The Hill Country
The 171m-high Diyaluma Falls is Sri Lanka’s third-highest waterfall. Cascading down an escarpment of the Koslanda Plateau, the falls leap over a cliff face and plunge (in one clear drop) to a pool below. It's more impressive in the rainy season. Diyaluma Falls is 13km west of Wellawaya; any bus heading to Haputale passes by.
A path to the upper part of the falls leaves from close to KM 207.5 on the A4 Hwy. It's a steep 45-minute hike to the top.
21.3 MILES
With herds of elephants, wild buffalos, sambars and spotted deer, and giant squirrels, this Sri Lankan national park is one of the nation's finest. In…
16.66 MILES
The Horton Plains plateau comes to a sudden end at World’s End, a stunning escarpment that plunges 880m. The walk here is 4km, but the trail then loops…
4.61 MILES
The beautiful, 1000-year-old, rock-cut Buddha figures of Buduruwagala are the region's biggest attraction. The gigantic standing Buddha (at 15m, it is the…
7 MILES
This beautiful Benedictine monastery once belonged to tea planter Sir Thomas Lester Villiers. To recreate his English lifestyle, he developed some English…
25.81 MILES
This complex is a halfway house for orphaned elephants. After rehabilitation, the elephants…
16.43 MILES
Horton Plains is a beautiful, stark world with excellent hikes in the shadows of Sri Lanka’s second- and third-highest mountains, Kirigalpotta (2395m) and…
3.96 MILES
This popular tea factory was built in 1890 by Sir Thomas Lipton, one of the most famous figures in tea history. The tour through the works is an education…
10.72 MILES
The Uva Halpewaththa Tea Factory, 5km north of Ella, runs some of the better tea plantation tours in Sri Lanka. After you've enriched yourself with…
3.49 MILES
The Lipton’s Seat lookout is one of Sri Lanka's most impressive viewpoints (unless it's misty and cloudy of course, which is why early morning is the best…
3.96 MILES
This popular tea factory was built in 1890 by Sir Thomas Lipton, one of the most famous figures in tea history. The tour through the works is an education…
4.61 MILES
The beautiful, 1000-year-old, rock-cut Buddha figures of Buduruwagala are the region's biggest attraction. The gigantic standing Buddha (at 15m, it is the…
5.92 MILES
This museum, on the corner of the main road from Wellawaya and the road to the Buduruwagala Buddhas, has stone and terracotta artefacts from nearby…
7 MILES
This beautiful Benedictine monastery once belonged to tea planter Sir Thomas Lester Villiers. To recreate his English lifestyle, he developed some English…
7.21 MILES
This woodland west of town is called a bird sanctuary, but it's more of a highland forest with a pleasant ridge-top walking trail. You can access the…