Hiking Sri Lanka's Highlands

Discover Sri Lanka’s tea-growing highlands on a 10-day hiking journey along selected sections of the Pekoe Trail, a long-distance walking route through plantations, forests, villages and mountain landscapes. Starting and ending in Colombo, the trip combines several days of walking with historic sites, local food and a scenic train journey through the hill country.
In Kandy, visit the Ceylon Tea Museum, housed in a former tea factory, before walking through the Hanthana Tea Estate on the trail’s first stage. Further into the central highlands, follow paths through working tea plantations, past traditional estate buildings and alongside rural communities. At St. Clair’s Falls, pause to admire one of the region’s best-known waterfalls, surrounded by rolling tea fields. A traditional rice-and-curry lunch served at a historic tea estate bungalow provides an introduction to local food and the region’s plantation heritage.
The route becomes more remote around Horton Plains National Park, where grasslands and cloud forests create a striking change of scenery. Camp overnight before continuing through the Udaweriya Valley, with expansive views across the highlands towards the southern lowlands. Later, take a train from Haputale to Demodara and hike towards Ella, passing viewpoints of the famous Nine Arches Bridge. The journey concludes with an early hike to Ella Rock, where the views extend across Ella Gap and the surrounding hills.
This trip is best suited to travellers who enjoy consecutive days of walking and want to experience Sri Lanka beyond its coastal resorts, through its landscapes, tea culture and rural communities.