have a long, unhurried lunch in a fort courtyard.

From Galle, the Southern Expressway whisks you back to Colombo and the airport in around two and a half to three hours - so depending on your flight, you might squeeze in a final swim at Unawatuna or a climb to the hilltop Peace Pagoda first. Time your departure with a little buffer, and end the trip the way it began: relaxed.