The central city of Kandy, located on the Kandy plateau and surrounded by a ring of hills, is the last independent kingdom of Sri Lanka, falling to the British in the 19th century.

Sightseeing in Kandy

The Temple of the Tooth Relic is a major Buddhist pilgrimage that houses a tooth that belonged to the Buddha.

The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage on the banks of the river Maha Oya is a unique facility for elephant calves accidentally separated from their mother. Maintained by locals, the elephants at the orphanage are by and large free-roaming. If you visit at bathing time, you will be greeted by the sight of scores of elephants racing to the river for their daily bath and rubdown.

The Peradeniya Botanical Gardens, established in 1843 and sprawls over 147 acres and houses over three hundred species of flora.

Also of interest is the picturesque University of Peradeniya campus on the banks of the Mahaweli, Sri Lanka’s longest river.