9 Amazing Things To Do In Ella, Sri Lanka: 2024 Guide

Looking for the best things to do in Ella? From train rides and cooking classes, to hikes, waterfalls and zip lines, this guide has it all!

If you’ve read my Sri Lanka itinerary, you’ll have discovered that I visited the country on a very special trip! Yes, it was my honeymoon. In those two weeks we adventured, explored, hiked, ate, and fell in love with this amazing country. It’s up there as one of my favourite countries in the world.

You might read ‘honeymoon’ and think this post is going to be full of luxurious or unaffordable activities. Well, no! We did everything a backpacker would do, perhaps just with the addition of a few extra cocktails!

Ella is a really interesting town. With mountainous scenery all around, tea plantations close by, waterfalls and a vibrant and bohemian town centre, it’s a must-visit on your trip to Sri Lanka. Many travel by train from the city of Kandy to Ella, enjoying one of the most scenic train journeys in the world. That’s exactly what we did, and while it’s a long journey (between 5-6 hours) the views are absolutely sensational.

In this guide I’ll include info on visiting popular spots such as Little Adam’s Peak, the Nine Arch Bridge and Ravana Falls. Plus, I’ll share a few special experiences that we enjoyed in Ella. I know I’m going to love writing this guide, as it’ll transport me back to one of the best trips of my life! I hope you enjoy reading it too. As always, feel free to email me if you have any questions, or drop them in the comments below.

9 Incredible Things To Do In Ella, Sri Lanka

Catch the train from Kandy to Ella, or Ella to Kandy

Riding the train from Kandy to Ella is an iconic Sri Lankan experience, offering breathtaking views and a flavour of local life. You might have seen the photos of people hanging out of train doorways, with sweeping backdrops of tea plantations. Well, now it’s your turn!

Our train left at 11.10am and got to Ella at 16.56, taking just over 5 hours. I know this sounds like a long time just sitting on a train, but it was really nice watching the world go by, enjoying some snacks, reading and just generally relaxing! We’d had a lot of early starts on our honeymoon up until this point, so we appreciated having a day doing very little!

The prettiest area of the Kandy to Ella train ride is around Nuwara Eliya – the heart of tea country. Here, you’ll see Ceylon tea plantations, sweeping valleys and lush landscapes.

When you book your train tickets, you’ll discover several options of tickets, with seats in 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd class. The insider tip is that 1^st class isn’t necessarily the best! If you sit in first class, you’ll be in a cool, air-conditioned carriage, but as there’s AC blasting out, there’s no option to open the windows.

Sit in second class and you can open the windows, lean out to see the views and capture better photos. Third class is similar, but a more packed in / less comfortable! There are options of reserved and unreserved seats too. If I was going to pick, I’d go for second class reserved seats.

Regardless of where you sit, you can still access the doors during the trip. We captured some of the classic photos, leaning out – what daredevils we are!

Hike to Little Adam’s Peak

Ella is paradise if you love hiking and the great outdoors. I thought the scenery was totally mind-blowing. We hopped in a tuktuk from the centre of Ella, which dropped us at the start of the trail for Little Adam’s Peak. This hike isn’t particularly difficult, but it does follow an upwards trajectory, so you’ll need a basic level of fitness.

It took us just over 30 minutes to get to the top, following the trail up through the hills. The path was a mix of mud, stones and steps. The payoff was worth the slightly sweaty walk! I loved the panoramas of mountains, rocks, lush valleys and waterfalls.

There are several viewpoints near the top. If you’re feeling brave, the photo spots along the ridge are absolutely incredible, with lots of rocks you can perch on for photos.

Be sure to take water with you and wear proper trainers. Also, avoid this hike if the weather is bad. It can be treacherous in the rain.

If you’re looking for more challenging hikes from Ella, research visiting Ella Rock and Adam’s Peak.

Visit Ravana Waterfall

Ravana Waterfall is a 25m waterfall on the outskirts of Ella. It’s one of the widest waterfalls in the country. Again, you can hop in a tuktuk from the centre of town to be dropped at this spot. It gets its name from the demon King Ravana, who according to folklore, once ruled Sri Lanka. It’s said that he hid Princess Sita in a cave behind the waterfall.

Once you arrive at the falls, you can take great photos from the road bridge. After that, climb down onto the rocks to the base of the waterfall. You can swim in the pool or paddle in the streams. Some of the rocks are pretty slippery, so be careful!

