Om denne oplevelse
This private shore excursion takes you from Colombo Port up into the hills to Kandy, the last royal capital of Sri Lanka, for the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, a city and craft tour, the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, a walk by Kandy Lake and a traditional Kandyan cultural show. You travel in an air-conditioned vehicle with an English-speaking chauffeur guide, and the day lasts about 11.5 hours. Children aged five and over are welcome.
Your guide meets you at the gates of Colombo Port at 7 am and drives you towards Kandy, stopping first at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya. The gardens are renowned for their ornamental, decorative and medicinal plants, with more than 4,000 indigenous and introduced species, and are best known for their orchid collection, one of the largest in Asia. Allow one to one and a half hours here.
Next comes a city and shopping tour of Kandy. At a woodcarving centre you watch master craftsmen create intricate designs from scratch, and at a gem museum you learn how jewellery is crafted; both are good places to buy a gift or something for your home. Lunch follows at a place of your choice, at your own expense.
After lunch you visit the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa), part of the UNESCO-listed Sacred City of Kandy and the shrine of the Buddha's tooth relic. Walk through its embellished passageways and halls painted in red, cream and black, past delicately carved pillars and golden statues. Your guide also leaves time for a walk by Kandy Lake and a traditional Kandyan cultural show before you begin the drive back to Colombo Port at around 3.30 pm (15:30).
The price covers pick-up and drop-off at the port, transport, your chauffeur guide, a litre of bottled water per person, and all taxes and service charges. Entrance tickets for the Peradeniya gardens and the Temple of the Tooth are included only in the option with tickets; your guide buys them at each site and hands them to you. Food and drinks, personal expenses and gratuities are not included. Comfortable walking shoes are recommended; drive times can change with traffic, and photo stops can be made where there is safe parking.
