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8 days / 7 nights

Hill Country in Focus

A photographer's route through the tea country, built around the light rather than the mileage — two nights in each place, and every stop timed to when it looks its best.

From
$990
per person
Duration
8 days
Nights
7 nights
Pace
moderate

The route

Airport1234
  1. KandyDay 1, Day 2
  2. Nuwara EliyaDay 3, Day 4
  3. EllaDay 5, Day 6
  4. ColomboDay 7, Day 8

Day by day

  1. Day 1

    Up to Kandy

    Met at the airport and driven inland to the old royal capital, which sits in a bowl of hills around its lake. The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is at its most photogenic during evening puja, when the drummers start and the relic chamber opens.

    • The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic at evening puja
    • The lake and the city from the Arthur's Seat viewpoint at dusk
    • No photography inside the relic chamber itself; your guide will say where the line is
    Distance
    115 km · approx. 3 hr
    Hotel
    Skyloft Luxury Resort, Kandy

  2. Day 2

    The Knuckles range

    A full day in the mountains east of Kandy — a UNESCO range of cloud forest, terraced paddy and villages that still look as they did a century ago. The mist sits in the valleys until mid-morning and comes back in the late afternoon, which is exactly what you want.

    • A guided hike into the Knuckles range, chosen to match your pace
    • Terraced paddy, cloud forest and the valley mist
    • An early start: the cloud lifts off the ridges around nine
    Distance
    80 km · approx. 2 hr 30 min
    Hotel
    Skyloft Luxury Resort, Kandy

  3. Day 3

    Into the tea country

    The road climbs all morning. Ramboda Falls drops a hundred metres beside it, and the Labookellie estate is one of the few that will walk you through the whole process from plucking to grading. Gregory Lake in Nuwara Eliya is best in the last hour of light.

    • Ramboda Falls from the road and from the trail below it
    • Labookellie tea estate and factory — pluckers at work in the morning light
    • Gregory Lake at golden hour
    Distance
    80 km · approx. 3 hr
    Hotel
    Araliya Green Hills, Nuwara Eliya

  4. Day 4

    Horton Plains and World's End

    A pre-dawn start, and not negotiable: World's End is an 870-metre drop at the edge of the plateau, and by about half past nine the cloud has filled it and stays until evening. The loop is nine kilometres over open montane grassland, with Baker's Falls on the way back.

    • World's End at first light, before the cloud closes it
    • Baker's Falls and the montane grassland; sambar graze near the entrance
    • Seetha Amman Temple and Hakgala Botanical Gardens in the afternoon
    Distance
    90 km · approx. 3 hr
    Hotel
    Araliya Green Hills, Nuwara Eliya

  5. Day 5

    The train to Ella

    The stretch from Nanu Oya down to Ella is the most photographed railway journey in Asia, and deservedly. Sit on the right-hand side leaving Nanu Oya. Your vehicle takes your luggage ahead, so you travel with a camera and nothing else.

    • Observation-class seats from Nanu Oya to Ella
    • Tea estates, tunnels and the Demodara loop from the carriage door
    • The afternoon free in Ella
    Distance
    60 km · approx. 2 hr 30 min (train)
    Hotel
    Oak-Ray La Ella Breeze, Ella

  6. Day 6

    Ella, dawn to dusk

    The day is built around two ends of the light. Lipton's Seat above Haputale wants sunrise, when the tea rolls away below you and the cloud is still in the valleys. Little Adam's Peak wants sunset. The Nine Arches Bridge sits in between, timed to a train.

    • Lipton's Seat at sunrise, a 5am departure from Ella
    • Nine Arches Bridge, timed to a train crossing
    • Little Adam's Peak for sunset — forty gentle minutes on a made path
    Distance
    90 km · approx. 3 hr
    Hotel
    Oak-Ray La Ella Breeze, Ella

  7. Day 7

    Two waterfalls, then the coast

    The long day of the week, and a deliberate one. Ravana is beside the road out of Ella and Diyaluma a short run west of Wellawaya, worth the doubling back. From there the road drops out of the hills to the coast at Hambantota and joins the Southern Expressway, which turns the last stretch into a straight run rather than four hours of hairpins through Ratnapura.

    • Ravana Falls, twenty-five metres and right beside the road
    • Diyaluma, 220 metres, with pools at the top for anyone who wants the climb
    • Down to the coast at Hambantota, then the Southern Expressway to Colombo
    Distance
    335 km · approx. 5 hr 15 min
    Hotel
    Cinnamon Red, Colombo

  8. Day 8

    Colombo, and home

    As much of the city as the flight allows. The Red Mosque in Pettah is candy-striped red and white and unlike anything else on the island; Galle Face Green and the Fort's colonial streets are best in the hour before sunset if your flight is late enough.

    • Red Mosque (Jami Ul-Alfar), Galle Face Green and the colonial streets of Colombo Fort
    • Subject to your flight schedule
    • Departure transfer to Bandaranaike International Airport
    Distance
    35 km · approx. 45 min

What is included

  • Accommodation on bed and breakfast in a double room at the hotels listed, or equivalent
  • All internal road travel by private air-conditioned vehicle
  • An English-speaking chauffeur-guide throughout
  • Airport meet-and-greet on arrival and departure transfer
  • A guided hike in the Knuckles range
  • Horton Plains National Park entrance fee
  • Temple of the Tooth entrance fee
  • Observation-class train tickets from Nanu Oya to Ella
  • All expressway tolls
  • All applicable taxes and VAT

Not included

  • Lunches and dinners throughout
  • Hakgala Botanical Gardens and Labookellie factory entrance fees
  • The jeep to the Lipton's Seat trailhead, if you would rather not walk the last stretch
  • Expenses of a personal nature such as laundry, telephone and beverages
  • International flights and visa (ETA) fees

Most hill country itineraries are built around distance. This one is built around light, which means it moves less and waits more.

Two nights in each of Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Ella is the whole idea. It buys you a second chance at every location — if World’s End is clouded in, or the train is late, or the mist does not lift off the Knuckles, you have another morning. A tour that sleeps somewhere different every night gives you exactly one attempt at each, in whatever weather turns up.

The timings are not padding. World’s End closes in around half past nine almost every day of the year, so day four starts before dawn. Lipton’s Seat wants sunrise and is ninety minutes from Ella, which means a five o’clock departure. Little Adam’s Peak is a sunset climb. Your guide knows the train timetable at the Nine Arches Bridge, which is the difference between a photograph of a viaduct and a photograph of a train on a viaduct.

Three of the days involve real walking — the Knuckles hike, the nine-kilometre Horton Plains loop, and Lipton’s Seat — which is why this is rated moderate rather than easy. None of them is technical, and all of them can be shortened on the day.

  • Hill Country & Tea
  • Culture & Living Traditions

Enquire about Hill Country in Focus

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