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Kandy Day Tour From Colombo: Explore Sri Lanka’s Old Hill Capital and UNESCO World Heritage Site
4.7
50 Ratings
Colombo
Embark on a full-day trip from Colombo to explore Sri Lanka’s old hill capital city of Kandy. Visit the Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens, the Temple of the Tooth, and experience a cultural show. Don’t miss this UNESCO World Heritage Site adventure!
Embark on a full-day trip from Colombo to explore Sri Lanka’s old hill capital city of Kandy. Visit the Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens, the Temple of the Tooth, and experience a cultural show. Don’t miss this UNESCO World Heritage Site adventure!
Duration:
12 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Colombo - Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka, boasts a rich history as a port on ancient east-west trade routes, successively governed by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. This heritage is evident in its architecture, which blends colonial buildings with skyscrapers and shopping malls. The impressive Colombo National Museum, dedicated to Sri…
- Colombo - Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka, boasts a rich history as a port on ancient east-west trade routes, successively governed by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. This heritage is evident in its architecture, which blends colonial buildings with skyscrapers and shopping malls. The impressive Colombo National Museum, dedicated to Sri Lankan history, borders the expansive Viharamahadevi Park and its giant Buddha.
- Royal Botanical Gardens - The Royal Botanic Gardens in Peradeniya are located approximately 5.5 km west of Kandy in Sri Lanka’s Central Province. They attract 2 million visitors each year and are situated near the Mahaweli River. The gardens are famous for their orchid collection.
- Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic - Sri Dalada Maligawa, or the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, is a Buddhist temple in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is part of the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy and houses the Buddha’s tooth relic.
- Kandy View Point - Ascend the hill by Kandy Lake to reach the Kandy View Point and enjoy an unparalleled view of the city. As a popular tourist destination, the area attracts many vendors, though they often sell items of lesser quality. The area is also known for pickpocketing, so be vigilant with your belongings. From the hill, you can take in stunning views of the lake and the city.
- Kandy Lake - Kandy Lake, also known as Kiri Muhuda or the Sea of Milk, is an artificial lake in the heart of Kandy, Sri Lanka, constructed in 1807 by King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe next to the Temple of the Tooth. Over time, its size has been reduced. It is a protected lake, with fishing prohibited.
- Kandy - Kandy is a large city in central Sri Lanka, set on a plateau surrounded by mountains, which are home to tea plantations and biodiverse rainforests.
- Geragama Tea Factory - The Geragama Tea Factory, established in 1903, offers an intriguing visit for those traveling from Colombo to Kandy. Today, Ceylon Tea is a vital economic asset for Sri Lanka. The Geragama Tea Factory provides a journey back in time on the road from Colombo to Kandy.
What's Included
- King Coconut
- Multi Language Specialist guide at Temple of Tooth
- Bottled water
- Hotel pickup and drop-off by Air conditioned vehicle (share in Tour)
- Free Wifi onboard upon request
- Professional & Expert English Speaking driver
- King Coconut
- Multi Language Specialist guide at Temple of Tooth
- Bottled water
- Hotel pickup and drop-off by Air conditioned vehicle (share in Tour)
- Free Wifi onboard upon request
- Professional & Expert English Speaking driver
What's Not Included
- Food and drinks
- Gratuities
- Lunch
- Entrance tickets to sights
- Food and drinks
- Gratuities
- Lunch
- Entrance tickets to sights
Additional Information
Discover the historic hill capital of Sri Lanka, Kandy, with a full-day tour from Colombo. Start your adventure at the Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens, famous for its vast collection of giant bamboo, towering palms, vibrant orchids, and unique plant species. After enjoying some free time for lunch at your own cost, proceed to the enchanting city of…
Discover the historic hill capital of Sri Lanka, Kandy, with a full-day tour from Colombo. Start your adventure at the Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens, famous for its vast collection of giant bamboo, towering palms, vibrant orchids, and unique plant species. After enjoying some free time for lunch at your own cost, proceed to the enchanting city of Kandy, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Explore the revered Temple of the Tooth Relic, wander through the bustling Kandy local market, and soak in the city’s rich cultural ambiance. Wrap up your sightseeing with a visit to a tea factory to learn about Sri Lanka’s renowned Ceylon tea. In the late afternoon, leave Kandy and head back to Colombo, arriving in the evening.
- Comfortable walking shoes recommended for this tour.
- Kindly wear clothings that covers the shoulders and knees when entering in the temples
- The duration of transfers are approximate, the exact duration will depend on the time of day and traffic conditions
- A current valid passport is required on the day of travel
- Subject to favorable weather conditions. If canceled due to poor weather, you will be given the option of an alternative date
Location
Colombo
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.7
(50 Ratings)
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Col_g
Jan 29, 2026
An Excellent Tour - We were taken on the tour by Kaveesha Gimhan and Pasindu. Pasindu was our driver. He drove extremely nicely and safely on this long tour. Kaveesha is a very knowledgeable guide and he explained everything in detail on this trip which took @ 13 hours. They were absolutely punctual and picked us up from our hotel, Taj Samudra Colombo so that we left at 6 am sharp. Lots to see on this tour and thanks to our guide, Kaveesha and our driver, Pasindu, we thoroughly enjoyed it. We would definitely recommend hiring their services.
