Travel in Polonnaruwa

Polonnaruwa was the Sinhalese capital after Anuradhapura, and it lay under jungle until the British came across it in 1820. Three of our six Sri Lanka itineraries go there. Two give it a full day of its own; the third folds it into a day it shares with Sigiriya. None of the three sleeps in Polonnaruwa. It is reached out and back from a base further west, around Dambulla and Habarana, where the Cultural Triangle nights sit on every route we sell.

What the itineraries cover is the ruin field itself: the remains of the royal palace, the large stupas, the spread-out temple and monastery complexes and a number of Buddha statues. The circular Vatadage is the set piece, and it once housed the Buddha's tooth relic. The other thing they make a point of is the water — an irrigation system and an artificial reservoir that kept rice growing through the dry season, which is the practical reason the city mattered.

The wonderful world of Sri Lanka (13 days, from EUR 750) is the cheapest of the three and gives the region the most room: Dambulla on day eight, Polonnaruwa on day nine, Sigiriya on day ten, Anuradhapura on day eleven — one site a day, four days running. Between culture and jungle (14 days, from EUR 1,380) opens with the region instead, Dambulla on day two, Polonnaruwa on day three, Sigiriya on day four, then out to the Knuckles range. Sri Lanka's glory (14 days, from EUR 1,050) saves it for the end and puts Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa together on day twelve. That is the shortest look at Polonnaruwa we sell, and if the ruins are the reason you are booking, it is not the one to pick.

The other three Sri Lanka trips do not go. Breathtaking nature & culture does Dambulla and Sigiriya, then drives east to the beach at Pasikuda and skips Polonnaruwa. Culture & nature and Forests, tea plantations & culture stay in the hill country and the south — Kandy, Horton Plains, Ella, Adam's Peak, Sinharaja — and never come this far north. No route schedules a jeep safari near the ruins either. The elephant gathering at Minneriya is on none of our itineraries, and the wildlife days sit at Udawalawe and Sinharaja instead. No bicycle hire is listed; you see the site with your guide.

Only one of the three publishes its hotels. Between culture and jungle stays three nights at the Sungreen in Dambulla, in a Deluxe room, and works all three Cultural Triangle days from there. The other two do not name their properties, so ask when you enquire if the exact hotel matters to you. That published list runs Standard and Deluxe rooms — there is no five-star tier on any of these trips. All three are private and guided, with no fixed departures, so you set the dates. Hotel accommodation, breakfast, a German-speaking guide, a bottle of water on arrival and someone reachable around the clock are included; international flights are not. The Sigiriya page covers the rest of this region.