Kandy: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Kandy, in the green hills of central Sri Lanka, was the capital of the last Sinhalese kingdom, which held out in its mountains against the Portuguese and the Dutch for three centuries until the British took it in 1815. It keeps the island’s holiest relic, the tooth of the Buddha. Two hours; white or modest clothes for the temple, and shoes off.

A short history of Kandy

Kandy was the capital of the last Sinhalese kingdom in Sri Lanka from the end of the 15th century. According to tradition, the Temple of the Tooth holds a tooth of the Buddha, and whoever held the tooth was considered the legitimate ruler of the island. For more than three hundred years the kingdom held out in the mountains against the Portuguese and the Dutch, who held the coast, until the Kandyan Convention was signed in 1815 and the British took control of it. In 1988 the city was declared a World Heritage Site, and in 1998 a Tamil Tigers militant set off a truck bomb at the entrance to the temple. Every summer the city holds the Esala Perahera procession with dozens of elephants.

The ten best sights in Kandy

1
Temple of the Tooth
The tooth relic of the Buddha; white clothes, shoulders covered
2
National Museum
In the queen’s palace of the last kings
3
Kandy Lake
The lake of the last king; walk the shore
4
Kandyan Art Association
Evening shows of Kandyan dance and drums
5
British Garrison Cemetery
Colonial graves with strange epitaphs
6
Arthur’s Seat
The view over the lake and the temple
7
Queen’s Hotel
A colonial hotel on the main square
8
Bahirawakanda Buddha
The white Buddha on the hill over town
9
Udawattakele
The royal forest behind the temple
10
Peradeniya Botanic Gardens
Orchids, palms and a giant fig

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Tours in Kandy →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Kandy:

Free walking tours in Kandy

The last royal capital

Temple of the Tooth · Legend says the tooth relic was smuggled to Sri Lanka in the fourth century hidden in the hair of a princess. Whoever held the relic held the right to rule the island, so the kings kept it beside their palace. Drums and offerings fill the shrine at the daily ceremonies, the pujas; in 1998 a truck bomb by the Tamil Tigers damaged the front of the temple.
National Museum · In the palace of the queens of the last king, a museum of the Kandyan kingdom: jewellery, weapons, and a copy of the 1815 convention by which the Kandyan chiefs handed the kingdom to the British crown.
British Garrison Cemetery · A small cemetery of the British who came after 1815, many of them young, carried off by malaria, cholera and accidents. A caretaker tells the stories behind the stones — including, it is said, a man killed by a wild elephant.
Kandy Lake · An artificial lake made in 1807 by the last king, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, with a wall around it carved like a row of clouds. The British used the little island in the middle as an ammunition store.
Kandyan Art Association · Every evening troupes perform Kandyan dance here, the dance of the royal court, with drums and acrobatic leaps, ending in a walk over burning coals.
Arthur’s Seat · A lookout on the road above the lake, the classic view of Kandy: the lake, the golden roof of the Temple of the Tooth and the hills around.

Gardens, tea and the hills

Around Kandy are one of the great botanic gardens of Asia, the old forest of the kings, and the tea country that made Ceylon famous. Half a day or more by tuk-tuk.

Peradeniya Botanic Gardens · A royal pleasure garden since the fourteenth century, turned into a botanic garden by the British in 1843. It has an orchid house, an avenue of royal palms, and a giant Javan fig whose canopy covers a lawn; visiting leaders, among them the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, planted trees here.
Ceylon Tea Museum · In a tea factory of 1925 in the hills south of town. Coffee was the crop of Ceylon until a leaf disease destroyed it in the 1870s; tea, first planted commercially by the Scot James Taylor in 1867, replaced it and made the island one of the great tea producers of the world.
Bahirawakanda Buddha · A white seated Buddha about twenty-seven metres high on the hill over the town, visible from everywhere in Kandy, with a view over the city from its feet.
Udawattakele · The forest behind the Temple of the Tooth, once the private garden of the kings and forbidden to ordinary people, now a reserve with paths among giant trees, monkeys and birds.
Central Market · A market around a courtyard of fruit, spices, tea and batik. Sri Lanka was the island of cinnamon, and the spice traders drew the Portuguese and Dutch to its coasts.
Kandy Station · From here the hill railway climbs through tea estates to Nuwara Eliya and Ella, a ride of about seven hours that many call the most beautiful train journey in the world; book a reserved seat ahead.