Review provided by Viator
Mohandas_w
Jan 8, 2026
One Day Road Trip Colombo to Kandy & back. - We had a most amazing trip from Colombo to Kandy & back. We had very enlightening simple, end-to-end walk-through visits of a tea factory, a batik painting shop, and a wood carving products shop, with excellent products buying opportunities. Our driver, Krish, was just go-to-expert on the roads, handling the topsy-turby ride, with ease and elan, the car being very comfortable. We were a small, cosmo group brought together for a time by chance - an Aussie, two American Indians, and one Norwegian. I and my wife - both of us, absolutely relished this trip end-to-end.
Review provided by Viator
Nick
Dec 28, 2025
Fantastic Day Trip from Colombo to Kandy with Chathu - We did a full-day trip from Colombo to Kandy and it turned out to be one of the highlights of our time in Sri Lanka. I was genuinely impressed with the quality of the car provided—very comfortable for a long day on the road—and even more so with our guide, Chathu.
Chathu picked us up promptly right on schedule, was extremely pleasant, and brought a deep level of knowledge and context to everything we saw along the way. Despite it being a long day (close to 12 hours), the time flew by and we enjoyed every bit of it.
The highlights included a visit to an elephant sanctuary where we got to feed the elephants, a stop at a beautiful and very authentic Sri Lankan spot for breakfast (which was excellent), and fun roadside stops to see macaques. In Kandy, we visited the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, followed by a herbal garden, a tea factory, and a gemstone place.
As expected, some of these stops include a sales pitch after the tour, but everything was very low-pressure and entirely up to you how much you want to engage. My mom, who was traveling with me, especially enjoyed the shopping experiences and had a great time throughout the day.
Overall, this was a well-planned, enjoyable, and memorable experience. I would absolutely recommend this day trip and would strongly suggest choosing Chathu as your guide.
Cheers!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Joshua_l
Aug 4, 2025
A Tour Around Beautiful Kandy - The tour around Kandy and each stop was simply unforgettable. What made it even more special was our guide and driver, Rangan, he did a stellar job showing us around and going above and beyond. Truly a memorable tour.
Review provided by Viator
605gitag
Apr 30, 2025
A great experience overall. - We had a beautiful time. The driver of our van was so very kind, professional and spoke English well. We loved tge itinerary too. However, the driver from Kangaroo Cabs who was contracted to pick us up from where we were staying was thoroughly confused, decided we were not the people he needed to pick up and left, much to our dismay. We had to call the Apple Vacations phone several times before they told us they would ask the cab driver to come back to pick us up. He was also confused as to where we were to ge dropped off to get to the van. I had to make another call and give my phone to the driver so he could speak in Sinhalese to the person on the other end so he could take us to the right place. Then, he asked us to pay him. The van driver had to step in to say he would be paid by Apple Vacations. The rest of the tour was perfect. Please thank our van driver too, he was terrific!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Elmira
Mar 29, 2025
Roundtrip to Kandy and Pinnawala - While being in Sri Lanka, we really wanted to see Kandy and to have a round tour with which apple vacations were of great help! Tour guide was Chathuran and he provided so many details during tour about local culture, main sightseeings, music taste and so many more! We've had a really productive day and went to Herbal garden (had great massaj with ajurvedic healing oils, had best tea with spices), Elephant orphanage and learned so many interesting things about elephants, went to tea factory and learned more about white/golden tea (for me best part), went to temple of tooth, and got rest from tiring but very interesting day in Royal Garden. Make sure to bring some cash :)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nike
Mar 10, 2025
Amazing tour - Amazing my driver was Krish lovely man he picked me up on time and we set off for Kandy taking me around a very informative. We went to the elephant reserve, tea , factory , botanical gardens, wood carvings work shop , gems and diamond lab ( got to see them actually make some beautiful pieces) . Textiles making , I was fasting as well so he made accommodation for me to break and a Local s&p for me to freshen up and grab some food very thoughtful and kind so thanks soo much
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Konstantina_d
Oct 26, 2025
A Nice Experience - Really good experience! It ended up being a private tour and the driver was very nice and adjusted the trip to my preferences. We even stopped to see the elephants, which was not in the original plan. Overall was a good tour and we did quite a few stops.
Review provided by Viator
Tom
Jan 25, 2026
Dissapointed with unclear itinerary with extra unplanned stops - We booked the kandy tour with the itinerary of: botanical gardens, temple of the tooth, kandy viewpoint, kandy (4 hours) geregama tea factory.Ultimately the tour did include the tooth temple a tea factory and botanical garden, however the timings were incorrect and we had no time in kandy and were forced to eat at a random hotel, which was also tied into a woodwork factory visit, which is clearly arranged to make you spend , the hotel buffet was poor and 3,500 LKR per person, we had planned to eat in kandy during the ‘4 hour kandy stop’ this was also discussed with the organiser when we arrived at the temple who agreed , after the toooth temple we were told no time in kandy and rushed off to the random woodwork and hotel lunch.
The tour also began with an optional $15 unethical elephant ‘sanctuary’ we chose not to do this ( partly as it was unnexpected) but as others chose to do it it took up an hour of our day. We also stopped off at a breakfast stop, which was not in the itinerary and used up time we hadn’t expected.
Our tour guide Krish was lovely and polite, gave good insights into all of the stops, but it still felt that the itinerary we had booked was not what we experienced, we would have rather enjoyed a few hours in Kandy ( maybe not the full 4 hours as traffic was heavy) then have attended the unscheduled breakfast, elephants and woodwork/hotel lunch.
Ultimately its disappointing the day panned out this way, but equally we did see the 4/5 of the planned sights.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ielyzaveta_v
Jan 31, 2026
Don’t try to do this tour in 1 day! - The drive was the worst experience ever with tons of traffic and very reckless driving all around. I don’t recommend trying to do this tour in one day.
Review provided by Viator
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