Sri Lanka · Central Province
Where to Stay in Kandy, Central Province
Kandy is the last royal capital of Sri Lanka, a sacred city in the green hills that guards the relic of the Buddha's tooth.
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Where to stay in Kandy
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Where you stay in Kandy turns on the lake. The streets around the water and the temple keep the shrines, the museums, and the market within a walk, and staying by the lake suits anyone here for the sacred city. The lake glows at dusk.
Rooms sit on the slopes above the water. Out on the hills above the town, the guesthouses climb into the tea gardens. A room up the slope trades the busy centre for cool air, green views, and a look down over the lake and temple.
The hills roll away past the edge. If you want the temple and the lake, stay in the centre; if you want the views, take a room on the hills. Either way, the sacred city is close at hand.
About Kandy
Kandy is the holy city of Sri Lanka.
What is Kandy known for?
In the heart of the town, beside a still lake ringed by hills, stands the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, which guards a tooth of the Buddha and draws pilgrims from across the island, and each year a great procession of elephants parades through the streets. The green hills of the tea country rise all around. Faith and hills mark the city.
What are the main landmarks in Kandy?
The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is the heart of Kandy. The golden shrine stands by the lake in the old royal quarter, the holiest place on the island, at the foot of the hills. Museums ring the temple and the lake.
The National Museum of Kandy fills the old palace, while the International Buddhist Museum, the Ceylon Tea Museum, and Saint Anthony's Cathedral rise nearby.
What is the history of Kandy?
Kandy was the last stronghold of the Sinhalese kings. As the coasts fell to the Portuguese and the Dutch, the kingdom held out in its ring of hills, and for centuries the mountain capital kept the old Sinhalese crown and the sacred tooth of the Buddha safe from the sea. The tooth made the city holy.
Whoever held the relic held the right to rule the island, so the kings raised the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic beside their palace to guard it. The hills kept the enemy out for a long time. The kingdom turned back Portuguese and Dutch armies again and again, until at last the British took the city in 1815 and ended the last Sri Lankan kingdom.
A king shaped the town we see. The last ruler dug the great lake in the heart of Kandy and built the walk around the temple, and the old capital kept its shrines. The perahera still parades each year.
Kandy guards its tooth and its lake among the hills.
Where is Kandy?
Kandy lies in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. The city fills a green bowl among steep forested hills, set around a lake at over five hundred metres up, in the heart of the island's tea and spice country. Wooded ridges rise close on every side.
The hills roll green into the distance.
What is the climate of Kandy?
Kandy has a mild highland climate. The hill air stays warm and green all year, cooler than the coast, and heavy rains fall in two monsoon seasons that keep the forests lush. Mist gathers in the hills at dawn.
The highland air stays soft and damp.
How do you get to Kandy?
Kandy lies in the hills at the centre of Sri Lanka. A famous rail line climbs to it through the tea country from Colombo on the coast, and roads wind up into the highlands. Buses reach the hill towns around.
Most arrive by train or road up the hills.
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More cities in Central Province
Updated August 2026