Sri Lanka · top picks
Best hotels in Kandy
The highest-rated, best-reviewed places to stay in Kandy, Sri Lanka. We surface Expedia properties scoring 8+ out of 10 from real travelers, sorted by review density.
- ✓Only properties scoring 8.0+ in real Kandy guest reviews
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What first-timers get wrong in Kandy
The Esala Perahera fills the town for ten nights ending on the August full moon, and every room and roadside seat is sold months ahead, so arrive by accident and you will pay for it. Reserved seats on the Kandy to Ella train open thirty days before departure and sell out within hours. Remove shoes and hats at the temple; photographing yourself with your back to a Buddha is an offence here.
What's actually worth your time in Kandy
The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic charges 2,000 rupees for non-SAARC foreigners and is worth timing to a puja, at 05:30, 09:30 or 18:30, when the drummers play and the inner chamber opens; outside those windows you are looking at a closed door. The lake was dug by the last Kandyan king in 1807, eight years before the British took the kingdom, and circling it takes about an hour.
What to eat in Kandy
Kandy is where rice and curry means seven or eight small dishes around red rice, and the buffet lunches near the lake are the cheapest way to try them all. Kottu, roti chopped on a griddle with a rhythm you hear before you see it, is an evening dish. Devon's and the Muslim Hotel are the long-standing names. Ceylon tea here is grown around Hantana, not in Kandy itself.
When the weather turns in Kandy
Kandy sits at 500 metres and gets rain in both monsoons, heaviest October to December, when the hills fog in by mid-afternoon. The temple's inner halls, the two Buddhist museums inside the complex and the National Museum next door make a dry three hours on one site. A tea factory tour at Giragama or Hantana is indoors. Peradeniya has almost no shelter, so save it.
What things cost in Kandy
The Tooth Temple is 2,000 rupees for foreigners and Peradeniya another 2,000, which together outweigh a day's food. A rice and curry lunch runs 400 to 800 rupees, kottu about the same. Cultural show tickets sit near 1,500 to 2,500 depending where you buy. A tuk-tuk across town on the PickMe meter is a few hundred rupees; drivers off the app quote several times that.
When to go to Kandy
| Best months for best-hotels | Avg daily high | Rain days |
|---|---|---|
| January | 28°C / 82°F | 10 days |
| February | 29°C / 84°F | 8 days |
| December | 27°C / 81°F | 19 days |
The month to avoid is April — around 31°C (88°F) with roughly 20 rain days. Prices and crowds track the weather here: January is the sweet spot, April the month most people skip.
Pack for peak season: Summer clothes, plus one light layer for air-con and evenings, High-SPF sunscreen, sunglasses, and a refillable water bottle, A packable rain shell or compact umbrella earns its space, Comfortable walking shoes — every guide on this site assumes you'll use them.
Where to base yourself in Kandy
- Kandy Lake — The Temple of the Tooth, Queen's Hotel, and the walking path around the water.
- Peradeniya — Botanical gardens + university campus — 6km southwest, easy tuk-tuk.
- Bahirawakanda — Hillside above the town — 26m concrete Buddha with panoramic lake views.