The Feel of Each Place
Ella is casual and sociable. The main street has pizza, smoothie bowls, good coffee and inexpensive Ayurvedic massages. It gets busy in high season, with tuk-tuks and bar music, so couples do best on the slopes just outside, where a 10-minute ride buys silence and a view of the gap. Days are warm in the sun and nights call for a sweater.
Nuwara Eliya is cooler and more formal. Days are usually in the 60s Fahrenheit and nights can drop into the 40s, so fires are lit most evenings. The town itself is busy at weekends and a little worn. The magic lies outside it, in tea estates where mist rolls over the bushes at dawn and pickers work the slopes.
If you picture yourselves in hiking shoes heading out at sunrise, Ella fits. If you picture yourselves in a wingback chair by a fire, Nuwara Eliya does.
Walks and Views
Ella gives you mountain scenery without mountaineering. Little Adam's Peak, at about 3,700 feet, is the easy classic: start about 20 minutes' walk from town and climb gently through tea to a ridge with views down the gap. Go at sunrise before the crowds. Ella Rock is the harder half-day hike, with a path that is easy to lose. Walk the railway path to the Nine Arches Bridge and time it for a train crossing. Lipton's Seat near Haputale, about an hour's drive, is a beautiful dawn outing.
Nuwara Eliya's signature walk is bigger. Leave before dawn for Horton Plains National Park, about an hour from town, where a loop of about three hours leads to World's End, a cliff edge where the land drops away by about 2,600 feet. Mist often hides the view by mid-morning, so arrive early. The road to town passes waterfalls such as Ramboda Falls. For a real challenge, climb Adam's Peak overnight from Dalhousie in the pilgrimage season.
Where You Will Stay
This is Nuwara Eliya's strongest card. Near Hatton, Ceylon Tea Trails is a collection of restored planters' bungalows around Castlereagh Lake. Stays are all-inclusive, with meals, drinks and estate walks. They cost several hundred dollars a night or more. Heritance Tea Factory near Kandapola is a converted 1930s factory with its machinery still in place. In town, the Grand Hotel was once a governor's residence and Jetwing St. Andrew's has gardens and log fires.
Ella's honeymoon stays are smaller and less formal. 98 Acres Resort & Spa, on the ridge toward Little Adam's Peak, has chalets among working tea bushes and big valley views, from around $550 a night with breakfast on most rates. Guesthouses up toward Ella Gap often have balconies facing the gap and home-cooked dinners that can be the best food in the area.
All prices are approximate. Nuwara Eliya's rates rise sharply in April, when Sri Lankan families flock to the hills for the New Year holidays.
Weather on Each Side of the Hills
The two sit on different sides of the central mountains, which changes the best months.
Nuwara Eliya and Hatton face the west. Their most reliable stretch is January to April, with clear skies and cold nights. From May to September, the southwest monsoon brings rain, wind and mist. October and November can be wet too. Views from Horton Plains and Adam's Peak are best in the dry months.
Ella is on the eastern, Uva side. Its wettest period comes with the northeast monsoon from roughly October to December. January to March is the most reliable stretch. July and August are often good too, since the southwest monsoon soaking the west tends to leave this side drier.
So for a summer honeymoon, Ella is the better bet. In January to March, both are lovely. In either place, expect a short afternoon shower and plan walks for the morning. After rain, leeches appear on grassy trails, so wear long socks and closed shoes.
Tea, Food and Fireside Evenings
Both are tea country, but they serve it differently. In the Nuwara Eliya area, estate bungalows pour their own leaf at breakfast and again in the afternoon with cakes and sandwiches in planter tradition. Pedro Estate near town runs factory tours. The cool climate grows leeks, carrots and cabbages that turn up in excellent curries, alongside colonial classics such as roasts and puddings. Evenings end with a gin and tonic by the fire. The Hill Club keeps a formal dining tradition, so check whether it takes visitors and what to wear.
In Ella, the best meals are often guesthouse rice and curry with eight or ten small dishes, served on the veranda. Book by early afternoon so the cook can shop. Kottu roti is the late-night staple, with Cafe Chill on the main street the long-running spot. Newburgh tea factory, about half an hour away, runs tours with tastings. Try a straight black tea without milk.
Getting There and the Train Between
Both are a long drive from Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB): about five to six hours to Nuwara Eliya and about six to Ella. Nobody goes straight there. They fit into a loop after Sigiriya and Kandy, with most couples traveling by car and driver.
The hill country railway links them and is one of the loveliest rides in Asia. The nearest station for Nuwara Eliya is Nanu Oya, about four miles from town, while Hatton has its own station for the tea bungalows. The stretch from Nanu Oya to Ella passes tea estates, tunnels and the Demodara loop, where the track circles under itself. Storms have cut the line before, so check the current timetable with your hotel or Sri Lanka Railways and reserve seats as soon as they open.
Roads in the hills are narrow and winding, so travel times are longer than distances suggest. Avoid driving after dark. From Ella, the south coast is about four hours by road.
Two Nights in Each
Many couples do both. The classic route makes it easy. Drive from Kandy into the tea country and spend two or three nights at a bungalow near Hatton or Nuwara Eliya. Do Horton Plains at dawn and take a factory tour, then sink into the fire and the quiet. Then take the train from Nanu Oya to Ella for the best stretch of the line and spend two nights there for Little Adam's Peak, the bridge and a massage. From Ella, drop through Ella Gap to a safari park at Udawalawe or Yala on the way to the south coast.
If you have only two nights for the hills, choose by temperament. Ella is the better all-rounder and leads naturally to the beach. A Hatton tea estate is the bigger splurge and the more romantic stay, but it takes more planning to reach.
At over 6,000 feet in Nuwara Eliya, some people feel slightly breathless at first. Take the first day easy and drink plenty of water.
