National Parks in Sri Lanka
Monkeys, elephants, crocodiles, steppe, rainforest, cloud forest or coast desired? Sri Lankan nature offers safari enthusiasts everything they need to spend a varied holiday in nature. These natural highlights make the country such an exciting travel destination, in addition to beach holidays and Buddhist culture.
Finding the right national park
Which national parks are particularly worth seeing, which animals can be visited there and how to organize round trips through several national parks and how to spend the night there, you can find out on the detail pages of the most beautiful national parks in Sri Lanka.
Short distances
An undoubted advantage is that the distances between the national parks are very manageable thanks to the compact island size and can be easily managed by car.
Animals in Sri Lanka's National Parks
The very varied natural landscape is home to the so-called "Sri Lanka Big Four": Sri Lankan elephant, Sri Lanka leopard, Sri Lanka sloth bear and the blue whale – each national park has its own "animal focus".
In Sri Lanka's 21 national parks, you can choose to go leopard stalking, "hunt" whales, wild elephants and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins on boat safaris. The special thing about the animals in Sri Lankan national parks is that they have developed isolated from their species due to geographical separation from the mainland (similar to Madagascar). Their habitats are free of external influences!
Sri Lanka's national parks at a glance!
- Yala National Park : High density of leopards
- Udawalawe National Park : High density of elephants with elephant orphanage (incl. reintroduction)
- Wilpattu National Park : Dense forest, few visitors & many shy animal species
- Gal Oya National Park : Boat safari possible, reservoir with bathing elephants, no mass tourism
- Maduru Oya : More homestay than accommodation, pioneering spirit & lonely travel feeling, rather shy elephants
- Sinharaja National Park : UNESCO-protected tropical rainforest, beautiful eco-lodges
- Horton Plains National Park : UNESCO-protected, hike to the World's End with spectacular steep slope
- Knuckles Range : UNESCO highland region for hiking
- Minneriya, Kaudulla National Park or Hurulu Eco Park : Alternating relevance, depending on where the roaming elephants are at the moment
