The Best National Parks in Sri Lanka
Few countries offer safari experiences as accessible as Sri Lanka's. Within a few hours of any coast you can watch leopards patrol Yala's scrub jungle, see hundreds of elephants converge on the Minneriya reservoir during the dry-season Gathering, or scan Wilpattu's forest lakes from a quiet jeep track. Beyond the big-ticket mammals, Bundala's lagoons teem with flamingos and shorebirds, Horton Plains protects cloud forest ending at the sheer drop of World's End, and Sinharaja shelters most of the island's endemic birds. Each park has its own season and specialty, so it pays to match the park to your wishlist.
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01
Yala National Park
Sri Lanka's most famous wildlife park, renowned for one of the world's highest leopard densities alongside elephants, sloth bears and abundant birdlife.
Tissamaharama · LKR 8500
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02
Udawalawe National Park
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03
Wilpattu National Park
Sri Lanka's largest national park, a wilderness of scrub jungle and natural lakes famous for leopards, sloth bears and quiet safaris.
Puttalam · LKR 4500
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04
Minneriya National Park
A dry-zone national park around an ancient reservoir, famous for 'The Gathering', when hundreds of wild elephants converge on the drying lakebed.
Giritale · LKR 4500
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05
Kaudulla National Park
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06
Horton Plains National Park
A high-altitude plateau of montane grassland and cloud forest, home to the sheer cliff viewpoint known as World's End.
Nuwara Eliya · LKR 10000 · UNESCO
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07
Bundala National Park
A coastal wetland and Ramsar site of lagoons and salt pans, one of Sri Lanka's finest birdwatching parks and a winter home for greater flamingos.
Tissamaharama · LKR 7500
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08
Kumana National Park
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09
Wasgamuwa National Park
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10
Sinharaja Forest Reserve
Sri Lanka's last major tract of primary lowland rainforest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site teeming with endemic birds, plants and wildlife.
Ratnapura · LKR 2700 · UNESCO
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