Kandy

Some days Kandy’s skies seem perpetually bruised, with stubborn mist clinging to the hills surrounding the city’s beautiful centre piece lake. Delicate hill-country breezes impel the mist to gently part, revealing colourful houses amid Kandy’s improbable forested halo. In the centre of town, three-wheelers careen around slippery corners, raising a soft spray that threatens the silk saris worn by local women. Here’s a city that looks good even when it’s raining.

And when it’s not raining, Kandy is yours to explore in the sunshine.

KANDY WEATHER

Best time to visit Kandy

The best time to visit Kandy is from March to August. August is the Kandy Esala Perahera season.

If you want to climb the Knuckles mountain range from Kandy is from June to August is the best time.

Nightlife and drinks

Kandy, not just because of its importance to Buddhism but also because it’s a hard-working town, has no real nightlife, except for occasional disco nights at hotels and private parties. The night is very quiet.

Slightly Chilled Lounge Bar is a modern bar with good vibes and view.

The PUB is the oldest Bar with street view.

To and In Kandy

Transportation

Train

There are trains from Badulla, Matale and Hatton as well as trains from Colombo.

  • Daily express train to Badulla leaves Colombo at 05:55 arriving Kandy at 08:42
  • Daily Colombo to Kandy Intercity leaves Colombo at 07:00 arriving in Kandy at 09:31
  • Daily express train to Badulla leaves Colombo at 08:30 arriving Kandy at 11:03
  • Daily Colombo commuter to Matale leaves Colombo 10:35 arriving Kandy at 13:52

Road

Private and state air-conditioned and old-fashioned non-air-conditioned buses start from Colombo Fort bus terminal for the journey to Kandy.

Private and state air-conditioned and old-fashioned non-air-conditioned
buses start from Colombo Fort bus terminal for the journey to Kandy. Bus number 01 starts from the private bus stand at Bastian Mawatha Colmbo ( Directions) for Kandy.

Buses available every 30 minutes. The journey takes at least five hours.

If you wish not to wait in queue and want to guarantee a seat reserving bus seats online through is an option.

Transportation in Kandy

Taxi-hailing work in Kandy and there are plenty of tuk-tuks so do a deal on the fare that you’re happy with. But make sure the driver understands where you want to go before you get in.

If the tuk-tuk has a lot of hills to climb, bad roads and a lot of waiting, expect the driver to add extra to the hire cost.

Kandy is a small town, most of the places worth visiting there can be reached by foot.

Travel Guide

Kandy

Things to do and see

Kandy

Royal Botanical Gardens

  • 6.2km from Kandy
  • Vehicle
  • 8.30 – 17.30
  • Rs1,100 per adult

Temple of the Tooth Relic

  • 6.2km from Kandy
  • Vehicle
  • 05.30 – 20.30
  • Rs1000 – 1500 per adult

Kandy Lake

  • 800m from Kandy
  • Foot/Vehicle
  • Before and for sun-fall
  • Free

The View Point

  • 750m from Kandy
  • Foot/Vehicle
  • Before and for sun-fall
  • Free

Hike- Hanthana mountains

  • 7.6km from Kandy
  • Vehicle
  • Before and for sun-fall
  • Free

Nelligala Meditation Centre

  • 550m from Kandy
  • Foot/Vehicle
  • 8.00 – 16.00
  • Free

Ceylon tea museum

  • 16.3km from Kandy
  • Foot/Vehicle
  • 9-16.00
  • Rs500

Climb Dawson Tower

  • 16.7km from Kandy
  • Vehicle
  • 10.00-16.00
  • Rs300 per adult

Attire and safety

Kandy is a tourist town and can be regarded as safe. Kandy is a regarded as a holy city. Attire matters. Women avoid wearing modern short clothing.

Wear comfortable light clothing and shoes as there’s lot of walking to be done. The nights can get cold.

