Many travellers come to Sri Lanka for its stunning white-sand beaches and world-renowned surf spots, but nestled in the island’s mountainous, emerald-covered heart is a captivating region full of tea plantations, misty hills, and those iconic blue train carriages.
The gateway to this serene hill-country action is Kandy, known as the City of Kings. As Sri Lanka’s second largest city and its cultural and historical capital, Kandy offers travelers a unique blend of history, heritage, and natural beauty.
Thanks to its geographic protection and rugged terrain, the ancient Kingdom of Kandy successfully resisted Portuguese and Dutch colonisation in the 1500s and 1600s, becoming the final bastion of independent Ceylon. This resilience preserved the city’s distinctive customs, culture, and arts, which were otherwise heavily influenced elsewhere until British rule in 1815.
Today, Kandy continues to celebrate this rich cultural heritage through its many significant landmarks. Most notably, the Temple of the Tooth relic—a sacred Buddhist shrine said to house a fragment of Buddha’s tooth—draws visitors from around the world. Beyond this, the city’s lively streets, ancient temples, colonial architecture, manicured gardens, and the picturesque Kandy Lake set the scene for a memorable stay in the lush green hills of Sri Lanka
