Tea country
Visit a working tea factory, walk through the estates and stay in a former planter's bungalow.
© Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0
Ceylon tea is grown on the slopes around Nuwara Eliya, Haputale, Ella and Kandy. In a working factory you can follow the leaf from withering and rolling to the tasting room.
Staying a night or two in the hills — perhaps in a restored tea bungalow — is a lovely contrast to the heat of the lowlands.
Who it suits
Relaxed and suitable for all ages.
Good to know
Where to experience it
Hill CountryKandy
The last royal capital
A green lakeside city in the hills, home to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic and the starting point for the scenic railway.
1–2 nights
Hill CountryNuwara Eliya & tea country
Cool air and endless green
A highland town among tea estates, waterfalls and misty hills, with colonial-era bungalows and fresh mountain air.
1–2 nights
Hill CountryElla
Hikes, bridges and hill-country views
A relaxed mountain village with short hikes, tea estates, waterfalls and the famous Nine Arches Bridge.
2–3 nights
Hill CountryHaputale
On the edge of the highlands
A quiet ridge-top town with tea estates, Lipton's Seat viewpoint and some of the widest views in the hill country.
1–2 nights
Hill CountryScenic train journeys
Slow travel through the clouds
The hill-country railway between Kandy and Ella winds past tea estates, waterfalls and tunnels — one of the great train rides in Asia.
On the way