A great pitstop on any journey down the stunning south-west coast of Sri Lanka between Colombo and Galle, Aluthgama clings to the point where the snaking Bentota Ganga reaches the Indian Ocean. Anyone hopping off the rails at Aluthgama Station will find themselves right in the heart of a bustling market town that fizzes with energy whenever the fishing trawlers come in. It's an area encased by the courses of the local river, which does an S-bend around the marketplaces and the low-rise shops. Closer to the shore, little coffee joints and curry houses pop up. Further inland, you can seek the incense-scented temple shrines of the Kande Viharaya, where a cross-legged Buddha and a revered Bodhi Tree reside in a complex that's thought to date back to the 1700s. 

Aluthgama tour guides can also lead the way to golden sands and beautiful seaside retreats. Moragalla Beach is to the north, offering largely secluded dashes of beige-tinted sands. Ventura Beach is over the Bentota river to the south, feathering into Bentota Beach itself, where sculpted surf swells crash into pockets of verdant coconut palms.