Kandy is Sri Lanka's last royal capital and home to Sri Dalada Maligawa, the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. It sits in the hills of Central Province about 115 km north-east of Colombo, at around 500 m above sea level, and UNESCO listed the Sacred City of Kandy in 1988. Two nights is right for most travellers: one full day in town and a morning at the Peradeniya gardens.

Time your temple visit for a puja, when the drums start and the inner shrine opens, at roughly 5:30am, 9:30am and 6:30pm. Afterwards walk the 3.2 km path around Kandy Lake, which the last king, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, had built between 1807 and 1812, then climb Rajapihilla Mawatha for the classic view back over the water and the temple roof. The Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya, 5.5 km west, are worth a morning for the orchid house and the giant Java fig on the Great Lawn. Birders should head into Udawattakele forest behind the temple, and the Ceylon Tea Museum sits in an old tea factory 3 km south.

Trains from Colombo Fort take between about 2 hours 40 minutes and 4 hours; sit on the right for the climb after Rambukkana, and book reserved seats up to 30 days ahead. Kandy is also where most people join the hill-country line to Nanu Oya for Nuwara Eliya (about 3 hours) and Ella (about 6 hours). Cyclone damage in late 2025 disrupted this route, so check Sri Lanka Railways before you travel.

Being higher up, Kandy is cooler than the coast, with afternoon highs around 28°C and nights near 19°C. January to April is the driest stretch, while October and November are the wettest months. The Esala Perahera fills the streets for about ten nights in July or August, with drummers, dancers and torch-bearers escorting the relic casket, and rooms sell out months ahead.

Cover your shoulders and knees at the temple, leave your shoes at the counter by the entrance and never pose with your back to a Buddha statue. Foreign adults pay roughly LKR 3,000 for the temple after a price rise in July 2026, and LKR 3,540 at Peradeniya, so carry rupees as card machines are unreliable. The town centre is a tight one-way loop that jams at school times, so walk where you can and book tuk-tuks through PickMe.