Ella

Ella is a one-street town at 1,041 metres that sits on the lip of a gap in the hills. On a clear morning you can see through it to the plains and, occasionally, the sea. It became the backpacker capital of the hill country and it shows in the number of cafés, but the walking is genuinely good and the train journey in is one of the best in Asia.

The Nine Arch Bridge

The Nine Arch Bridge is the reason most people know Ella. It spans 91 metres at a height of 24 metres, on the Demodara loop, and it was built without steel — brick, stone and cement only, reportedly because steel was being requisitioned during the First World War. It is a twenty-minute walk from town through tea and jungle.

Trains cross about five times a day. Standing on the bridge with no train on it is pleasant; standing there when one comes through is the thing people came for. Ask locally on the morning for the day’s times — the timetable is published, but it moves.

Little Adam’s Peak and Ella Rock

Little Adam’s Peak is the easy one: about two hours return from the town, on a path that climbs through tea gardens to a ridge at 1,141 metres with three successive viewpoints. No guide needed, and it can be combined with the bridge in a single morning.

Ella Rock is the serious walk — around four hours return, partly along the railway line, and easy to lose. Take a guide or a very good offline map. It is a better view and a much quieter one.

The train from Kandy

The Kandy to Ella line is the reason a lot of people build an itinerary around the hill country at all. It takes six to seven hours through tea estates, tunnels and cloud. If you only want the best section, Nanu Oya (for Nuwara Eliya) to Ella is three to four hours and covers the most photographed stretch.

Book reserved seats ahead where you can — they are released 30 days out and go quickly in season. Second class unreserved is the one with the open doorways, and it fills. Sit on the right leaving Kandy for the better views.

When to go

Ella is inland and high, which means it is cooler than the coast year-round and can be wet in any month. January to March is generally the clearest, and June to September is good too. Mornings are reliably better than afternoons: the gap fills with cloud from about midday for much of the year, so if you want the view, walk early.

How long to stay

Two nights. That gives you one full day for the bridge and Little Adam’s Peak, and a second morning for Ella Rock, Ravana Falls or a tea factory before moving on. Ella is also the natural bridge between the hill country and the south — Yala is around three hours away, the south coast about four.