When to go to Kandy?
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Best time: December to April and July to August (Perahera)
At a glance
Why go to Kandy?
Kandy was the island's last independent stronghold. While first the Portuguese and then the Dutch held the coasts, the Kandyan kingdom held out in the mountains for three centuries, protected by the terrain and by passes that were easy to defend. It fell only in 1815, through a convention signed with the British rather than a battle. That long resistance explains why the city concentrates what remains of truly Sinhalese architecture, dance and ritual.
The tooth relic holds a special place. It reached the island in the 4th century, hidden in a princess's hair according to tradition, and followed the successive capitals from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa and then Kandy. Possessing it conferred royal legitimacy, and the temple that houses it is still the holiest site of Sinhalese Buddhism. Three ceremonies a day draw lines of worshippers carrying lotus flowers, to the beat of double-headed drums.
Around it, the city is less frozen than a listed site. The lake dug in 1807 takes 45 minutes to walk round, under trees where colonies of fruit bats roost. The central market sells Ceylon cinnamon in fine quills and cardamom from the nearby hills. A 104-hectare forest begins just behind the temple, with hermit caves that are still inhabited. And the tea plantations climb away from the southern edge of town, towards Nuwara Eliya.
Map of Kandy: what is where?
The map shows the 6 places covered in this guide, to picture the distances and plan your route.
- Kandy
- Temple of the Tooth
- Kandy Lake
- Peradeniya Gardens
- Udawatta Kele
- Lankatilaka
How much does a trip to Kandy cost?
Kandy remains very affordable: a full meal costs under €3, a night in a guesthouse around fifteen euros and local transport a few cents. The items that weigh are site admissions, priced in dollars for foreigners, and the driver if you hire one for the day.
| Style | Per day | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | €22-40/day | Guesthouse or hostel, bus and train, rice-and-curry canteens, two site admissions a day |
| Comfort | €70-120/day | Lakeside hotel, tuk-tuk and driver for the day, dance show, excursion to Dambulla |
| Premium | €250+/day | Planter's mansion or hill resort, car with a private guide, grandstand seat during the Perahera |
Sri Lankan rupees can be withdrawn from cash machines in the centre, which charge a fixed fee of around 400 to 600 rupees per transaction: take out large sums in one go. Cards are accepted in hotels and large shops, almost nowhere else. Keep small notes for tuk-tuks, canteens and flower offerings at the temple.
Is Kandy safe?
Kandy is a calm city where violent theft is rare and you can walk without worry by day or in the evening. The annoyances come mostly from touts around the Temple of the Tooth and the lake, who offer tickets for shows, drivers or gem shops while claiming the site is closed: the official ticket offices are inside the complex and nothing is closed. Buying sapphires and rubies is another matter, where fakes are common and there is no recourse. On the health front, dengue circulates in urban areas, which warrants repellent during the day, when the mosquito that carries it bites. Driving is edgy and mountain buses go fast on narrow roads. Finally, in temples, shoulders and knees must be covered and shoes removed, and it is frowned upon to pose with your back to a Buddha statue for a photo, which has already landed travellers in trouble.
What to see and do in Kandy
- Temple of the Tooth
- Kandy Lake
- Peradeniya Botanical Gardens
- Udawatta Kele Forest Reserve
- Kandyan dance
- Kandy Central Market
- Lankatilaka Temple
- Bahirawakanda statue
Temple of the Tooth
Sri Dalada Maligawa guards the canine attributed to the Buddha, sealed inside seven nested gold caskets and never shown to the public. The current building dates from the late 17th century, with the octagonal Pattirippuwa added in 1802. Three daily ceremonies, at 5.30am, 9.30am and 6.30pm, open the doors of the sanctuary to the sound of geta bera drums. A bomb attack damaged it in 1998, before a full restoration. The whole royal quarter has been a World Heritage Site since 1988.
