Polonnaruwa is an ancient city in the east of Sri Lanka’s cultural triangle and whilst the ancient city of Anuradhapura to the north is perhaps the more famous, many visitors find Polonnaruwa an easier place to understand as it is smaller and in parts less ruined. A well-planned city defended by enclosing walls (around 5 km of which still remain) and graced by palaces, shrines, monasteries, pavilions, parks, ponds and irrigation lakes, Polonnaruwa is strewn with ruins in a resplendent state of preservation and is a delightful place to explore. For keen cyclists, we strongly recommend exploring Polonnaruwa on a guided bicycle tour. As most of the interesting ruins are quite close together and the area is pretty flat, the cycling is easy going and can be done as a morning or as a full day tour if you want to get further afield. The ancient city also backs onto a large reservoir called Parakrama Samudra and cycling around at a leisurely pace, you are likely to see some of Sri Lanka’s impressive birdlife.
