Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, ranks
amongst the leading tea
producers in the world
alongside India and Kenya.
As with all these tea
giants, the tea growing
areas lie in
the highlands with more
temperate climates. In
tropical Sri Lanka
the cooler hill country is
found in the island
interior away from the humid
coastline and arid zones. The tourism
potential of the tea growing
highland areas, still in the
early stages of development,
add to the value its tea
estate based industry. The nucleus is found in a
range of
colonial era
plantation bungalows
given a
new lease of life as
luxury plantation villas,
tea factories
converted to
luxury hotels and tea
estates
such as the Pedro
Tea Estate which invite
visitors. In the quaint
British colonial era towns
like
Nuwara Eliya
known as
"Little England"
at the
Grand Hotel
you can
relive the atmosphere of the
British colonial era. In central Sri Lanka, just 4 hours from Colombo by car to the Castlereagh Lake, lies the Bogawantalawa
Valley. Known as the Golden
Valley of Tea and home to
old Ceylon, the area is replete with
rolling green hills,
plantation bungalows
and of course high tea.
The tea growing highlands in
the interior of Sri Lanka
centre on the town of
Nuwara
Eliya
known as Little
England. Located at a height
of 6000 feet, the cool
climate in contrast to the
heat of the tropical areas
made it a favourite amongst
the English colonialists.
Even today, the atmosphere
of the town of Nuwara Eliya
with its world famous golf
course, golf club, Anglican
church as well as the old
Grand Hotel
resembles that of an English
village. Here tie and jacket
remain compulsory attire at
dinner in some of its
grander hotels like the
Grand Hotel.
Sri Lanka Railways operates
an
observation car service
from the Fort Station at
Colombo to Kandy, the
cultural capital and old
Kingdom and onto Nanu Oya,
16 kms from Nuwara Eliya and
onto Bandara Wella. The
scenic 8 hour journey passes
through rugged hills and tea
estates.
Every hotel featured on this website
has been personally visited, stayed
at and inspected by a Director of
the UK office of Special Offer
Holidays in accordance with our
"Inspect before recommending"
policy used in the Sri Lanka Hotels
Guide Com. All images used here have
been taken by us during our visits
using an ordinary digital camera so
you see Sri Lanka hotels and
plantation bungalows as another
tourist would. Our reviews are
respected both by potential UK
visitors to Sri Lanka as well as the
UK Travel Trade because they are
objective, unbiased, frank and based
on personal visits.
Sri Lankan hoteliers and tea estates
who feel their establishments would
meet the high standards required for
inclusion in this and other Sri
Lanka travel websites should contact
us.