The lake and the old town
The artificial lake was dug in 1807 by the last king of Kandy, over paddy fields flooded for the purpose. The low crenellated wall that edges it, known as the cloud wall, dates from the same works. The circuit is three flat kilometres, with water monitors on the banks and colonies of fruit bats hanging from the big trees on the southern shore. Around it stand the temple, the royal palace, the national museum and the shopping streets that keep their colonial shopfronts.
Peradeniya Botanical Gardens
Sixty hectares in a loop of the Mahaweli, 6 km from the centre, a former royal garden taken over and redesigned by the British from 1821. More than 4,000 species grow here, including an avenue of royal palms planted in 1905, an orchid house and a Javan fig whose crown covers almost 1,600 square metres. Trees have been planted by visiting heads of state, each with its plaque. The gardens served as Allied headquarters for South-East Asia during the Second World War.
Udawatta Kele
A 104-hectare tropical forest that begins just behind the Temple of the Tooth, a former royal reserve protected as early as 1856. The well-marked trails pass hermit caves still occupied by Buddhist monks, a small lake and lianas several dozen metres long. Toque macaques, purple-faced langurs, hornbills and some sixty bird species live here in the middle of the city. It is one of the few urban forests of this size in South Asia, and it can be walked in two hours.
The 14th-century temples
West of Kandy, three shrines from the Gampola period make a half-day loop by tuk-tuk. Lankatilaka, built in 1344 on a rocky outcrop, blends a Buddhist plan with South Indian Hindu architecture. Gadaladeniya, from the same decade, is built entirely of dressed stone. Embekka, lastly, lines up wooden pillars carved with dancers, wrestlers and swans, considered the finest woodwork on the island. None of the three draws crowds.
The Esala Perahera
Ten nights of processions in July or August, set by the lunar calendar, during which the city never sleeps. Dozens of caparisoned elephants, including a tusker carrying the replica of the relic casket, parade with hundreds of Kandyan dancers, fire-breathers and drummers. The procession grows each night until the last, the longest. Grandstand seats are booked weeks in advance and hotels double their rates throughout the period.
How many days, and which itinerary?
Two full days are enough for the Temple of the Tooth, the lake circuit, the Peradeniya gardens and a dance show. Three days let you add the loop of 14th-century temples and the Udawatta Kele forest. Many travellers spend just one night here on the way south, which is a little short.
🗺️ Day-by-day itinerary · 📓 Free printable Kandy guide (PDF) · 🌍 All of Sri Lanka
Short stop (2 days)
Day 1: arrive by train from Colombo in the late morning, walk round the lake, central market, then a Kandyan dance show at 5pm and the evening ceremony at the Temple of the Tooth at 6.30pm. Day 2: Peradeniya Botanical Gardens early in the morning on bus 644, back to town for the national museum, then up to Bahirawakanda before sunset. Leave the next morning on the mountain train to Ella.
Kandy and around (4 days)
The same core, plus a morning in the Udawatta Kele forest, the tuk-tuk loop of the three 14th-century temples of Lankatilaka, Gadaladeniya and Embekka, and an excursion to Matale for a spice garden and the Dambulla cave temple, two hours' drive away. Half a day can also go to a tea plantation at Hantana, twenty minutes from the centre, with a factory tour and tasting.
Cultural Triangle and mountains (2 weeks)
Colombo on arrival, then Dambulla and Sigiriya for two nights, Polonnaruwa for a day by bike, before heading down to Kandy for three nights. Then the mountain train to Ella, two or three nights in the tea hills, and finally the south coast between Galle, Mirissa and Tangalle for a week on the beach. The Kandy-Ella train should be booked a month ahead in reserved second class; the other journeys are done by car with a driver.
Getting there and getting around
The train from Colombo takes three hours for 180 to 1,000 rupees depending on class, on a line built in 1867 to bring tea down to the port. It is more pleasant than the road, which is often jammed, and first-class tickets can be bought online a month ahead.
