Kandy

The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic holds what's believed to be one of the Buddha's own teeth, brought to Sri Lanka in the 4th century and considered one of the most venerated objects anywhere in the Buddhist world. The relic itself is rarely displayed publicly, kept within a series of nested golden caskets inside an inner sanctum, but the temple draws a steady stream of pilgrims and visitors regardless, its daily rituals of drumming and offerings continuing much as they have for centuries.

That relic's presence helped establish Kandy as the last capital of Sri Lanka's independent Sinhalese kings, a status it held until the British finally brought the entire island under colonial control in 1815, ending centuries of local resistance that had kept Kandy independent even after coastal regions fell to Portuguese and then Dutch, then British power.

The Esala Perahera, held annually in Kandy typically each July or August, ranks among the grandest religious processions in Asia, featuring dozens of elaborately decorated elephants, traditional Kandyan dancers, drummers, and fire performers moving through the city's streets over consecutive nights to honor the Sacred Tooth Relic. Visitors who time a trip around the festival witness a display of ceremonial tradition rarely seen at this scale anywhere else in South Asia.

The Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, a short distance from central Kandy, cover roughly 60 hectares along the Mahaweli River and hold one of the most significant collections of tropical plant species in South Asia, including an orchid house and avenues of towering palms planted during the British colonial period. It remains one of the most popular half-day outings from the city.

Kandy sits at a notably cooler elevation than Sri Lanka's coastal cities, a welcome relief for visitors arriving from the heat of Colombo or the beaches further south, and its position at the edge of the island's central hill country makes it a natural gateway to the tea estates and scenic train routes that define much of the region beyond the city itself.