Kandy Travel Guide: The Complete Guide
Sadee
2023-12-07
Kandy is considered as a chief tourist destination of Sri Lanka. The city of Kandy is the second-largest city after Colombo, and it is also regarded as the cultural capital of Sri Lanka. What’s more, Kandy is nestled in the hills at an altitude of 488 meters, and it is situated 115 km away from Colombo. Besides, the city lies in the middle of hills in the Kandy plateau and the city is both an administrative and religious city in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. Interestingly, the name of this city was given from the word ‘Kanda’ (means a hill) in Sinhala by the colonial rulers.
Things to see in Kandy
The Temple of the Tooth: The temple of the tooth is one of the most significant attractions of Kandy. This temple is also the most-valued Buddhist place of worship in the entire Sri Lanka. The major attraction of the temple is the Buddha’s teeth, which were kept in the temple. Usually, the temple is open from dawn to dusk, and it was built in the 16th century. You have to wear a certain dress to enter the temple. There is a set of rituals that are performed daily. All in all, this temple is one of the sacred shrines of Sri Lanka.
Old Royal Palace Compound: Old Royal Palace Compound is by far the most striking tourist attraction in Kandy. You will enjoy a lot while taking tours to the quarters of the royal concubines, old royal palace, queen’s chambers, the council chambers, and the armoury. In order to represent the Kandyan era, almost all the places are used as museums. Also, these places represent several historical events of the Kandyan era.
The Royal Botanical Garden in Peradeniya: The Royal Botanical Garden in Peradeniya is the best botanical garden in Kandy and the most visited botanical garden in Sri Lanka. The ancient kings of Sri Lanka had made this botanical garden, but the British have refurbished the look of the garden as well. They used the garden to grow trees that were not possible to grow in Great Britain. This botanical garden consists of a big banyan tree, an orchid house, and the suspension bridge.
The Spice Garden: Kandy is renowned for lots of spice gardens. You will see different spices and plants such as – cinnamon, alo-evera, etc. In short, the spice gardens are quite interesting and you will definitely enjoy watching them.
Things to do in Kandy
Ride on an Elephant: The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage offers you something different. Here, you can feed and ride on the elephants. Also, you can enjoy the sights of an elephant shower while getting up close to them. Above all, visiting this elephant orphanage is a must-do activity in Kandy.
Visit the Big Buddha: Visiting the Big Buddha on top of the hill beats everything in Kandy. This Big Buddha is a part of the small temple complex. What you will most enjoy is the view of Kandy from the top. The city, the mountain ranges in the background, the lake; you can see everything from the top. So, you can’t simply miss the Big Buddha.
Explore a Tea Garden: Sri Lanka is the number one country for producing a large amount of tea in the world, and Kandy houses many renowned tea gardens. So, taking a tour to explore a tea garden would provide you some amazing sights like tea workers plucking tea plants, the beautiful smell of raw teas, and many more natural sights.
Do some shopping in the Kandy City Center: This city centre in Kandy is a 10-storied complex. After 12 years of construction, the city centre was opened in 2005. Now, you can do some shopping in this city centre since the complex offers a wide variety of shopping options. Plus, this city centre is the only shopping complex in the entire city of Kandy.
Also read our guide on best hotels in Kandy to select the best accommodation in Kandy.
How is the weather in Kandy?
The weather of Kandy is cooler and wetter than the usual tropical weather of Sri Lanka. Generally, Kandy has two different seasons – the monsoon season and the dry season. In Kandy, the driest months are December to April and the average temperature is between 22°C and 30°C. On the other hand, the monsoon season in Kandy starts from May and lasts until August. In the monsoon season, the average temperature ranges from 25°C to 29°C. Finally, the humidity of Kandy lies in between 70% and 79%.
How to reach Kandy?
In order to reach Kandy, you can take the following options –
By Bus: Bus is the best option to reach Kandy. From the Bandaranaike International Airport, you can take the free shuttle bus to reach the bus terminal. From the terminal, you can take the local bus to reach Kandy. The estimated journey time will be around three hours. Also, you can reach Kandy from Colombo by getting on the public buses.
By Train: Travelling by train is the cheapest option, and using the trains to reach Kandy would be far easier. With that said, intercity express trains are trouble-free and scenic. You have to book your reservation in advance. The entire trip from Colombo to Kandy would cost you LKR220 in second class and the first class would cost LKR750.
By Taxi: Travelling a taxi represents a comfortable journey to Kandy, but it will be expensive as well. You can hire a taxi from the Colombo airport terminal for around LKR 6,000. The estimated duration of the journey is approximately three hours.
Finally, Kandy is one of the prominent cities of Sri Lanka that symbolises the culture of the country. It is a city with diverse elements and sights. Also, this is why people from around the world flock in numbers to visit this city. So, pack your bags today and hop over a travel trip to Kandy with our Kandy travel guide!
For inquiries, contact Olanka Travels.
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Barry L
USA
2024-04-27
Anjali from Olanka Travels put together an amazing 3 week trip that included Kandy, Ella, Tangalle, Galle and a week of safaris in Yala & Udawalawe Parks. Chamod our driver was best ever, Great hotels, wonderful suggestions of places to see and side trips. Anjali was super helpfull in the planning & when we were there. Absolutely recommend and will definitely revisit the amazing country of Sri Lanka & Olanka Travels. Thank you Anjali.
Anjali
Destination Expert
