Find Hotels in Kandy, Sri Lanka

Nice lake tho very dirty. The sacred temple is good to see, don't go on a Poya day or you'll squished. Wear white and cover up shoulders, legs etc. Helgas Folly is worth a visit, a tuk can take you, really interesting and has lots of monkeys about. A night or two is all that's needed. The train rides in and out are good and in Nuwara eliya you can pick up cheap outdoor clothing brands like north face, Patagonia, burton etc, normally seconds from stalls around the back of the Main Street. Bargain hard. Best place I recommend staying is Ana Shanti villa in Kandy, immaculately clean, lovely staff, fab breakfast, good price and they can arrange drivers etc for trips etc. it's also walking distance to the city, maybe 20mins around the lake, to the mall, temple, Kandy dancers etc. The garden cafe is close by too for a nice local lunch or dinner.

In MHO, the Pinnawella Elephant Orphanage has gone down in quality and become much more commercialised in recent years but many people still enjoy a short trip there to view the bathing elephants. From Kandy, you can catch the Badulla line train that takes you through amazing views of the hill country. Reserved tickets get sold up quick so try to get your tickets as early as possible.

Kandy is a bit more touristy than Colombo so some prices are inflated. There are numerous scams from tuk-tuk drivers that occur everywhere but beware of the Ayurvedic massage as your driver may take you to a place that is well below standard. Tea factories, gem shops, the standard tuk-tuk stops abound in Kandy. Getting around from the hills takes a tuk-tuk. Staying in town, many things can be seen whilst walking. It's a good place to spend a couple nights and explore the surrounding areas. Mountains around Nuwara Eliya are spectacular. People, as with every other part of the country we visited, were so eager to smile and say hello. The highlight of our journey was the people of Sri Lanka. Always friendly and smiling as well as helpful.

We came in to inquire about dinner and availability for August then sat at the sofa in reception area to wait for our car. He insisted we had to get out of the hotel (which we did gladly as by that time the damp and worn out furniture of the place started to dampen our mood too).

The Royal Hotel and Pub is a an old colonial style building with a courtyard pub area and restaurant upstairs - worth a visit just to see the character building. A warm welcome and excellent service in both - good places to relax in the evenings.

The purpose of us going to Kandy was to get the train to Nurawa Eliya

..I never know in a world there is a magic mixed place: European style buildings, Sri Lanka style temple, peaceful lake and mountain, huge buthda siting on top of the mountain, India food....it suits you any dream to go there...and the bunch of elephants swimming in the river....

Trains around Kandy are a good way to travel and cheap with interesting views of the tea plantations and countryside

Beautiful breathtaking sights are the most precious part of the Kandy tour.

There is ample parking at the city car park which ajoins the only shopping arcade/mall. You can have a peaceful walk around the Kandy Lake or even take a boat ride. Places to visit would be the temples, botanical park, war cemetery, knuckles mountain range for hiking.

This is the area of ancient kings and Kandy masks as well as drums, dancing and even its own special way to wear the sari. A very colourful and historic town especially if you can visit during the perahera when the town moves to the procession of gaily attired elephants, fire eaters, fire dancers and other colourful pageantry. A very special place but with dreadful traffic congestion.

It's easy to walk around and our experience was that tuk tuk drivers were generally fair in their pricing, given a little negotiation. Places to eat at night seem limited, but we really enjoyed the rice and curry at the Empire Cafe - though you need to eat early as were were told they close about 8pm.

Specially the tea plantations.

It lacks however the basic ingredients to make a touristic success. The traffic is horrible and air filled with diesel particles. Restaurants are mediocre at best. The tooth temple is basically the only place worth seeing. 3-4 hours is everything you need to get a good impression of Kandy.

Goods being sold at these places are priced pretty high and I believe what is offered in central markets is pretty much the same at greatly reduced prices. There is fantastic scenery all around this area and we got a driver and vehicle for a day just to show us around. It was well worth the price of about 5000 rupees we paid. Be aware however they will want to take you to certain sites were they get commission on what you spend. We just declined politely if we did not want to go there. We enjoyed traditional Kandy dancers one night. Probably a lot more than we originally expected to. Some of the dancers showed a high degree of acrobatic skill during some of the dances which got the entire crowd whooping and applauding. I reckon Kandy is a 'must see' on a tour of Sri Lanka

They shops close very early at night. There are some great restaurants but they also close around 9-10pm. Not much to do with small children. Of course the views are great and we enjoyed our visit to the bathic and wood carving factories. The people are very friendly and of course the Golden Temple was great. I will not recommend a tour guide there. They do take advantage and tries to make as much money as possible. We enjoyed it but expected more.........

i also wathced cultural show near relic temple which was not much enjoyable. few people like Pinnawala elephant orphanage but i did not like to visit there

The city is surrounded by lush green rolling hills with some spectacular views. I would recommend staying up in the hills and using the cheap taxi services to the city centre and lake area. watching the traditional Kandy dancers is a must if you want to see some traditional and cultural aspects of this region. 3 days / 2 nights is long enough to visit. Highly recommend a visit to Kandy.

The temple of tooth visit just before a nice walk around the lake is a must-do in Sri-Lanka.

You can plan to go to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Paradiniya as they are worth a visit. A nice vantage point to see the temple, lake and the city in general.