Sigiriya or Ella first from December to March

Sri Lanka has two monsoons, which is why there is almost always a good coast somewhere. From roughly December to March the north-east monsoon affects the east coast and the north, leaving the south and west coasts in their dry season, along with the Cultural Triangle and much of the hill country.

For a route running Sigiriya, Kandy, Ella and the south coast, that is close to ideal. The dry zone around Sigiriya is hot and clear, the hill country is at its most reliable, and the south coast is in season.

The hill country deserves one caveat. Ella at roughly a thousand metres catches cloud at any time of year, and a morning at the Nine Arch Bridge can be misted out in any month. This is not a monsoon effect and cannot be planned around beyond starting early and allowing a second attempt.

Clear weather at Sigiriya is a mixed blessing. The views from the summit across the dry plain are at their best, and the frescoes and water gardens are easy to enjoy without rain. The same clear skies also mean no cloud cover on a rock with almost no shade.

That makes the opening start more important rather than less. The site usually opens around seven, and the difference between a seven and a ten o'clock climb is considerable in March in particular, when the dry zone is at its hottest before the inter-monsoon rains.

Crowds follow the same curve. This is peak season, and the narrow one-way upper stairways set your pace by whoever is ahead of you. Arriving at opening solves the heat and the queueing at the same time.

In this window the Kandy to Ella railway becomes the hardest thing in the itinerary to secure. Reserved seats are limited, demand is at its annual peak, and they sell out further ahead than at any other time of year.

Book the train before anything else and confirm the release window locally rather than relying on a fixed figure, because the rules change. If a reserved seat is not available on your date, the options are the unreserved carriages, which can be extremely crowded for a six to seven hour journey, or the shorter version boarding at Nanu Oya.

The Nanu Oya option is genuinely useful here rather than a consolation. Driving from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya via a tea estate and joining the scenic two and a half to three hours is a good day in its own right, and it is far easier to arrange at short notice.

The south coast is the main beneficiary of this season, and it is the strongest argument for running the route in the conventional direction from December to March. Mirissa, Weligama and Unawatuna are all in their dry window, and the sea is at its calmest for swimming.

Whale watching from Mirissa runs roughly December to April, when blue whales and sperm whales pass the continental shelf. Trips leave very early and last roughly four to six hours at sea, so they need two coastal nights at minimum to fit at all.

Choose the operator on conduct. Responsible boats keep their distance, do not chase or encircle animals and limit the vessels around a sighting. Lankan Stays and Trails works only with operators who follow those rules, and an operator promising guaranteed sightings is telling you how they intend to achieve them.

The practical difference in this window is lead time. Accommodation at Sigiriya and in Ella is finite, the good properties fill early, and the Christmas and New Year fortnight is in a category of its own for both price and availability.

The booking order that works is train first, coastal nights second, inland accommodation last. That sequence fixes the two least flexible things before the most flexible ones, and it is the opposite of how most people plan.

None of this changes the route order. December to March is the one window where the conventional Sigiriya to Ella to coast direction is right on every single argument at once, and the only real decisions are how early you book and how early you get up.