You might see others scaling higher up the waterfall, where there are other pools. I wouldn’t recommend this. I’ve read that there have been a lot of accidents here, with people falling and injuring themselves.

There are lots of street vendors in the area around Ravana Waterfall. Grab a smoothie or a Sri Lankan snack while you’re there.

Visit Nine Arch Bridge

The Nine Arch bridge is a stunning feat of colonial-era engineering, which majestically spans a lush valley in Ella. The 91-metre-long viaduct reaches a height of 24 metres. The bridge is made from stone and cement – an incredible feat of engineering in the 1920s, when steel was at a shortage due to WW1.

The views of the bridge are very pretty, with lush greenery all around. There are trains a few times a day, but you can walk on the tracks in between. To check when they’re running, I’d recommend asking someone at your hotel or looking on the Sri Lanka Railways website.

This is such an iconic photo spot, and somewhere you’ll see all over Instagram. We thought it was a little overrated and full of posers! But we did enjoy sitting in one of the cafes overlooking the bridge and sipping a coffee with a special view.

To reach the bridge, you can either hop in a tuktuk or walk from town. It’s around 2km to the bridge. We got a tuktuk there and then walked back. It was a pretty route too, along the tracks and then through the forest.

If you’d rather have all the details taken care of, you could book a tour like this one, which will take you to the key sights in Ella.

Book a Sri Lankan cookery class in Ella

One of the best ways to get to grips with the local cuisine is to book a Sri Lankan cookery class. We booked one in Ella which was held at a local’s home, in their outdoor kitchen.

During the three hour class we chopped, fried and tasted a number of delicious vegetarian dishes. After eating several of them in restaurants already, it was great to find out about all the interesting ingredients and learn the method to recreate the dishes at home.

This was a group class, so it was also really nice to meet other travellers and hear about their trips through Sri Lanka.

Once we’d finished cooking, we sat down to a big group dinner. We loved this experience and have made several of the dishes since we’ve returned home!

Visit a tea plantation in Ella

One of our days in Ella was a little drizzly, so we looked for things to do in Ella in the rain. We caught a taxi to Uva Halpewatte Tea Factory and went on a tour. These take place throughout the day. You’ll get to see the tea plantation, learn about how the staff pick the tea leaves, dry them, and then prepare the tea for sale. At the end of the tour, you get to try some of the different teas in the café. There’s also a gift shop where you can buy tea to take home!

The views from the tea plantation are spectacular. If you’ve got an interest in photography, you’ll love visiting this spot!

Go for cocktails at 98 Acres Resort

Ok, so this is where you have to remember we were visiting Ella on our honeymoon! 98 Acres Resort & Spa is a luxury hotel located on a tea estate, with stunning sweeping views over lush forests and plantations.

While our budget didn’t stretch to staying there, we could afford to go for a drink with a view. There’s a restaurant and bar which is open to the public.

We sipped refreshing caipirinhas in the sunshine, sitting on the terrace with the magnificent view ahead. This might have been a honeymoon moment, but the cocktails weren’t extortionate, so I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a relaxing spot for a drink!

Go zip lining in Ella

Wondering what to do in Ella to get your heart racing? Flying Ravana zip line stretches for more than half a kilometre. If you’re brave enough to try it, you’ll reach speeds of up to 80km per hour.

This is such an amazing place to do it! Those views as you fly over the landscapes – just WOW! The zip line is located on the route up to Little Adam’s Peak. The same company has a number of other activities too, including abseiling, rappelling and the exhilarating 40ft Mega Jump! Check availability and ticket prices for the zip line here.

Enjoy the food and drink scene in Ella

One of the best things to do in Ella? Eat, eat, eat! Some of our happiest times were in Ella’s restaurants! This is a town where the restaurant and bar cultures are thriving. There are so many cool spots to choose from, mostly serving traditional Sri Lankan cuisine, with a few western favourites thrown in for good measure. You’ll also spot lots of street food stalls selling pancakes, rotis, dosas and kottu.

Our favourite restaurants in Ella were:

Ella Village Restaurant – One of our favourite meals in Ella was here. This small restaurant serving authentic Sri Lankan food oozes charm. We ordered the ‘curry and rice’ which turned out to be an amazing selection of curries, sambols, dhal, vegetable side dishes, rice in a banana leaf and pappadums. We also had a dosa. It was so much fun having a table full of appetising dishes. The sticky aubergine and dhal were my favourites.

