Nuwara Eliya - Sri Lanka

Discover Nuwara Eliya

At an altitude of 1,868 m (6,128 ft) and with its subtropical highland climate and picturesque landscape, Nuwara Eliya is considered to be the most important location for tea production in Sri Lanka. The seemingly endless sweeps of green plantations contain slow-growing tea bushes producing some of the world’s finest orange pekoe tea, which you can try on a visit to a tea factory on a guided tour.

Nicknamed ‘Little England’, Nuwara Eliya was formerly a hill country retreat where British colonialists indulged in fox, deer and elephant hunting, alongside polo, golf and cricket. Today, many vegetables and flowers usually associated with Europe are still grown here, including potatoes, carrots, leeks, and roses.

Nuwara Eliya gives you a nostalgic taste of the bygone days with many buildings still retaining their colonial features including the Queen’s Cottage, General’s House, Grand Hotel, Hill Club, St Andrew’s Hotel and the Town Post Office, and many private homes have old English-style lawns and gardens. To add to the charm, the town can be reached aboard the ‘toy train’ highland railway from Kandy.

The town is very busy during April for the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year, along with motor and horse racing events and the flower show at the end of the month. If you visit in January and February, pack extra layers for chilly nights.

Nature lovers will adore Victoria Park for the chance to spot the Indian blue robin, scaly thrush and Kashmir flycatcher, and the montane forest of Galway’s Land Bird Sanctuary, home of the barking deer. Visit Horton Plains National Park in the early morning before the mists close in to see World’s End, a sheer precipice with a 1050 m drop. The Park is also home to leopard, sambar, the endemic purple-faced langur and many endemic highland birds.  ‘Lovers Leap’ is a spectacular waterfall amongst the tea plantations, named after a young couple who met a romantic but tragic fate.

Things to do in Nuwara Eliya