Slow Ceylon

Your chauffeur-guide meets you in arrivals and takes you to a small hotel by the sea at Negombo. Sleep off the flight; the trip starts tomorrow.

The expressway south, then the old road along the sea. Galle Fort is a walled Dutch town of lanes and verandas; we settle in for three nights and walk the ramparts at sunset.

A slow morning with a local guide: the Dutch church, the old gate, the lighthouse, the lacemakers and the gem workshops. The afternoon is for a swim at Unawatuna or Jungle Beach.

A 6.30am boat from Mirissa for blue whales and dolphins, December to April, on a boat that keeps its distance; we do not promise what the sea will show. Or stay in bed. Either way the afternoon is free.

Along the coast through Weligama, Mirissa and Dikwella, stopping where it is pretty. Tangalle is a string of quiet bays with very few people on them; the afternoon is for the water.

The rock temple at Mulkirigala in the morning for anyone who wants a climb and painted caves; otherwise nothing. After dark, the turtle project at Rekawa, where the females still come ashore to lay; whether one comes is their business.

A short drive east past the Bundala wetlands, where we stop for the storks and flamingos if you like. Tissamaharama by lunch, and the first Yala safari this afternoon.

A 5.30am start for the best light and the best chance of leopard, sloth bear and elephant. Yala is a good place to look for leopard, and it is still a wild park; we never promise. The rest of the day is yours, with the Kirinda temple at sunset.

Out of the dry plains and into the hills past the Buduruwagala Buddhas and the Ravana falls. Three nights in Ella, so there is no hurry. Afternoon free.

Little Adam's Peak at first light, an easy hour's walk with the whole gap in front of you, then the Nine Arch Bridge timed for a train. A long lunch and a swim in the Ravana pools.

Nothing planned. A cooking class in a village home, a tuk-tuk to the Diyaluma falls, or a chair with a view. The car is there if you want it.

The hill railway's most beautiful stretch, through tea and tunnels at walking pace, with reserved seats booked ahead; if the train is not running on your date we drive the same valley. Your chauffeur-guide meets the train at Nanu Oya and drives you past Nuwara Eliya to a planter's bungalow in the tea around Hatton.

A factory in the morning, a walk in the tea with the estate's people, a long lunch, a boat on the Castlereagh reservoir. The Adam's Peak pilgrim season is open from December to May; we arrange the night climb for anyone who wants it.

Through Ginigathena and Gampola to Kandy, the last royal capital. In the evening the drumming and the ceremony at the Temple of the Tooth.

The Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya in the cool of the morning, then the market and the lake. A free afternoon, and Kandyan dance in the evening if you want it.

North-east out of Kandy and up into the Knuckles range, a UNESCO cloud-forest massif with more peaks than roads. The lodge is simple and the view is not. An afternoon walk to a waterfall near the lodge.

A guided day walk, four to six hours depending on legs, through tea, patana grassland and cloud forest to a ridge or a remote village such as Meemure. February to April is the clearest, driest season here. Dinner is what the village cooks.

Down through Matale, with a stop at a spice garden and the Nalanda Gedige temple, to the Cultural Triangle. Three nights at Sigiriya; the afternoon is for the pool.

Sigiriya at opening time, about 1,200 steps past the frescoes and the lion's paws to the palace on top. In the afternoon a catamaran across the village tank and lunch cooked on a wood fire in a farming family's home.

A free day, or the medieval city of Polonnaruwa by bicycle in the morning. In the late afternoon a jeep to whichever park the elephants are using that month.

North to the island's first capital. In the afternoon light we see the great stupas and the Sri Maha Bodhi, the oldest planted tree with a recorded history, then climb Mihintale for sunset.

The quieter corners of Anuradhapura by bicycle before the heat: the Abhayagiri monastery, the moonstones, the twin ponds and the lakes the kings built. The afternoon is free; it is hot here.

North on the A9 through Vavuniya and across the Elephant Pass causeway into the Jaffna peninsula, with its palmyra palms and flat, bright light. Three nights here. An evening walk to the Nallur temple for the puja.

The Dutch fort, the rebuilt public library, the market and its dried fish and palmyra sweets, with a local guide. Lunch at a Tamil family table. In the afternoon the drive to Point Pedro, the island's northern tip, and the Keerimalai springs.

The morning ferry from Kurikadduwan to Delft, a flat coral island of dry-stone walls, wild ponies, a baobab tree and a Dutch fort, which we see by tuk-tuk. Back via the Nagadeepa temple on Nainativu. Seas permitting; we have a land day in reserve.

Back down the A9 and west to Wilpattu, the island's largest and quietest national park. The lodge is small and on the park edge. If we arrive in time, a short evening drive.

A 5.30am safari among the villus, the natural lakes that give the park its character, for leopard, sloth bear, elephant and birds, without promises. The middle of the day at the lodge, and a last afternoon drive.

The coast road south to the airport, timed to your flight.