Peradeniya Botanical Gardens: Snapshot
Can I be a princess and run crazily in a garden? Please? Pretty please? The landscaped Peradeniya Gardens will bring out the child in you; rather, will bring out the spoilt, royal child in you.
You will find a flower that will match the fanciest colour that your mind concocts. Learning, lazing, picnicking, outdoor games – its the place for all this and a lot more.
Our flight landed in Colombo in the wee hours of the morning at about 4 am. Half sleepy and half awake, we piled our luggage and ourselves into the taxi that we had pre-booked. Peradeniya is about 110 km from Colombo airport en-route to Kandy. We snored through the entire journey. I am sure there would have been moments when the driver would have had his full with the trumpeting noise that we were making; we duly sympathize with him! We reached Peradeniya within a couple of hours at about 6:30 am. I was thrilled to open my eyes and feast on sights of lush green expanse. That is a sight one seldom sees in the bustling city of Mumbai!
Getting there
The Peradeniya Gardens can be reached by rail (if travelling from Colombo) or by road (if travelling from Colombo or Kandy):
By rail, if you are travelling from Colombo:
Head to Colombo Fort Station or Colombo Maradana Station and take the train to Kandy or Badulla. Sarasavi- Uyana railway station is the closest to the gardens. If the train does not stop at Sarasavi- Uyana railway station, disembark at Peradeniya Station. The train route is scenic and takes approximately 2 hours.
By road:
- From Colombo: Peradeniya Botanical Gardens are approximately 110 km from Colombo airport, en route to Kandy. The journey takes approximately 1.5 hours. However, if you are leaving from Colombo city, budget extra time to deal with traffic as you exit the city.
- From Kandy: Kandy lies at a distance from 6.5 km from the gardens. If Kandy is your base for exploring the region, Peradeniya Gardens can be done as a half day trip.
Timing and Costs
The gardens are open from 6 am to 5:30 pm and the entrance ticket costs approximately USD 10 per adult.
Budget at least 2 hours in the garden to hurry through the place. If botany, plants and flowers are what interest you, budget 4 hours!
Not many people halt at the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens to appreciate the botanical biodiversity of the area. We did…and we were glad that we did! We saw clumps of bamboo that made us feel like tiny hobbits, blooming cacti that made us marvel at the beauty of the spiny plants, a giant fig tree that seemed to murmur stories and colourful orchids that offered the rainbow a stiff competition. We would highly recommend that you spare a couple of hours and visit this wonderland, especially if Nature is your thing!
As always… send us an e-mail at bucketlisttravellers@gmail.com if you need any further details. Glad to help!
Let the travellers’ tribe grow!
I want to know the botanical name of ‘banana slice’ picture you have posted !
I too am searching for it….do let me know if you can figure it out. Or….let me try and send an email to the botanical garden…might just hear back from them.