Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya

About six kilometers west of Kandy, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya cover roughly sixty hectares inside a loop of the Mahaweli River, the island's longest. The grounds began as a royal pleasure garden under Kandyan kings, passed to the British, and were formally established as a botanic garden in the early nineteenth century. Today they hold thousands of species, and the planting is grand: avenues of towering palms, a great lawn framed by enormous trees, a spice garden, a fernery and an orchid house that is the favorite stop for most visitors. The day tour usually combines the gardens with Kandy's sights, giving a relaxed, mostly flat introduction to the botany and the colonial history that shaped the hill country.

Look for the double coconut palm, whose enormous seeds are among the largest in the plant kingdom, the avenue of royal palms leading toward the river, the giant bamboo clumps that arch overhead, and the cannonball tree with its strange trunk-hung fruit. The orchid house shows a wide range of Sri Lankan and imported species, and the spice garden is a handy way to put faces to cinnamon, cardamom, pepper and clove before you meet them on a plate.

The Great Lawn is a favorite for picnics and for local families on weekends. There is also a section with trees planted by visiting dignitaries, and signs that explain the wartime history when the grounds served as an Allied headquarters.

The scale is easy to underestimate, so plan on two to three hours and wear comfortable shoes. Shade is generous but the humidity can be stifling in the afternoon, so aim for the morning. Bring water and a hat, and consider hiring a gardener-guide at the gate for the first half hour, because the plants make more sense with a name attached.

A day tour that adds the Tooth temple and the lakeside gives a well-paced Kandy day, and the gardens work equally well as a quiet stop on the way to Pinnawala or the tea country. Weekends draw local families and school groups, so go on a weekday if you want the long avenues to yourself.

The gardens also reward a slower second visit. Keep an eye out for flying foxes roosting by the thousands in the tall trees near the river, for the shaded paths along the water where families picnic, and for the spice garden's clove and nutmeg trees, which help explain why Sri Lanka was once one of the most coveted trading stops on the Indian Ocean.

Children enjoy the open lawns and the huge bamboo tunnels, and keen photographers will find strong light in the early morning. Ask at the gate about guides, and consider pairing your visit with a picnic lunch on the Great Lawn.

Combine it sensibly with the rest of your Kandy days. The gardens sit on the Colombo road, so they fit neatly into any outbound or return route, and a driver can drop you at the main gate and collect you at the far exit to save walking. If rain threatens, shelter in the orchid house or under the great trees, and enjoy the mist that rolls over the river bend, which gives the photographs a soft, almost painted quality.