Just over 5km to the west of Kandy sits the Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya. These striking and historic gardens started off as pleasure gardens for Sinhalese royalty, before being turned into a botanical garden by the British. It’s the largest botanical garden in Sri Lanka and arguably one of the finest in the subcontinent, with an incredible selection of orchids and a stately avenue of royal palms. The Cannonball Tree is of particular interest as in 1901 it was planted by King George V and Queen Mary. As part of your half-day tour you will also visit the spice gardens in nearby Matale; here a knowledgeable and friendly guide will take you through the gardens explaining how the various spices and medicinal herbs are grown. You are likely to see nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves being grown. The gardens were also Lord Mountbatten supreme headquarters during World War 2 so they are of huge historic importance too. We highly recommend visiting.