This Kandy city guide is for travelers who want the hill capital of Sri Lanka explained properly: where to sleep, what to eat, what each sight costs, and how to move between lake, temple, gardens and tea hills without wasting a morning. It is a planning companion, full of prices and logistics. For a slower, story-led walk through the same streets, read our day in Kandy at the Temple of the Tooth, the lake and Peradeniya.
Prices last updated October 2026. Figures use about LKR 330 per US dollar, the rate in late October 2026. Rates move with season and exchange rates, so treat every number here as a guide and let official sites and hotel booking pages have the final word.
Kandy quick facts
- Currency: Sri Lankan rupee (LKR), about 330 to the dollar. Carry cash for temple tickets, tuk-tuks and small cafés.
- Language: Sinhala and Tamil, with English widely understood in hotels and restaurants.
- Time zone: UTC+5:30. Plugs: types D, M and G are in use, so bring a universal adapter.
- Elevation: about 500 meters, so evenings feel softer than the coast. Daytime highs run roughly 83 to 90°F (28 to 32°C).
- Distance from Colombo: about 115 km by road, roughly 3 hours.
- Entry: Sri Lanka has been offering a free 30-day tourist ETA to travelers from around 40 countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Apply only at eta.gov.lk and confirm your own passport’s rules before booking.
When to go
January to April is the easy window, with the clearest days and the lightest rain. Late January and February feel especially comfortable. May to July and October to December bring the monsoon rains, which turn the hills a deeper green and make a light rain jacket a good companion. Mid-April is the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year, a lovely time culturally; book trains and cars ahead because families travel.
The cultural high point is the Esala Perahera, the festival of processions honoring the Sacred Tooth Relic, held in the July to August season. The 2026 festival ran from August 18 to 28: five Kumbal Perahera nights (August 18 to 22), five Randoli Perahera nights (August 23 to 27, with the Grand Randoli on the 27th), and a daytime procession on August 28. Evening processions begin around 6:30 pm with drummers, dancers and caparisoned elephants. Dates are announced each year, and reserved viewing seats are sold through hotels and operators, so confirm details with the official festival site and book early.
Where to stay in Kandy
Stay near the lake if you want to walk to the temple at dawn. Choose the hillsides or the Mahaweli riverbanks if you prefer quiet, pools and long views. Nightly rates below are typical ranges from booking pages in autumn 2026, and they shift widely by date.
- Hotel Suisse (town center): a heritage address on Sangaraja Mawatha with a garden, pool and spa, within a short ride of the lake. About $50 to $115 (LKR 16,500 to 38,000).
- Cinnamon Citadel Kandy (riverside): a polished four-star above the Mahaweli with a pool and a restaurant. About $60 to $120 (LKR 20,000 to 40,000).
- Earl’s Regency (Tennekumbura): hill and valley views, a pool and spa, about 5 km from the center across the river. Most listings sit around $50 to $100 (LKR 16,500 to 33,000).
- Mahaweli Reach Hotel: a large riverside property with a pool, tennis courts and an Ayurvedic center. About $70 to $220 (LKR 23,000 to 73,000).
- Theva Residency (hillside boutique): 15 individually decorated rooms, a pool and sweeping views over the city. About $70 to $135 (LKR 23,000 to 45,000).
- Helga’s Folly: an artist’s fantasy of a hotel among the forested hills, theatrical and unforgettable. About $90 to $105 (LKR 30,000 to 35,000).
- Adigar’s Manor and Santani Wellness: the top end. Adigar’s Manor is a heritage house dating to 1804 (around $375, LKR 124,000), and Santani is a hill-top wellness retreat (around $475, LKR 157,000).
What to see, with entry fees
Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa). The foreigner ticket is quoted at about LKR 2,000 to 3,000 ($6 to $9), with a camera fee on some listings; ticket prices were revised in 2026, so check at the counter. It opens daily from early morning until about 8 pm. The inner shrine opens during puja, roughly 5:30 to 7 am, 9:30 to 11 am and 6:30 to 8 pm, with drumming that you feel in your chest. Cover shoulders and knees, remove shoes and hats, and arrive 20 to 30 minutes early. A sarong can be rented at the entrance.
Kandy Lake. King Sri Wickrama Rajasinha built it in 1807, right beside the temple. The walk around the shore is about 3.2 km, free, and best at the soft hours of morning or just before sunset. Egrets and cormorants work the edges, and a tiny island sits in the middle.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya. About 5.5 km out on the Colombo road, with a great lawn shaded by a vast fig, more than 200 palm species, spice trees and an orchid collection. Foreign adults pay LKR 3,540 (about $11). It is open 7:30 am to 6 pm daily, with tickets sold until 5 pm.
Udawattakele Forest Reserve. A green hillside just behind the temple, about 600 meters away, with shaded trails, birds and a small forest temple. The fee is about LKR 570 to 650 ($2), open 6 am to 6 pm.
Kandyan dance show. Early evening performances, around 5 pm and lasting about an hour, show the Ves dance, drum ensembles and a fire-walking finale. The Kandy Lake Club, the Kandyan Art Association and the YMBA host regular shows, with tickets about LKR 1,500 to 2,500 ($4.50 to $7.50), usually paid at the door.
Tea hills and Ayurveda
The Ceylon Tea Museum sits in the old Hantana tea factory on the hillside above town, open Tuesday to Sunday from about 8:30 am to mid-afternoon. A cup of freshly brewed Ceylon tea on its terrace is the neat way to understand the leaf. Check the entrance fee on arrival, since listings differ. For estates, factory floors and planter bungalows further up the mountains, read our guide to Sri Lanka’s tea country.
