Handpicked experience · Colombo
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Two days by private car from Colombo up through Kandy and the Temple of the Tooth into the tea country at Nuwara Eliya. Accommodation in Kandy is arranged separately.
Discover the Sri Lankan way of tea processing
Take a dip in the Ramboda Waterfalls!
Learn about the myths surrounding the Sita Amman Temple
Stroll by the beauty of Lake Gregory
A relic chamber that opens only at set hours of the day
Kandy once the day visitors have left
Tea estates covering the slopes from Kandy upward
Nuwara Eliya at around 1,900 metres, and the cold that comes with it
A private vehicle throughout, so the stops are yours to choose
The road out of Colombo climbs slowly for about four hours. Kandy sits in a bowl of hills around the lake, and the Temple of the Tooth is its centre in every sense — an active place of worship rather than a monument, busiest at the evening puja when the drummers start and the inner chamber opens. Shoes come off at the gate.
Worth being clear about: where you sleep is your own arrangement, not part of the booking. It is worth staying central. Once the day visitors have gone the lake circuit empties out and the town is a good place to walk in the early evening.
The climb toward Nuwara Eliya is what people remember. Tea covers the slopes in every direction, the road narrows and switches back on itself, and the temperature drops the whole way up. Nuwara Eliya sits near 1,900 metres, which is cold enough for a jacket after dark and catches out anyone arriving from the coast.
Allow most of the afternoon to return to Colombo. This is a driving-heavy itinerary by nature — the distances are short on a map and long on the road.
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.
No. Accommodation in Kandy is arranged separately, so book somewhere before you travel or ask the operator to suggest options.
It sits near 1,900 metres and evenings drop into single figures. A jacket is genuinely needed, which catches out people arriving from the coast.
Shoulders and knees covered, and shoes come off at the entrance. White is traditional among worshippers but not required of visitors.
Roughly four hours from Colombo to Kandy and another three into the highlands, on winding roads. Short distances take a long time here.