Friday 13th February 2026
Nuwara Eliya Walk : Train to Ella
When we woke up, the weather had greatly improved; we had a free morning as our train journey to Ella wasn’t until 3pm.
After breakfast, Dave and I put our luggage in the minibus, and arranged to meet our driver and friends later in the town.
On our way into town we spotted a ‘Central Market’, so we headed into the shed-like structure to have a look. As we thought, it was mainly fresh food, meat and fish; we always find it interesting to see the local produce and indeed the locals going about their day.
Colonial style houses and bungalows with lawned gardens lined the road into the town. These properties are remnants from the British colonial days when the officers headed up to ‘Little England’, as Nuwara Eliya had been dubbed, for respite from the heat of the lowlands of what was then, of course, called Ceylon.
The British had Tudor and Victorian styled homes built and a large convalescence home. A racecourse and two golf courses were also added to the town.
Stamford, Collingwood, Ripon Grand and Crowne Plaza are just a few British names that are on gates of homes and hotel frontages.
The red bricked ‘British Post Office’ is, according to some guide books, a must site to visit.
Queen Elizabeth ІІ visited the post office in 1954, and a stamp collection commemorating the royal visit remains on sale.
Just a few steps away is the real Sri Lanka, the statues of Buddha, the hustle and bustle, the smiling faces of the locals and the tuk tuks whizzing by.
We spotted the bread tuk tuk, the small vehicle kitted out with shelves holding delicious smelling breads and pastries. The driver played a tune at each place he stopped and folk came out to buy the fresh products.
Noticing a bank ,we decided to pop in to change some cash. The lady refused our 50 euro note as it had a very tiny nick in it. We offered her another, and after checking it, she gave us a pile of dirty, crumpled notes. The three of us looked at the state of them, and we all laughed. The clerk gave us an apologetic grin as we left, wishing her a good day.
We wandered around the town, which is situated 1868 metres above sea level. This is the highest town in the country.
At 1.30 pm we met the others, and set off to the railway station for our journey to Ella. This train ride is said to be one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world.
The weather wasn’t good. It had been drizzling on and off for a while, but now we were driving in cloud. The situation stayed the same for the remainder of the drive, and unfortunately the dangerous driving that we had witnessed on many occasions continued, even in the adverse weather conditions.
During my research I had read that it was best to sit on the left- hand side of the train for the most scenic views. The first few minutes of the journey was in cloud but that soon cleared and we all thoroughly enjoyed the scenery.
Sri Lanka’s scenery is stunning. Vistas of tea plantations, rice paddies, villages and verdant hillsides dominated the journey.
There were many long bends where we could see the carriages ahead, and passengers hanging from the doors; this appeared to be quite a popular thing to do. One young woman in our carriage was hanging half out of the window, taking selfies.
It was truly a beautiful train ride. We saw huge banana plantations, the odd stupa and mosque in the distance, and many people patiently waiting at the level crossings for the train to pass. Some waved and we waved back.
Although it was chilly, we had the windows open as we got a much clearer view. In 1st class, the windows are sealed to allow the air conditioning to work more efficiently. In the 2nd and 3rd, the windows can be opened.
The train journey takes 3 – 3 ½ hours; by road it is much quicker. The train descends over 800 metres between the two stations.
Anura had of course driven to the station to meet us, and he transported us to the hotel. By the time we reached it, it was almost time for dinner.
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