Ayurveda is easy to fold into a Kandy stay. Mahaweli Reach has its own Ayurvedic center, Hotel Suisse has a spa, and Santani builds its whole program around wellness. One hour-long Ayurvedic massage is commonly quoted at about $10 to $20 (LKR 3,300 to 6,600) in the region, and multi-day retreats start around $50 a day at smaller centers. Our piece on Ayurveda in Sri Lanka’s hill-country retreats goes deeper into the programs.
Where to eat in Kandy
Start with rice and curry, the daily meal: a mound of rice ringed by dal, vegetable, coconut sambol and a fish or chicken curry. At local eateries it costs about LKR 400 to 800 ($1.20 to $2.40). Kottu roti, chopped flatbread tossed on a griddle with vegetables and egg, runs about LKR 600 to 1,200 ($1.80 to $3.60), and you hear it before you see it. Hoppers cost about LKR 80 to 250 for plain or egg versions.
- Balaji Dosai: vegetarian South Indian near the temple, dosas from about LKR 250 ($0.75).
- Kandy Muslim Hotel: a local favorite for kottu, curries and samosas.
- The Empire Café: on Temple Street beside the temple, open about 7:30 am to 7:30 pm, good for breakfast and a pot of tea.
- Devon Restaurant and Bakery: Sri Lankan, Chinese and Western plates, famous for its rice box and milk tea.
- Slightly Chilled Lounge: terrace views over the city and cocktails on Anagarika Dharmapala Mawatha.
- Kandy House and Helga’s Folly: for a long lunch or a drink in a garden setting.
For sweets, look for kavum (oil cakes), kokis, wattalapam (coconut custard) and creamy buffalo curd with kithul treacle. A mid-range sit-down meal is typically LKR 1,500 to 3,000 ($4.50 to $9) per person, and hotel buffets sit in the same range. Many restaurants add a service charge, and rounding up a bill is always appreciated.
A relaxed 3-day itinerary
- Day 1: morning puja at the Temple of the Tooth, a lake walk, lunch at Balaji Dosai or the Empire Café, then the dance show at 5 pm.
- Day 2: Peradeniya gardens in the cool of the morning, lunch nearby, an Ayurvedic treatment in the afternoon, dinner with city views.
- Day 3: Udawattakele at 7 am, the Ceylon Tea Museum on the hillside, a long lunch at a hill-top hotel.
Getting to Kandy and the scenic train
From Colombo, the road is the simplest route right now. An air-conditioned intercity bus costs about LKR 740 ($2.20) and takes about 4 hours; a minivan about LKR 6,000 ($18); a private car from about LKR 16,600 ($50) for about 3 hours door to door. Trains from Colombo Fort resumed to Peradeniya on October 2, 2026, with the final link into Kandy being rebuilt at the Peradeniya Black Bridge. Pair a train to Peradeniya with a short tuk-tuk or car ride, and check the Sri Lanka Railways site for the latest.
The hill-country railway is the journey many guests come for, through tea and mist toward Nanu Oya and Ella. The line is being restored in stages. Between Nanu Oya and Ella, trains are running with departures around 9 am and 2:30 pm, about 2.5 hours, with fares from roughly LKR 300 ($1) for third class and a few thousand rupees for reserved seats and the observation saloon. Reservations open 30 days ahead through the railway’s online booking. For now, travelers usually reach Nanu Oya or Ella from Kandy by road: a public bus is about LKR 1,360 ($4), and a shared shuttle about LKR 11,000 ($33). Fares and sections change, so confirm before you book.
Getting around: tuk-tuks and PickMe
PickMe works well in Kandy, shows the fare before you confirm, and accepts cash. Metered tuk-tuks run about LKR 100 for the first kilometer and LKR 80 to 100 after that. A ride from the town center to the temple is typically LKR 200 to 400 ($0.60 to $1.20), and a hotel-to-gardens ride about LKR 500 to 1,000 ($1.50 to $3). A half-day tuk-tuk hire for several sights is about LKR 3,000 to 5,000 ($9 to $15), and a full day with a car and driver is more. If you hail one on the street, agree the fare first. The number 644 bus to Peradeniya costs only about LKR 20.
Kandy price guide
| Item | Approximate price |
|---|---|
| Temple of the Tooth (foreigner) | LKR 2,000 to 3,000 ($6 to $9) |
| Peradeniya gardens | LKR 3,540 ($11) |
| Udawattakele | LKR 570 to 650 ($2) |
| Dance show | LKR 1,500 to 2,500 ($4.50 to $7.50) |
| Rice and curry | LKR 400 to 800 ($1.20 to $2.40) |
| Mid-range meal | LKR 1,500 to 3,000 ($4.50 to $9) |
| Tuk-tuk, 5 km | LKR 400 to 500 ($1.20 to $1.50) |
| Comfortable day, per person | about $100 to $190 (LKR 33,000 to 63,000) |
| Luxury day, per person | about $300 to $650 (LKR 99,000 to 215,000) |
Budget-minded travelers can enjoy Kandy well on much less, thanks to its low food and transport costs. A tourist SIM with about 10 GB costs around LKR 1,300 ($4), sold on presentation of a passport.
Insider tips
- Go to the temple for the evening puja. The light and the drums are at their best, and the lake glows afterward.
- Climb to the Bahirawakanda Buddha statue for sunset over the city (about LKR 250).
- Pair Kandy with a night or two in the tea hills. Our Colombo travel guide covers the first night on the coast.
Prices last updated October 2026. Rates move with season and exchange rates, and the temple, hotels and railway remain the final word.
