10-day Sri Lanka itinerary, day 1: airport to Sigiriya

Day 1 of the 10-day Sri Lanka itinerary has one job: getting you from the airport to your Sigiriya hotel in reasonable shape. Most long-haul flights land at Bandaranaike International Airport in the early morning or around midday, and a private driver will usually be waiting in the arrivals hall with a name board.

From there the road runs north-east through Negombo's outskirts, past coconut plantations and rice fields, then through the town of Kurunegala and on towards Dambulla before the final stretch to Sigiriya. Allow roughly four to five hours including a break, and longer if you land into weekend or festival traffic.

The 10-day route drives straight to Sigiriya on day 1 because the Cultural Triangle rewards early starts and fresh legs, and both are easiest at the beginning of the trip. Sigiriya Rock, the Dambulla Cave Temple and Polonnaruwa are all best in the first hours after dawn, which suits a body that is still waking early on its home time zone.

Starting in the north also sets up a one-way loop. From Sigiriya the route runs south to Kandy, up into the hills, down to Yala and west along the coast, ending about two and a half to three hours from the airport. Spending the first night near the airport and heading south instead would mean a long drive back north later in the trip.

The drive from the airport to Sigiriya is best broken once for lunch and once for a short leg stretch. Kurunegala, roughly halfway, has simple rice-and-curry restaurants, and the huge rock outcrop of Ethagala above the town gives a first taste of the landscape to come.

Some drivers suggest spice gardens or gem shops on the way. These are often commission stops rather than genuine visits, and on day 1 they cost time you would rather spend at the hotel pool. It is perfectly polite to say you would like to go straight through.

Most Sigiriya hotels sit among scrub jungle and paddy fields a few kilometres from the rock, and many have pools and views of it. The best use of the first evening is a swim, an early dinner and a proper night's sleep, because day 2 starts before 7am.

If you arrive with energy to spare, a short walk along the lanes near the hotel at dusk is enough. Resist the urge to climb anything. Sigiriya Rock and Pidurangala both deserve fresh legs, and the 10-day route has deliberately left room to do them properly.

A landing later than roughly 3pm makes a four-to-five-hour drive to Sigiriya a poor idea, because the final stretch would be in the dark on rural roads after a long-haul flight. The better plan is a first night in Negombo, around 20 minutes from Bandaranaike International Airport, with the drive to Sigiriya the next morning.

That costs one of the three Sigiriya nights, so the Cultural Triangle days compress. The usual fix is to arrive at Sigiriya around midday on the new day 2, visit the Dambulla Cave Temple that afternoon, climb Sigiriya Rock at opening the next morning and do the elephant safari that afternoon, leaving Polonnaruwa out.

Book the driver and the first hotel before you book anything else in the Cultural Triangle, and send your flight number to both so they can track delays. Keep a small bag with swimwear, a change of clothes and toiletries on top of your luggage, since you will want them within minutes of arriving.

Lankan Stays & Trails meets every arrival in the hall and times the drive around the flight rather than a fixed schedule, with a lunch stop chosen for food rather than commission. The day 2 guide in this series picks up the route at the foot of Sigiriya Rock.