Tea country

Nuwara Eliya

Colonial hill station at 1,900m — tea estates, cool air and a certain amount of mock Tudor.

The British built Nuwara Eliya as a place to escape the heat, and the town still has the racecourse, the post office and the gabled bungalows to prove it. Around it are some of the highest tea estates in the country. Nights are genuinely cold. Most people come for the tea factories, the drive over Horton Plains, and the train south from Nanu Oya.

Things to do

Experiences in Nuwara Eliya

Slow travel

Tea country and trains

The Kandy–Ella line, estate walks and a factory that still runs on 1930s machinery.

Nature

Waterfalls

Several hundred of them, and a handful worth planning around.

Active

Hiking and peaks

Adam's Peak at night, Ella at dawn, Horton Plains before the cloud.

Journeys

Trips that include Nuwara Eliya

14 days / 13 nightsCulture

Classical Sri Lanka

The five UNESCO sites, properly paced

11 days / 10 nightsClassic

Experience the Magic of Sri Lanka

Eleven days from the Cultural Triangle to the south coast

7 days / 6 nightsShort

Sri Lanka in One Week

The short trip that still feels like a trip

14 days / 13 nightsClassic

Sri Lanka in Two Weeks — Winter

The full island, timed for the northern winter

10 days / 9 nightsHighlands & culture

Ceylon Slow

Kandy to Galle, mostly uphill and then down to the sea