Kandy Day Tour From Colombo
Description
Experience Sri Lanka’s historic hill capital, Kandy, on a full-day excursion from Colombo. Begin the journey with a visit to the Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens, renowned for its impressive collection of giant bamboo, towering palms, colorful orchids, and exotic plant species. After enjoying free time for lunch at your own expense, continue to the charming city of Kandy, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visit the sacred Temple of the Tooth Relic, stroll through the lively Kandy local market, and experience the city’s cultural atmosphere. Conclude the sightseeing with a visit to a tea factory to learn about Sri Lanka’s world-famous Ceylon tea. In the late afternoon, depart Kandy and return to Colombo, arriving at night.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, has a long history as a port on old east-west exchange courses, administered progressively by the Portuguese, Dutch and British. That legacy is reflected in its engineering, blending pilgrim structures in with elevated structures and shopping centers. The monumental Colombo National Museum, committed to Sri Lankan history, outskirts rambling Viharamahadevi Park and its mammoth Buddha.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya are about 5.5 km to the west of the city of Kandy in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It attracts 2 million visitors annually. It is near the Mahaweli River. It is renowned for its collection of orchids.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a Buddhist temple in the city of Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha
Climb the hill by Kandy Lake to reach Kandy view point and receive a view of the city that cannot be beaten. As a popular tourist spot, the area brings in a large amount of peddlers, though they often sell sub-par items. The area also has a reputation for high pickpocket activity, so keep an eye on your belongings. From the hill, you can enjoy great views over the lake and the city
Kandy Lake, also known as Kiri Muhuda or the Sea of Milk, is an artificial lake in the heart of the hill city of Kandy, Sri Lanka, built in 1807 by King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe next to the Temple of the Tooth. Over the years, it was reduced in size. It is a protected lake, with fishing banned
Kandy is an enormous city in focal Sri Lanka. It's determined to a level encompassed by mountains, which are home to tea estates and biodiverse rainforest.
Geragama Tea Factory was built in 1903 and makes an interesting visit if you are travelling from Colombo to Kandy. ... Nowadays, Ceylon Tea is a significant economic asset for Sri Lanka. ... On the road from Colombo to Kandy, the Geragama Tea Factory is a time-travel experience.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
* Operator Will reconfirm the pick time in advance * Arrive at the lobby 10 minutes before pick up time * Pick up is available in Colombo only - if the designated pick-up location is located outside the city limits pick up can be made with additional charge * Operator for further Assistance-Additional charges may Apply * If the drop off location different from pick up location, please contact the operator additional charges may apply * Kindly provide the WhatsApp contact details - for Better and fast communication
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- 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
Reviews(50)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Dear Konstantina_d, Thank you so much for sharing your lovely feedback on the Kandy Day Tour from Colombo. We’re delighted to hear that you had such a pleasant and flexible experience, with your driver tailoring the tour to your preferences. It’s wonderful that you got the chance to make an extra stop to see the elephants — a truly special moment! We’re glad you enjoyed the variety of stops and the overall experience. Thank you once again for choosing Apple Vacations Sri Lanka, and we hope to welcome you back soon for more adventures across our beautiful island! 🇱🇰
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.
Thank you so much for your kind words! We’re thrilled to hear that your tour around Kandy was unforgettable and that Ranga made the experience so special for you. He will be delighted to know his efforts went above and beyond your expectations. We’re so happy this tour created lasting memories, and we’d love to welcome you back for more adventures in the future!
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!
Thank you very much for sharing your feedback with us. We’re truly happy to hear that you enjoyed your time with our driver and that the tour itself was a wonderful experience. At the same time, we sincerely apologize for the confusion and inconvenience caused during your initial pickup. We have already taken note of your comments regarding the contracted cab service to ensure this does not happen again in the future. We will also make sure to pass along your appreciation to your van driver—he will be so pleased to know he made your journey memorable. Thank you once again for choosing Apple Vacations, and we hope to welcome you back for an even smoother experience next time.
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 :)
Dear Guest, Thank you so much for sharing your experience on the Kandy Day Tour from Colombo—we’re absolutely delighted to hear that your journey with us was both enriching and enjoyable! It’s wonderful that you were able to explore so many cultural and natural highlights in one day, and we’re especially pleased that Chathuran made the experience memorable with his insights into local traditions, music, and lifestyle. He’s passionate about connecting guests with the soul of Sri Lanka, and we’re glad his knowledge and friendliness added so much value to your day. We’re thrilled to hear that the visit to the Herbal Garden with its Ayurvedic massage, the Elephant Orphanage, and the Tea Factory were such highlights—especially discovering the unique flavors and processes behind white and golden teas. And of course, no trip to Kandy is complete without visiting the sacred Temple of the Tooth Relic and unwinding in the peaceful Royal Botanical Gardens afterward. Thank you also for your helpful tip to future travelers—yes, carrying some local currency always comes in handy for small purchases and personal treats along the way. We truly appreciate you choosing Apple Vacations Sri Lanka and hope to welcome you back again to explore more of our beautiful island! Warm regards, Jeev
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
Dear Nike, Thank you so much for your wonderful review and for choosing our Kandy Day Tour from Colombo! We’re absolutely delighted to hear that you had such a fulfilling and well-organized day with Krish. He truly is a gem in our team—always punctual, kind, and incredibly attentive to our guests' needs. It’s heartwarming to know that he went the extra mile to ensure you were comfortable while fasting, even arranging a thoughtful break at a local S&P for you to refresh and eat. That kind of care is exactly what we aim to deliver with every tour. It sounds like you had a fantastic day filled with rich cultural experiences—from the elephant reserve, tea factory, and botanical gardens to the impressive wood carving workshop, gem and diamond lab, and textile-making stops. We’re so happy you enjoyed the opportunity to witness local craftsmanship firsthand and see the beauty of Sri Lankan artistry in action. Thank you once again for your kind words. We hope to welcome you back soon for more meaningful and memorable journeys across Sri Lanka! Jeev
