Luxury Villas in Kandy

Kandy was the capital of the last Sinhalese kingdom, which held out against the Portuguese and Dutch before finally passing to the British in 1815. The city sits at around 500 metres, around a lake built by its last king and ringed by forested hills, and its old centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is busier and more urban than the rest of the hill country, but within minutes of the centre the roads climb into quiet, green valleys.

At the heart of the city stands the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, which houses a tooth of the Buddha and is one of the most revered places of worship in the Buddhist world. The evening ceremonies, with drumming and offerings of flowers, are a moving experience, and each year, usually in July or August, the Esala Perahera fills the streets with torch-lit processions of dancers, drummers and richly decorated elephants.

Just outside the city, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya are among the finest in Asia, with an avenue of royal palms, a vast fig tree, orchid houses and riverside lawns. Traditional Kandyan dance performances, old temples in the surrounding villages, spice gardens and tea estates on the hills towards Nuwara Eliya all make easy outings.

Many villas around Kandy are set on hillsides outside the city, with pools and terraces looking over valleys, rivers or the Knuckles mountains, and offer a peaceful retreat after a day of sightseeing. Kandy suits families, couples and groups who want culture and nature, and it sits conveniently between the airport, the Cultural Triangle to the north and the tea country to the south.