Ella

Ella sits in a notch in the southern edge of the hill country, where the mountains fall away towards the southern plains. On a clear morning you can see through Ella Gap all the way to the coast. The town itself is one main street of guesthouses, cafés and tour desks — it has grown fast and it is not undiscovered — but the walking around it is genuinely lovely and the air, after the coast, is a relief.

A stone viaduct built during the British period, curving through jungle and tea between Ella and Demodara, with nine arches and no steel in it. It is a twenty-minute walk down through tea gardens from the road, and it is busy.

The bridge is worth timing rather than simply visiting: it is a working line, and the photograph everyone wants needs a train on it. Ask locally for the day's timings — they shift — and arrive well before.

Little Adam's Peak is the easy one: about an hour up a clear path through tea, with a broad view over Ella Gap at the top, and manageable for most people. Ella Rock is the serious one — two to three hours, steeper, and easy to lose the route on without a guide.

Ravana Falls is a roadside waterfall a short drive towards Wellawaya, at its most dramatic just after rain and reduced to a trickle in dry spells.

The stretch between Nanu Oya and Ella is the famous one: several hours through tea estates, cloud forest and hill villages, doors open, at a speed that makes the views last. It is not fast transport and it is not always comfortable, but it is the single most enjoyable thing many travellers do in Sri Lanka.