The train from Kandy to Ella, seven hours through the tea plantations, is among the most sought-after rail journeys in Asia. Reserved seats go thirty days before the date, when sales open; otherwise there is unreserved second class, standing.
In town, tuk-tuks have run on the meter for a few years now, or at a price agreed in advance: 200 to 400 rupees for a ride in the centre. The PickMe app gives a reference fare and spares you the haggling.
For the surroundings, a driver for the day costs 8,000 or 12,000 rupees, or €25 to 40, which is still the simplest way to cover the Gampola temples or reach Dambulla and Sigiriya in a day.
Where to stay in Kandy?
Guesthouses in the hills around the lake, at Anniewatte or on the Hantana road: €15-35 a night, often family-run, with a Sri Lankan breakfast and a view over the city. The walk up from the centre is steep, so take a tuk-tuk in the evening.
Small hotels and hostels in the centre, around the station and the market: €12-25, handy for early trains but noisy. It is the most common option for those staying only one night between Colombo and the south.
Mid-range hotels on the lakeshore or on the heights of Sangamitta: €55-90, with a pool and restaurant. Several occupy 19th-century colonial buildings taken over and renovated, including the oldest hotel in the city.
Boutique addresses and resorts in the neighbouring valleys, ten or twenty minutes from the centre: €110-200, in former planters' mansions or contemporary buildings facing the hills. Rates double during the ten nights of the Perahera.
Our places to stay, stop by stop, at three budgets →
What to eat in Kandy?
Rice and curry comes with five to eight side dishes, from dhal to green jackfruit by way of cassava leaves and coconut sambol with chilli. Expect 400 to 900 rupees in the canteens of the centre, or €1.50 to 3, often all-you-can-eat at lunchtime.
Kottu rotti, flatbread chopped with a spatula on a griddle with vegetables, egg and meat, is made in the evening amid a metallic clatter you can recognise from fifty metres. A filling portion costs 500 to 900 rupees at the stalls on Colombo Street.
Hoppers, bowl-shaped pancakes cooked in a small deep pan, are eaten at breakfast plain or with an egg cracked into the middle. String hoppers, steamed nests of rice vermicelli, come with a coconut curry.
Tea is drunk at the source here: the Hantana plantations begin twenty minutes from the centre and the factories offer tours and tastings. At the market, BOP and OP grades are sold by weight for a fraction of the price of the gift boxes sold at the airport.
Entry requirements
An ETA is required and must be applied for online before you travel, with a passport, for EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian citizens.
Rules change: check your own government's travel advice before you go.
Frequently asked questions about Kandy
How long should you stay in Kandy?
Two full days cover the Temple of the Tooth, the lake, the Peradeniya gardens and a dance show. Three to four days let you add the Udawatta Kele forest, the 14th-century temples and a tea plantation. Many spend just one night here between Colombo and the south, which barely leaves time for the evening ceremony.
When is the Esala Perahera?
In July or August depending on the lunar calendar, over ten consecutive nights that end at the full moon of the month of Esala. The processions grow each evening, the last being the longest. Grandstand seats are booked weeks in advance and the city's hotels double their rates throughout the period, so booking is essential.
How do you take the train to Ella?
The journey takes about seven hours through the tea plantations. Reserved tickets, first and second class, go on sale thirty days before departure and sell out within hours for the morning trains. Failing that, unreserved third class is available on the day, with no guaranteed seat. Sit on the right-hand side on the way out for the best views.
Do you need special clothing for the temples?
Yes: shoulders and knees covered for everyone, shoes and hats removed before entering the sacred enclosure. Sarongs can be hired at the entrance if needed. Turning your back on a Buddha statue to take a photo is forbidden, and tattoos depicting the Buddha can cause problems at immigration as well as at the sites.
What is the best time to visit?
From December to April, the driest season in the central highlands, with days around 28°C and cool nights. October and November bring the bulk of the north-east monsoon rains. July and August bring the Perahera, reason enough to come despite the crowds and the accommodation prices.
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