What are the best places to watch the Perahera?

The best viewing spots are basically along Dalada Veediya, Yatinuwara Veediya, and also from the elevated balconies of heritage properties like the Queen’s Hotel.

On Dalada Veediya, you get the most iconic view as the procession does its initial, powerful exit from the Temple of the Tooth. If you can book a balcony on the second level along these main arteries, you will have great photographic angles across the crowd, and you will stay comfortably apart from the street-level congestion during that long three-hour parade.