Nuwara Eliya

The highest city in Sri Lanka, Nuwara Eliya, is very British, has a golf course, a racecourse, numerous colonial buildings, a lake and the extensive Victoria Park. The region is often cloudy and rainy. Especially in April (around the Sinhalese New Year), it is often used by well-to-do locals for a summer retreat due to the cool climate.

Foreign visitors appreciate the picturesque surroundings and excursions to the surrounding tea plantations. Since the middle of the 19th century, tea cultivation has been a central economic sector of the country and Nuwara Eliya has its center. Nuwara Eliya is also the gateway to the Horton ́s Plains National Park.

Things to do in Nuwara Eliya

• In the famous Hill Club, the epitome of a British Empire hotel in Sri Lanka, a colonial breeze still blows today. With a noble 5-course dinner, you will feel like the British nobility. Despite the noble ambience, the prices do not really scare the European visitor. Attention: strict dress code!
• Nuwara Eliya itself is best explored on foot or by bike. A beautiful panorama can be seen, for example, from Single Tree Hill (200 hm, approx. 45 min ascent). Fans of British garden culture will enjoy a tour of the sprawling Victoria Park.
• Under no circumstances should you miss a guided tour of a tea plantation. Most of these are almost independent villages – with apartments and schools for hundreds of pickers and their families.
• The Horton ́s Plains National Park, 1.5 hours away, is worth a day trip. However, you should leave very early (before 6:30 a.m.) to actually experience the fantastic World ́s End on the 3 to 4-hour hike. If you leave later, there is often nothing to see except fog.

Best time to travel and climate for Nuwara Eliya

Nuwara Eliya is located in the center of the island on a high valley at an altitude of about 1890 m and it gets a maximum of 18 to 23° Celsius even in summer. Rainfall is abundant throughout the year, only slightly lower in the months of January to March, with the least rain in March. The best time to travel is therefore the months of the European winter/spring from January to April. Then there are also the most hours of sunshine.

Itineraries through Nuwara Eliya

• A railway runs to and from Ella to the east, which crosses a fantastically beautiful landscape of rice fields and tea plantations in 3.5 hours. However, the train station of Nuwara Eliya is not directly in the village, but in Nanu Oya (Nanuoya), 9 km away.
• There are buses to Colombo (5.5 hours bus ride), Kandy (2.5 hours bus ride) and Ella. Nuwara Eliya is connected to Galle by public transport only via Colombo (7 hours bus ride).
• If you want to experience the last primary forest in Sri Lanka, you can travel from Nuwara Eliya to the Sinharaja Forest (overnight stay e.g. in Rakwana, about 4.5 hours from Nuwara Eliya).