Exploring The Hillside of Sri Lanka - 5 MUST DO Activities

Are you looking for adventurous activities to partake in during your island holiday? Here are 5 activities every traveller must do!

1. Take the train to Badulla

You cannot experience the Sri Lankan hillside to its fullest capacity without incorporating a train journey into your holiday. The train ride from Kandy to Badulla is widely accepted as one of the best train journeys in Asia, with breathtaking views to feast your eyes. Traverse the terraced tea plantations and mist-covered mountain tops, lush green forests and majestic waterfalls as you experience the cool breeze of fresh hill country air.

Observe the rural settings as you watch tea pluckers in colourful saris dotting the emerald green tea fields and street food sellers at each train stop carrying wicker baskets filled with crispy fried wades, peanuts and fruit pickles.

2. Experience a guided nature walk

The hill country gives you access to a myriad of natural experiences to engage in. Visit the Hakgala Botanical Gardens, which is home to over 10,000 species of plants and explore forest reserves like Galway's-land National Park or Kithulgala for some bird watching. Take an excursion to Horton Plains National Park, home to the famous "World's End" cliff offering stunning views of the vistas on clear days.

Book a stay at Ceylon Tea Trails and sign up for a hosted nature excursion to any of these forest reserves with the resident naturalist who can guide you, imparting knowledge about the endemic species and helping you spot even the most elusive creatures.

3. Visit a waterfall

Sri Lanka's hill country is home to a number of spectacular waterfalls, and you can observe most of them at their glorious peak throughout the year due to the monsoon and inter-monsoon seasons.

Take note that not every waterfall is fit for swimming. However, you may find many locals and tourists alike taking the plunge into the tranquil pool at the bottom of Ramboda Falls or dipping their feet in the shallow pools at Ravana Falls.

4. Relax in Ella

Tucked away in the Badulla district, Ella is a popular tourist destination due to its picturesque landscapes and temperate climate. While it offers a number of hiking destinations such as Little Adam's Peak, Ella Rock and the Idalgashinna to Haputale trek that offers outstanding views of the surrounding hills, Ella is also a fantastic place to simply relax and unwind.

Dotted with vibrant cafes, and laid back bars, and a host of comfortable accommodation options in and around the area, you'll find tourists flocking to Ella to enjoy the cool mountain air after long days of hiking. It is the perfect place to sit back and take it all in.

5. Stopover at a tea plantation

Your trip to the hillside of Sri Lanka would be incomplete without a visit to one of its many tea plantations. Observe the tea pluckers gathering the fresh leaves in their expert craft of picking just the bud and two leaves that guarantee Ceylon tea's purity.

At the tea factory, you can observe the entire tea making process from withering to fermentation. The whole process from bush to finished tea takes place in 24 hours.

Not only can you learn all about tea picking and processing through this factory visit, but you can also enjoy some fine teas in the tea tasting session that follows.

Can you think of a better way to wrap up your hillside vacation?!