Handpicked experience · Colombo
Colombo, Sri Lanka
A long day on the road that the British built to break the last Sinhalese kingdom, ending at the lake its final king dug at appalling human expense.
See the Temple of the Tooth and all the mystical ancient treasures inside
Learn about the cultural significance of the relics within the temple from your guide
Immerse yourself in the city's fascinating history and culture as you traverse its streets
Comfortable round trip transportation included - no need to worry about how to get around!
The drive from Colombo up into the hill country, with the countryside opening out
Time in Kandy around the lake, the centre and the markets
The chance to visit the temple precincts, depending on the hour and the clothing rules
Optional additions commonly available locally, including the Royal Botanical Gardens and a cultural dance performance
The return transfer to Colombo the same day
Kandy sits about a hundred and fifteen kilometres inland from Colombo and roughly five hundred metres higher, in hills that kept it independent for three centuries after the coast had fallen to Europeans. Getting there and back in a day is mostly a matter of the road, and the road has a story of its own.
The vehicle leaves Colombo and climbs the main inland highway, through the low country and then up the pass into the hills. There is time in Kandy itself around the lake and the streets behind it, and the same road back in the afternoon.
The thing worth knowing before you set off. The Kandyan kingdom survived the Portuguese and the Dutch because armies could not get up into those hills and stay supplied. When the British finally took it in 1815, the first thing they did was build this highway — begun in 1820 and finished in 1832 — specifically so troops and cannon could reach the interior in days rather than weeks. The tower you pass at the top of the pass commemorates the engineer who cut the road through the rock face there. The mountains stopped protecting Kandy the moment the road existed.
The practical difference between a good day and a poor one. The distance suggests two hours; the reality is three to four, and considerably worse if you meet Colombo's morning traffic on the way out. Departing before first light is what makes time in Kandy possible at all. We confirm your pickup time the night before, and it is earlier than most people expect.
Said honestly. The railway to Kandy climbs the same escarpment on a line engineered in the 1860s and is among the finest rail journeys in Asia; the highway runs through towns and traffic. This is a road trip, and if scenery from the window is the point of your day, the train does it better. What the road gives you instead is doors, flexibility and a vehicle waiting when you want to leave.
Worth knowing while you walk round it. It is not natural and not ancient: the last king had it dug in 1807, flooding the paddy fields that fed the town, and used forced labour to do it. Chiefs who objected were impaled along the shore. Eight years later those same chiefs handed the kingdom to the British rather than keep him, which is the least discussed part of how the last independent state in Sri Lanka ended. The low parapet with the openings along the waterside is his, and it was never finished.
The arrangement is transport and time, not admissions. Entry to the temple precinct, the botanical gardens and any performance is arranged on the day and separately, and whether the temple's inner areas are open at all depends on the hour you arrive. Carry rupees in cash.
Six to eight hours of driving on the round trip sets the frame, and the hours you spend in Kandy are what decide whether this is a ten-hour day or a fourteen-hour one. Pickup is early and the return is in the evening; we give you both times the night before, once the day's stops are set.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
Three to four hours each way for about a hundred and fifteen kilometres, and worse if you leave during Colombo's morning traffic. An early departure is what makes any real time in Kandy possible.
The British built it between 1820 and 1832, immediately after taking the Kandyan kingdom, so that troops and artillery could reach the interior quickly. The hills had kept the kingdom independent for three centuries before that.
For scenery, yes. The line up the escarpment is one of the finest in Asia, while the highway runs through towns and traffic. The road gives you flexibility and a vehicle waiting instead.
It is from 1807, dug on the orders of the last king over the paddy fields that fed the town, using forced labour. Chiefs who objected were impaled along its edge, and eight years later those chiefs gave the kingdom to the British.
No. This covers transport and time in the city. Temple, garden and performance admissions are arranged separately on the day, so carry rupees in cash.
With six to eight hours of driving in total, the return falls in the evening, and we give you the exact time the night before.