Kandy sits in a green bowl of hills at around 500 meters above sea level, cooler and calmer than coastal Colombo. It was the last kingdom of the Sinhalese, holding out against European powers until the British finally took it in 1815, and that proud, independent streak still colors the city. Today it is Sri Lanka's cultural capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, built around an artificial lake and the most revered Buddhist shrine in the country.

The centerpiece is the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, which is said to house a tooth of the Buddha and draws pilgrims from across the island. Around it spread markets, colonial-era arcades, hillside Buddha statues, and the botanical gardens at Peradeniya. The pace is unhurried and the air smells of incense, frangipani, and frying short eats.

Most travelers come for two or three nights, using Kandy as the gateway to the hill country. It is the starting point of the celebrated train to Ella, an easy base for the cave temples of Dambulla and the rock fortress of Sigiriya, and a place where you can still watch a thumping Kandyan drum-and-fire dance after dinner.