This is an important ancient city ruin site, another one of the country’s World Heritage Sites. Polonnaruwa was Sri Lanka’s second capital city, after Anuradhapura, thriving about a thousand years ago.
The garden-city is completely preserved, although most of the structures are in ruins. There are gardens, palaces, and temples, and while it’s rather compact, it’s best explored by bicycle. A bonus, the ruins are inhabited by a large troop of macaques, also residents of the area since ancient times. Duran Duran fans will recognize the site, as their Save a Prayer video was filmed here in the 1980s.
There’s a small, modern town a few miles from the ruins, with guesthouses, bike rentals, cafés, and other tourist services.