Kandy is a city that looks good even when it’s raining and some days Kandy’s skies are laden with mist clinging to the hills surrounding the city’s beautiful centrepiece lake. When the skies clear, beautifully coloured houses and hotels are revealed amid Kandy’s improbable forested halo. And when the rain subsides Kandy’s cobalt-blue skies reveal it as this island’s other real ‘city’ after the brighter coastal lights of Colombo.

The urban buzz is provided by busy street markets, bus stations, and restaurants. History and culture are on tap, and 115km from the capital and at an altitude of 500m, Kandy offers a cooler and more relaxed climate.

Kandy is renowned for the great Kandy Esala Perahera, held over 10 days leading up to the Nikini poya (full moon) at the end of the month of Esala (July/August), but it has enough attractions to justify a visit at any time of year. Some of the Hill Country’s nicest boutique hotels nestle in the hills surrounding Kandy, and the city is a good base for exploring the underrated terrain of the nearby Knuckles Range.