Hill Country & Tea
Nuwara Eliya
Central Province
Tea country at 1,900 metres, where the British built a hill station and the cool air still smells of eucalyptus and woodsmoke.
- How long
- 2 days is usually enough
- Best months
- January, February, March, April
The British called it Little England and planted it accordingly — a racecourse, a golf course, hedges, and bungalows with fireplaces that genuinely get used. At 1,900 metres it is cold at night, which comes as a surprise to visitors who packed only for the coast.
The tea is the real reason to come. The estates around Nuwara Eliya produce some of the highest-grown leaf in the world, and a factory visit shows the whole process from plucking to grading in about an hour.
Pedro Estate and Damro Labookellie are both straightforward to visit. The drive up from Kandy through Ramboda is one of the best roads on the island.
