Hill Country

Ella

A gap in the mountains with a bridge under it.

A small hill town in a mountain gap, with the Nine Arch Bridge below it and the best walking in the country around it.

Every route we run through the hill country passes Ella, and the question is never whether to include it but how many nights it earns. Our answer is 2 nights — enough to see it at the hour it is worth seeing and still leave in daylight.

Tell a consultant which month you are coming and they will say plainly whether this is the right place for it, or whether the same days are better spent on the other coast.

While you are here

What we book in Ella

All experiences

4–7 hoursThe Hill Country Train to Ella Kandy to EllaReserved seats on the Badulla line, through tea estates, tunnels and the Demodara loop.From $48 pp

3.5 hoursNine Arch Bridge & Little Adam's Peak EllaBoth of Ella's signature walks in one easy morning, timed to a train crossing.From $38 pp

Journeys that include it

Routes through Ella

Each is a starting shape. Every one of them gets rewritten around the people travelling.

All journeys

Signature 10 days 9 nightsClassic Sri Lanka Negombo, Sigiriya, Kandy +4The complete first visit: the cultural triangle, the hill country by train, two drives in Yala and three nights on the south coast.DetailsFrom$2K

Signature 8 days 7 nightsSri Lanka Honeymoon Escape Negombo, Kandy, Ella +3Eight days built around long mornings, short drives and two of the best private tables in the country.DetailsFrom$3K

Signature 9 days 8 nightsWildlife & Beach Adventure Negombo, Sigiriya, Kandy +4Four national parks, a resident naturalist, and a whale boat off Mirissa to finish.DetailsFrom$2K

Nearby

Also in the hill country

KandyHill Country · 2 nights

Nuwara EliyaHill Country · 1–2 nights

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