Morning Dew Hotel – We had breakfast at our hotel in Ella each morning and adored the food. The hoppers were cooked to order and came with coconut and seeni sambols (onion) and a big portion of dhal. What a way to start the day!

Ella Natural Village – This is a real local spot. We asked our tuktuk driver where to go for authentic cuisine, and this is where he dropped us. The restaurant serves a buffet, with lots of salads, curries, rice and bread. 80% of the food was insanely spicy (I like a bit of heat but this was FIRE!) but it was amazing to get an idea of what the real flavours of Sri Lanka are, without being toned down for tourists!  

We enjoyed going for cocktails in Ella too. Café Chill is an institution in the town. It’s always lively and the architecture is reminiscent of somewhere you’d find in Bali.

We also enjoyed a few cocktails at Cafe One Love. This spot is close to the railway station and gets very loud in the evenings! The majority of the clientele are backpackers… but despite being about ten years older than most of them, we enjoyed the atmosphere.

We didn’t squeeze in a trip to Matey Hut, but I’ve heard from friends there’s plenty of tasty local food on offer there.

Other places to visit near Ella

These spots are all a little way from Ella, and could be great options for an adventurous day trip, or for the next part of your Sri Lanka itinerary.

Diyaluma Falls

Around one hour by car from Ella is Diyaluma Falls. This is Sri Lanka’s second tallest waterfall, at a height of 220m. We loved our time here, stopping enroute to Udawalawe National Park.

There are natural infinity pools you can relax in, places you can jump off, rocks to clamber over, and a river to wade through. Even the walk to reach the falls is a bit of an Indiana Jones style trek! You can read more about this spot in my two-week Sri Lanka itinerary.

Yala National Park

This national park is around an hour and a half from Ella. It’s one of the most popular national parks to visit and an incredible place to see wildlife. If you’re lucky, you could see herds of elephants, crocodiles, monkeys, buffaloes, birds and even leopards. To make things easy, you can book a Yala safari tour which picks up in Ella.

Udawalawe National Park

If you’re keen to see elephants in the wild, I’d recommend a trip to this national park, which is located around two hours from Ella. We booked a private safari trip and had the most incredible day seeing the amazing creatures. You can book safari tours like this one, which include transport from Ella.

Horton Plains National Park

A couple of hours from Ella, and you’ll be in this spectacular national park in Sri Lanka’s central highlands. Known for some of the best hiking in the country, it’s home to grasslands, lush valleys and the beautiful waterfall, Baker’s Falls. There are some great trails to follow, with amazing views over the landscapes. Take a look at ‘Little World’s End’ and ‘World’s End’.

Lipton’s Seat

Around an hour and a half south of Ella is this famous viewpoint. This spot, once overseen by tea entrepreneur Sir Thomas Lipton, is often noted as one of the most impressive lookouts in all of Sri Lanka. The views are breathtaking, with vistas of lush tea plantations, hills and valleys. The hiking route is around 8km in total, or you can hop in a tuktuk most of the way.

Where to stay in Ella

Morning Dew Boutique Hotel

This reasonably-priced hotel includes breakfast and has a rooftop pool. We thought the views were absolutely stunning! We chose to have breakfast on the roof one day, just so that we could look out at the mountains and greenery. Just a quick warning, there’s quite a steep route up to get to this hotel. I’d recommend taking a tuktuk if you have heavy luggage.

Poomaz Peace Palace

This top-rated accommodation strikes a balance of being within walking distance of everything you could want in Ella, having a lovely view, and offering really comfortable bedrooms. There’s a range of accommodation on offer, from twin and double rooms, to self-contained villas sleeping six people.

98 Acres Resort & Spa

The most luxurious resort in Ella, 98 Acres Resort & Spa has a range of chic rooms, all with incredible views over tea plantations. There’s a gorgeous pool with loungers, a restaurant and beautiful bar with terrace. We popped here for a cocktail one day and were lusting after the gorgeous accommodation!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post and it helps you decide what to do in Ella. If you’re looking for more help planning your trip to this amazing country, don’t miss my detailed Sri Lanka itinerary and my guide to what to wear in Sri Lanka.

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