Nuwara Eliya

A beautiful city in the hill country of the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Nuwara Eliya with its picturesque landscape and temperate climate makes for a perfect escape from the chaos of city life. The place has a vague British country village feel to it; with its colonial era bungalows, Tudor style hotels, and well tended hedgegrows and pretty gardens. With its verdant surrounding countryside of tea plantations and craggy hills, Nuwara Eliya makes for a scenic destination.

Attractions

Pedro Tea Estate ? A guided tour of the tea factory, let’s you enjoy not just the lush greenery of the region but also lets you experience the procedure that goes into making tea. Overlooking the plantations is a pleasant teahouse.

Hakgala Gardens ? These gardens are a peaceful retreat with a fine rose garden, a Japanese garden, an orchid collection, cedars and giant cypresses. According to mythology, Hanuman, the monkey god, was sent by Rama to the Himalayas to find a particular medicinal herb. He forgot which herb he was looking for and decided to bring a chunk of the Himalayas back in his jaw, hoping the herb was growing on it. The gardens grow on a rock called Hakgala, which means ‘jaw-rock’.

Lover’s Leap ? A brief walk from the waterfall to the tea factory on Pedro Estate introduces you to yet another kind of Love. As strong and unrelenting as the love of the legendary prince and his beloved this Love appears in the form of underlying passion to produce a brand of tea which too, is called Lover's Leap.

Seetha Amman Temple ? Situated 7km southeast of Nuwara Eliya, this colourful Hindu Temple is believed to be the spot where Sita was held captive by Ravana, and where she used to pray daily for Lord Rama to come and rescue her.

Galway’s Land National Park ? Galway’s Land is one of Sri Lanka’s newest and smallest national parks. It is a dense patch of montane forest, and is renowned for its birdlife, housing 10 Sri Lankan endemics, as well as buffalo, wild boar, barking deer and other mammals.

Best time to visit
February to April has moderate climate and is generally the best time to visit. However the rest of the year sees average climate as well with the highest temperature going to around 31 degrees Celsius.

How to reach
At the Bandaranaike International Airport at Colombo, various service providers offer flights to important cities all over the world. Sri Lankan Airlines, the national carrier and Mihin Lanka the budget carrier have their offices here.