Nuwara Eliya is the highest town in Sri Lanka’s tea country and arguably one of the most spectacular locations in the island. Tea plantations blanket the steeply rising hills; dramatic peaks frame the lush green panorama, and sari-clad tea pluckers move through the landscape, baskets slung over their backs. Dating back to the early nineteenth century, when British planters first came to grow coffee and then tea here, Nuwara Eliya is awash with signs of the British colonial rule – planters’ bungalows, the golf course, lake, park and racecourse all stand in testimony to the influence the British had on Sri Lanka’s hill country.

We recommend two hotels in Nuwara Eliya, both of which exude a colonial splendour and have a wonderfully tranquil atmosphere, yet also enjoy a convenient location from which to explore the most beautiful areas of this tea town.