Important Contacts

Kandy tourist Police station – 0813837392

Kandy Railway Station – 0812222271

Free Ambulance – 1990 (toll-free)

Survival Guide

Kandy
  • Self-proclaimed tour guides, Don’t worry if your polite brush-off doesn’t deter these touts. Just ignore them until they get tired and look for another victim. Kandy is the kind of place you can enjoy discovering by yourself, if you do your research before visiting the town.
  • Avoid rides offered by drivers of private transportation. Let your hotel or guesthouse arrange known transport for you.
  • Book hotels through reputable travel agents or established, popular websites
  • Even if you’re offered something, be advised that drug-taking in Sri Lanka is illegal
  • Avoid buying railway tickets from brokers as they could be forged. The real tickets are issued at the station counters or click here on how to reserve your railway tickets online
  • Kandy is a regarded as a holy city. Attire matters. Women avoid wearing modern short clothing.
  • Public smoking is frowned upon by locals as Kandy is a holy city.
  • The town is a working town and has several schools, shops and offices, so be prepared to crowds of locals.
  • Finding a taxi late at night can be challenging. If you find one on the road, make sure the driver understands where you want to go and negotiate the fare before you get in.
  • Kandy is located in a valley and is restricted in area. Traffic is usually high during morning and evening hours.

Picturesque Kandy

Captures

If you get there by mid-day, The Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya is a great place to walk around, relax, and escape the mid-day heat. it is a massive landscape of around 60 hectares with a wide variety of exotic plants and ancient trees. It’s also a great place to do cartwheels

Read: Guide to the Royal Botanical Gardens

The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, known in Sri Lanka  as Sri Dalada Maligawa  is a place of great historic, cultural and spiritual significance.

It is located in the borders of the Udawatta Kele Sanctuary, a historic forest reserve of 104 hectares on a hill-ridge in the city of Kandy. During the days of the Kandyan kingdom, Udawattakele was known as “Uda Wasala Watta” in Sinhalese meaning “the garden above the royal palace”. The sanctuary is famous for its extensive avifauna. The reserve also contains a great variety of plant species, especially giant lianas, shrubs and small trees.

Read: Things you should know before visiting the most sacred  Temple of the Tooth Relic

Take a walk around the Kandy Lake. Created in 1807 by the last Sinhalese king of Kandy, Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, using forced labour. Deveda Moolacharya is the architect of the Kandy Lake. The king used land which was a paddy field to create the lake.

It’s particularly attractive in the early mornings and evenings. You might be lucky to spot a few water monitors and tortoises sunbathing on logs.

Read more – 10 cool things to do in Kandy

Kandy being “The Hill Capital” has some great locations with amazing eagle-eye views. Right in the middle of the city you could enjoy the great view from The View Point, or you could visit Bahirawa Kanda Vihara Buddha statue (it’s impossible to miss seeing this 88ft statue from anywhere in Kandy as it sits above the city). But if you want to see the whole city from outside, you could go up to the Hanthana ground.

Read more – 10 cool things to do in Kandy

If the plan is to stick around for a few days, the Hantana Mountain range is a must. The transition from Pine forest to stream, to green mountains, amazes every single time.

Read more – 10 cool things to do in Kandy

If you want to end your day with a cultural or spiritual vibe, visit the Nelligala Meditation Centre, (well, even if you’re not looking for a cultural vibe, the Nelligala Temple is a great location to catch the evening sunset). Located about 12km from  Kandy city, Nelligala is a temple is built on a cliff with a panoramic view.

Read more – 10 cool things to do in Kandy

The 1925-vintage Ceylon Tea Museum at Hantana is such one. Tea Factory, 4km south of Kandy on the Hantane road. Abandoned for more than a decade, it was recently refurbished and has good exhibits on tea pioneers James Taylor and Thomas Lipton, and lots of vintage tea-processing paraphernalia.

Only to finish the tour with a wonderful cup of tea as you overlook the scenic view. It is open on Tuesdays to Saturdays from 08:30 -15:30, and on Sundays till 15:00.

Read more – 10 cool things to do in Kandy

The significance of this photo is to understand where I was. Not safely on a hotel balcony but perched somewhat precariously on a narrow ledge atop a tower 125 feet tall.

Although the Tower was named after him, Captain Dawson didn’t build it – his admirers did in 1832 as a tribute to his work in planning and building the road from Colombo to Kandy bridging the Kadugannawa Pass, an extraordinary engineering feat in the 1820s. William Francis Dawson was British, born in Newmarket, who arrived in Colombo in 1819, seconded from the Royal Engineers. Acting first as Private Secretary to the pioneering Governor, Sir Edward Barnes, he was soon involved in Barnes’s massive programme to give Ceylon “roads, roads and more roads.”

He died in Kandy on 28 March 1829 of dysentery before the road was completed and was buried in St Peter’s Church, Colombo.

Read more – Climbing Captain Dawson Tower – Kadugannawa, Kandy