This city in the Hill Country is rather colonial in its appearance. The temperate climate endeared itself to the Englishmen who colonized the island over a century ago. It was even known as 'Little England.'
Nanu Oya is connected by train to Colombo and Kandy and buses run from there to Nuwara Eliya all through the day. Or if you are feeling adventurous you can try out the three wheelers known as tuk tuks that are available at the station.
These landscaped gardens are worth visiting. If you go in the flowering season, the array of beautiful flowers that will greet you will make you feel like royalty. Try and avoid it in the wet season.
Here you will get walked through the entire process of making tea leaves. A guide will take you to the garden to see how tea buds and where two leaves are plucked, then you will be brought inside and shown the machines that the leaves get processed in. The whole place smells of tea. At the end you can pick up garden-fresh tea packets from the shop outside.
This is a good place to spend a couple of hours. Plants here include varieties from the rain forests and an English country garden. You can also walk down to the view point at Single Tree Mountain.
At World’s End you get to see a spectacular 800-metre vertical drop, which can be scary if you have vertigo.
A visit to the Post Office housed in an interesting building which is a remnant of the British Colonial era is a good way to pass the time and learn about the area’s past. Or just take a walk around the town to absorb the atmosphere.
There are excursions to waterfalls like Dunhinda Falls, Diyaluma Falls, Baker’s Falls, St. Claire’s Falls, Ravana Ella, Bambarakanda Ella, Aberdeen Falls, Laxapana Falls, The Lovers Leap, and Bridal Falls. The waterfalls are better visited in the rainy season, when they're in all their glory. However in the rainy season you do need to be careful about getting too close to them.
There is also the option to play golf. It is not for nothing that Nuwara Eliya was known as Little England in Sri Lanka.
There is not much nightlife to talk about here. The usual bars exist in the top hotels and as for dining, there are a few decent eateries where you can get a good meal.
This is a restaurant located on the drive from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya where you can get rice with a variety of curries that you can help yourself to.
Here you can partake of a good buffet for breakfast and dinner or dine in style. Lunch is a la carte. The Tea Factory Restaurant is located in a room where tea was once sorted. A great ambience and two menus are available here. Out of the Sri Lankan Buffet and an a la carte Continental Menu, the buffet works out more expensive. The ice creams are great so do try out the sundaes.
Good for a few afternoon or early evening beers, the Lion Pub stays open until 23:00.
Given that the tea gardens literally surround the place one of the best souvenirs that you can get from Nuwara Eliya is Ceylon Tea. The tea factories generally offer different-sized packs that make it easy for you to buy tea as gifts and for personal consumption.
Winter Clothes is another thing that most people tend to shop for here. This is because most people are caught unawares by the phenomenal climate change as you climb into the hills. A lot of secondhand warm clothes that are donated in Europe to charity can be picked up here really cheap.
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