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Travel guide
Kandy
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: December to April, and July to August for the Perahera
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Welcome
Kandy, in a few days
The island's last royal capital, taken by the British in 1815, rises in tiers at about 500 metres around a lake dug in 1807. The Temple of the Tooth keeps a relic of the Buddha, honoured three times a day and carried by an elephant during the Esala Perahera procession in summer.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Temple of the Tooth · about 1 hSri Dalada Maligawa holds a tooth attributed to the Buddha, brought here in the 4th century; whoever held it held the right to rule.
- Afternoon · Kandy Lake free · about 45 minAn artificial lake created in 1807 by Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, last king of Kandy, edged by a low scalloped parapet called the Clouds Wall.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Suisse€70 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Kandyan dance · about 1 hA tradition born of healing rituals, led by the ves dance performed in silver headdress and beaded breastplate, driven by the hand-played geta bera drum.
- Afternoon · Udawatta Kele Forest Reserve · about 1 h 30A former royal forest just behind the Temple of the Tooth, protected since 1856 and now one of South Asia's few large urban forests.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Thilanka Hotel€65 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Kandy Central Market free · about 45 minA two-storey building round a courtyard, with stalls sorted by produce: fruit and vegetables from the hills, pineapples, avocados, jackfruit and bananas.
- Afternoon · Bahirawakanda Buddha · about 30 minA 26.8-metre white seated Buddha completed in 1993 on the hill above town, whose terrace looks over the lake, the temple and the hills beyond.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Mahaweli Reach Hotel€80 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Peradeniya Botanical Gardens · 2 to 3 hSixty hectares in a bend of the Mahaweli river outside Kandy, with over 4,000 species, a royal palm avenue, orchids and a giant Javan fig.
- Afternoon · Lankatilaka Temple · about 1 hA 14th-century temple on a rock outcrop west of Kandy, mixing a Buddhist plan with South Indian Hindu features and shrines to Vishnu and Saman.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Cinnamon Citadel€85 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Rice and curry: half a dozen curries around a mound of rice, all at once.
- Hoppers: a bowl-shaped pancake of fermented rice flour, often with an egg in it.
- Kottu: roti chopped and fried on a griddle, to a rhythm you hear down the street.
- Dhal: lentils cooked slowly in coconut milk, on every table.
- Ceylon tea, drunk where it grows, in the hills of the interior.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Bare feet and covered shoulders in temples. Hats off too.
- Never turn your back on a Buddha image for a photograph. It is an offence here, and people have been deported for it.
- Agree the tuk-tuk fare before you get in, or use the PickMe app.
- Bottled water only. The monsoon hits the two coasts at opposite times of year, so check which one you are on.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ Sinhala
| English | Sinhala |
|---|---|
| Hello | ආයුබෝවන් (ayubowan) |
| Thank you | ස්තූතියි (sthoothiyi) |
| Please | කරුණාකර (karunakara) |
| Yes | ඔව් (ow) |
| No | නැහැ (naha) |
| Excuse me | සමාවෙන්න (samavenna) |
| Goodbye | ආයුබෝවන් (ayubowan) |
| Do you speak English? | ඉංග්රීසි කතා කරනවාද? (english katha karanavada?) |
| I don't understand | මට තේරෙන්නේ නැහැ (mata therenne naha) |
| How much is it? | මේක කීයද? (meka kiyada?) |
| Where are the toilets? | වැසිකිළිය කොහෙද? (wasikiliya koheda?) |
| The bill, please | බිල ගේන්න (bila genna) |
| Help! | උදව් කරන්න! (udaw karanna!) |
| Cheers! | චියර්ස්! (cheers!) |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencySri Lankan rupee (LKR)
BudgetAbout €53 a day, mid-range
Best seasonDecember to April, and July to August for the Perahera
PlugD/G/M · 230V
Tap waterBottled only
TippingAppreciated, around 10%
Emergency119 / 1990
EntryAn ETA is required and must be applied for online before you travel, with a passport, for EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian citizens.
HealthHepatitis A and typhoid are recommended. Malaria risk is low and confined to rural areas; dengue is the one to guard against, so use repellent at dawn and dusk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/kandy
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.