Sri Lanka is famous for its beaches, its tea growing hill country scenery, its ruins of ancient cities and its garden city of Colombo. It also has many little known attractions that are delightful to visit. Here are four of the best.

 1. Henarathgoda Botanical Gardens

You’ll hardly ever see a tourist at the Henarathgoda Botanical Gardens, yet it is not only easy to reach, being the closest Botanical Gardens to Colombo (32km), but also a wonderful representation of the flora of the tropics. While the better known gardens at Peradeniya near Kandy, and Hakgala near Nuwara Eiya, are on the typical tourist trail, the Henarathgoda Gardens are just as attractive and, because so little known, offer a more pleasant discovery of exotic plants and trees.

The Gardens opened in 1876 and now consist of 15ha of well-cared-for indigenous and imported trees including descendants of the first rubber trees to be brought to Sri Lanka (from Brazil via Kew Gardens). There is also a fine fernery and an extensive plant nursery.

The Gardens can be reached from Gampaha railway station by bus (take one headed to Minuwangoda) or three wheeler taxi. A verdant contrast to the paddy fields of the area, the Gardens are located at Asgiriya, down a signposted road to the left of the bus stop (tell the conductor where you want to be dropped so you don’t miss it). While cars and pedal bikes are allowed, the Gardens are perfect for an afternoon’s leisurely stroll. They are open from 08.00 to 18.00 daily; there is an admission fee.

2. Dawson’s Column, Kadugannawa

Looming over the A1 road to Kandy at 100km from Colombo, is a slim obelisk, rather like a lighthouse stranded inland, that stretches 38m into the sky from a bluff where the railway line runs alongside the road at Kadugannawa. It was built in 1832 and a plaque at its base records that his friends and admirers erected it as a tribute to Captain W F Dawson “whose science and skill planned and executed this road and other works of public utility.”

Captain Dawson was a member of the Royal Engineers who was instructed by Governor Barnes to design and build the original road to Kandy from Colombo. He began it in 1820 and it took 11 years to build because entire hillsides had to be navigated or penetrated. Today’s A1 highway follows much of the trace of Dawson’s road.

The caretaker of the tower is happy to let tourists climb it and will unlock the padlock that secures the heavy wooden door at its base, and lend you a torch. The wooden stairs are narrow and worn and supported by a tall central column and the tower’s wall. There are 112 steps to the top where there is a narrow ledge with a railing to stop people toppling off. Going down is tougher than climbing up as it means clinging to the central pole and hobbling down one step at a time.

3. Pilimatalawa Highway Museum

Just 5km further along towards Kandy, there is a unique collection of green-and-red painted steamrollers, ancient road building equipment and old road signs in an open air museum by the railway crossing at Pilimatalawa. Entrance is free to this museum which was opened in 1986 as a monument to public utilities. A few metres down the road from it, is the original Kandy road where a grand brick bridge, now closed to traffic, bears the date 1826.

4. Lipton’s Seat, Dambatenne

Sir Thomas Lipton was the pioneer in the marketing of Ceylon tea in Britain when he bought several tea estates in the hill country in 1890 so he could export his own brand of Ceylon tea to the shops he owned in Britain. He bought Dambatenne Estate near the hill town of Haputale (1,429m above sea level) on the A4 at 184km from Colombo, and stayed in the estate bungalow whenever he visited the then Ceylon.

His favourite pastime was to ride his horse or hike to a viewpoint about 10km from Haputale and now known as Lipton’s Seat. He used to sit there and survey his tea plantations from the 360 degree view. At the top, on a rare clear day, you can see across the hills and plains of five provinces of Sri Lanka.

There is a thatched pavilion to sit and picnic, as well as a shop selling snacks and a newly built gazebo on the summit of a hill behind the viewpoint. Lipton’s Seat is a favourite of local tourists as well as foreigners, and is literally a “cool” place to meet and talk to fellow travellers.

The best way to get there is to leave your vehicle at the entrance and hike 1.3km uphill to the look out. A sign requests an admission fee of “Rs50 per soul; Rs100 per vehicle.”

What are the attractions that are most popular with visitors to Sri Lanka, apart from the beaches? We conducted an informal survey among tourists and tourist drivers and discovered these are the top five attractions visitors love. We think you will too.

