About 3 hours drive from the coast, Kandy is a great base for exploring many of the surrounding attractions such as Buddhist temples, the botanic gardens and the Pinnawela elephant orphanage.
The sacred Temple of the Tooth and the famous Kandyan dancers are two things not to be missed within Kandy.
Kandy is the cultural capital of Sri Lanka, at least for the Sinhalese population and is home to the famous and very colourful Esala Perahera Festival in August, a great time to visit Kandy.
There are a handful of great boutique hotels in Kandy and we highly recommend Kandy House and Villa Rosa.