Beach

Sri Lanka is not a step-free country, and we will not pretend otherwise. Pavements are uneven, many temples have stepped approaches and accessible bathrooms are the exception rather than the rule. What we can do is route around the worst of it: a ramp-equipped van with a tail lift, hotels we check for door widths and roll-in showers before we quote them, and sites chosen because they genuinely work from a chair.

Ten days of touring, then four nights of doing nothing. This is the shape of trip that German and Austrian travellers ask for by name – a Rundreise with a Badeurlaub attached – and it is, for most people, the most satisfying way to use a fortnight in Sri Lanka. You see the whole island while you have the energy, and then you stop.

A scheduled small-group departure, capped at twelve guests in one minibus with one guide – not a forty-seat coach, and not a private tour either. It is the answer for solo travellers who do not want to pay the single-traveller premium of a private tour, and for couples who would rather share the trip and the cost with a few other people.

Blue whales, sperm whales and spinner dolphins off Mirissa, with hotel pick-up from Galle, Unawatuna, Hikkaduwa or Bentota – the season runs November to April.

A blue whale morning off Mirissa and an afternoon in Galle Fort, from Colombo and back in a day – the expressway makes it possible.

Our signature journey is the complete Sri Lanka experience in two unhurried weeks. You will climb the Sigiriya rock fortress, cycle among the ruins of Polonnaruwa, watch wild elephants gather in Minneriya and attend the evening ceremony at Kandy's Temple of the Tooth.

A marine national park twenty minutes off Nilaveli beach, with live coral, reef sharks and turtles in water shallow enough to snorkel from the sand.

The east coast's whale season runs when Mirissa's is over – March to September, peaking June to August. Sperm whales are far more common here than in the south.

Rest, restore and reset. After two gentle days in Kandy, spend seven nights at a certified Ayurveda resort on the south-west coast with daily treatments prescribed by an Ayurvedic doctor, yoga, meditation and herbal cuisine.

Travelling alone doesn't mean being alone. This tour is designed for solo travellers, with a trusted chauffeur-guide, safe and social hotels, and experiences where you meet local people – a cooking class, a village lunch and café evenings in Ella.