 1. The Temple of the Tooth

Probably the most popular attraction for visitors is the Temple of the Tooth (known as Sri Dalada Maligawa) in the old hill kingdom city of Kandy (116km form Colombo). This houses the Sacred Tooth of Lord Buddha, an object of veneration to Buddhists, and of respectful curiosity to tourists.

A notice at the entrance to the garden in which the Temple stands, requests visitors to “refrain from wearing head dresses, mini-skirts, short trousers, sleeveless jackets, so to maintain the sanctity of the holy place.” There is an admission fee and all visitors must remove their footwear.

Tradition states that the tooth was taken from the ashes after the cremation of Gauthama Buddha at Kusinara in India in 543BC. It was eventually smuggled to Sri Lanka in the 4^th century AD. It was lodged in many places as a symbol of nationhood until coming to rest in Kandy in 1592.

The main shrine of the temple is on the first floor and its doors are opened during puja (offering) times (06.30; 10.00 & 18.30 daily) providing a glimpse of the sacred casket. You don’t actually see the tooth but a visit to the shrine is a soul-stirring experience whatever your faith.

2. Peradeniya Botanical Gardens

No visit to Kandy is complete without seeing the Royal Botanical Gardens, some 6km south of the town on the Colombo Road. Its origins go back to the 18^th century when it was a royal residence and park. It became a formal botanical garden under a British governor in 1821 and the first tea seedlings grown in the then Ceylon were planted there in 1824, fifty years before tea became a viable commercial crop.

The gardens consist of nearly 61ha (150 acres) dedicated to the flora of Sri Lanka with an arboretum and herbarium and, especially popular with tourists, an Orchid House with an amazing collection of rare orchids. The entire area of the gardens is embraced by the Maheweli River, adding to its stunning beauty. It is open daily (08.00-18.00) to stroll around at leisure or take a buggy; an admission fee is charged.

3. Elephant Orphanage

At Pinnawela (85km from Colombo via Kegalle), easily reached on the drive to or from Kandy, this orphanage remains unique since it was set up in 1975 to provide shelter and care for young elephants that had been abandoned or orphaned. There are now over 60 elephants, some of them being founder members who act as family for the newly arrived orphans.

Hugely popular with visitors, the best time to drop in is at feeding time (09.15, 13.15 & 17.00) or for the ritual bathing (10.00-12.00; 14.00-16.00) when the elephants troop off in an eager herd down a lane opposite the park to the Maha Oya (river). An admission fee is charged.

4. Round Trip Tour

Book it in advance of your visit or arrange a tour yourself with a licensed guide and a taxi or mini-van from your hotel for what is known locally as the “round trip tour.” This takes you on a tour to destinations of your choice (or leave it to your guide to advise) on a trip around the island.

As well as visiting the three attractions listed above, the typical tour would take in the ancient ruins of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa and include “the eighth wonder of the world,” the Sigiriya Lion Rock. Once a royal citadel, this gigantic mushroom-shaped rock protrudes 183m into the sky and rewards anyone who climbs it with paintings of beauties as frescoes on the rock wall and a breathtaking view from the top. If you base yourself at Habarana you’ll be able to see elephants and wildlife at Minneriya, one of the island’s 16 National Parks.

For contrast let the tour take you southwards to the hill country around Nuwara Eliya to see the magnificent forest scenery patch-worked with vegetable plantations and hills clad with crew-cropped tea bushes. You can see gem mining too, at Ratnapura, or take the tour to the East Coast to visit Fort Frederick and the beaches north and south of Trincomalee.

5. Galle Fort

Galle Fort (116km south of Colombo) is fascinating even if you’re not interested in the country’s colonial occupation by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British, all of whom had a hand in the Fort’s construction. Its massive ramparts loom over the southern harbour town of Galle and it is remarkable as, even though it is Number 200 on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites, it is a thriving residential area… and entrance is free.

Its attraction for tourists looking beyond the history in its colonial and art deco houses (numbering 470 in all) is its boutique stores selling souvenirs for the sophisticated, and its charming little cafés. Galle Fort has been gentrified in recent years but this has rescued it from decay, preserving its buildings and ambience, adapted to pleasing the modern tourist.