Temples and elephants

West of Kandy stand three old temples in the villages, and beyond them the elephant orphanage of Pinnawala; east rise the Knuckles mountains. A full day by car.

Gadaladeniya Temple · A stone temple of 1344 on a granite rock, built by a South Indian architect in a style that mixes Sinhalese and Hindu Dravidian forms. It is one of three fourteenth-century temples that make a loop through the villages.
Pinnawala · Founded by the government in 1975 to care for orphaned and injured elephants, it keeps one of the largest captive herds in the world; twice a day the herd walks down to bathe in the river. Animal-welfare groups criticise its conditions, and many visitors now prefer the elephant transit homes where calves are returned to the wild.
Knuckles Range · East of Kandy, mountains named by British surveyors for their shape, like the knuckles of a clenched fist. Cloud forest, villages and trails make it part of the world heritage of Sri Lanka’s central highlands.
Queen’s Hotel · Back in town, a white colonial hotel of the nineteenth century by the temple, once the residence of a British governor, where the old bar is a good place to rest after a long day.
Temple of the Tooth · The evening puja, around half past six, when drums and horns call the faithful and the doors of the relic chamber open. In July or August the Esala Perahera brings dozens of decorated elephants through the streets, one carrying the relic casket.
Kandy Lake · A walk around the lake at dusk, when fruit bats leave the trees in great flocks and the temple lights reflect on the water.

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Getting to Kandy and getting around

Kandy Station · Trains to Colombo, and the famous hill line to Ella

Cheap eats in Kandy

Sri Lanka eats rice and curry: a mound of rice with five or six small curries of dhal, jackfruit, beetroot, fish and greens, and sambols of coconut and chilli. For breakfast, hoppers — bowl-shaped rice pancakes with an egg cooked inside; for supper, kottu, chopped flatbread stir-fried on a hot plate with a rhythmic clatter of blades. A rice-and-curry lunch costs a dollar or two.

Central Market · Rice and curry, hoppers and kottu
Ceylon Tea Museum · A cup of high-grown tea
Queen’s Hotel · Afternoon tea in the colonial hotel

Museums in Kandy

Kandy’s museums tell of its kings, the British and tea.

National Museum · The Kandyan kingdom
Ceylon Tea Museum · The story of tea
British Garrison Cemetery · Colonial lives

Nature and day trips near Kandy

Kandy sits among forested hills at about five hundred metres, with tea estates and cloud forest beyond.

Peradeniya Botanic Gardens · The botanic gardens
Udawattakele · The royal forest
Knuckles Range · Mountain hikes

Things to do in Kandy with kids

With children: elephants, drummers and fire-walkers, a giant fig tree and monkeys in the forest.

Kandyan Art Association · The dance and fire show
Peradeniya Botanic Gardens · The giant fig
Pinnawala · Elephants bathing

Holy places in Kandy

Kandy is the spiritual heart of Buddhist Sri Lanka, with the relic of the tooth and the old village temples.

Temple of the Tooth · The tooth relic
Bahirawakanda Buddha · The white Buddha
Gadaladeniya Temple · The stone temple of 1344

Nightlife in Kandy

Kandy is quiet at night: the evening puja, a dance show, and a drink in a colonial bar.

Temple of the Tooth · The evening puja
Queen’s Hotel · The old bar
Kandy Lake · A walk at dusk

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Frequently asked questions about Kandy

What is there to see in Kandy?

The top sights in Kandy are Temple of the Tooth, National Museum and Kandy Lake. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Kandy?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Kandy without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Kandy?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Kandy, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The last royal capital.

How do you get to Kandy and get around?

The main ways are Kandy Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Kandy, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Kandy that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

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