Nuwara Eliya Info

Travelling through winding roads and lush green valleys, tea estates situated on the slopes and banks of the hills, with tiny streams and water falls and the beautiful misty mountains , one can arrive at Nuwara Eliya town which offers you everything, as any other town does and more.

Its unique climate, and often covered with an early morning mist and the cold tangy air and its fresh and invigorating atmosphere offers a typical English environment. Nuwara Eliya, which is situated among some of the most beautiful tea estates also has the Golf course, race Course, horses, Rose gardens and British style houses which all add up to a perfect vacation retreat, offering a level of perfection without equal.

Many locals visit Nuwara Eliya during April/May which are the warmest months when Colombo?s elite seek the relief of its cooling invigorating climate. Most British visitors feel that they are in England when they visit Nuwara Eliya. In fact all foreign visitors to Sri Lanka always make it a point to visit Nuwara Eliya to enjoy its ?Home away from Home? feeling. Hence the name ?Little England? which is a name given by many foreign visitors. The pink brick Victorian Post office is a sure reminder of the British era.

The Golf course, which is one of the best in Sri Lanka, blends well with the surrounding tea plantations on one side and the fauna, flora and tiny streams on the other side, running in between these plantations. At Nuwara Eliya one can enjoy the best fresh vegetables. Nuwara Eliya is a well planned town and still retains its English style. One can take a leisurely walk around beautiful Lake Gregory and enjoy stunning scenery and panoramic vistas, with rugged mountains outlined against clear blue skies making a breathtaking back drop. Visitors can see many water falls too in and around Nuwara Eliya.

During the time of the British, Nuwara Eliya (meaning city of light) was the favored cool climate escape of the then English and Scottish planters and also the elite of Colombo during the months of April. However, the class difference has somewhat receded in Sri Lanka society and in April everybody, irrespective of the so called elite class converge on Nuwara Eliya to enjoy the cool climate, the festive air, the many fresh vegetables and fruits on sale and the entertainment organized by the authorities for all ages.

During the season and even off season when one enters Nuwara Eliya a very unique sight that can be seen is that almost everybody wears a cap and warm jersey which signifies the cold climate of Nuwara Eliya. Jerseys and caps are an essential part of clothing of the population of Nuwara Eliya and even visitors, wear them to ward off the cool breeze that blow from the hills beyond, which gives that tangy crispy cold which everybody enjoys and which only Nuwara Eliya can give to the visitor. Highlight of the Nuwara Eliya season is the Nuwara Eliya horse races which takes the air of Ascot in England, with ladies dressed in the British styles of hats and umbrellas to match, and parade the race course.