Family Travels through Sri Lanka Tea Country
After the beaches we headed to the hills! It was just amazing to feel the contrast between beach life and mountainous weather in only hours. We traveled through Sri Lanka tea country including Ella and Nuwara Eliya, to temple spots of Kandy, Sigirya and Dambulla.
Ella was lovely
Learned about tea production, swam in waterfalls, stayed two nights in the beautiful Amba Estate, and ate some delicious food! We got to hear rain and thunder, something we miss in the desert, and Jasmin got to play with dogs and take walks with amazing views.
Nuwara Eliya
Love this place, so nice and cool, rainy and warm in the day. Was difficult to find cheap good food. Things are a bit pricier than were used to in Nuwara eliya believe it or not. There are some nice hotels but not in our budget! We got to go horse back riding so that was fun. Jasmin still says she got to ride 3 ponies! She loved it!
Kandy
Two nights in Kandy was plenty and definitely not a cool place to drive! Thankfully we stayed in a hotel right by the lake and city center. Great places to eat and walk around so a don’t miss out! We almost chose not to make this stop a part of our trip. It was a great place to visit in the end, we didn’t realize how much we needed some city life after all. It is a bit hectic, but a day or two is plenty. You can visit some eateries that serve western food, more options, much to see and do.
Sigiriya and Dambulla
These are THE places to checkout for temple visiting in Sri Lanka. Not the best places to go with small children though. It was a bit too hot and lots of hiking which we were not willing to do with the kiddos. So we drove by and took pictures. Mostly we enjoyed the pool and food! It was great to see the different landscape, the elephants and monkeys and enjoy our last few days before heading back home.
Driving between each of these spots was windy and tiring with the kiddos. So take your motion sickness essential oils, pack toys and make time for plenty of stops!