Kandy & The Highlands

Capital of the mighty hill country, Kandy sits at the heart of Sri Lanka and offers a unique laid-back charm.

Surrounded by misty hills and with a beautiful lake at its core, the city remains as one of Sri Lanka’s most significant cultural and religious centres.

The Esala Perahera is one of the oldest and most extraordinary festivals in the world and it takes place every year in July/ August in the old royal capital of Kandy. Snaking their way around Kandy Lake and the Temple of The Tooth Relic thousands of dancers, drummers, and fire-eaters’ parade through the city accompanied by elephants, the largest of which carries the sacred tooth relic taken from the Buddha’s
funeral pyre almost 2500 years ago.

As the last seat of the Sinhalese kings to fall to the British, the city still retains much of its old-world charm as is also seen in the surrounding highland areas, notably Nuwara Eliya where beautiful old colonial homes and hotels can be found.

Mesmerising visitors from a far and noticeably much cooler, the highlands offer a picturesque setting with deep ravines, gushing streams and waterfalls, narrow passes and the world-famous Ceylon tea plantations.

The sheer beauty of the region is most profoundly travelled by train as many head from Kandy to Ella, said to be the most scenic pass in Sri Lanka and not to be missed.