Exploring Kandy’s Finest Tea Plantation and Tastings - Tea, Mountains, and Trains

The cool climate, fertile soil, beautiful misty landscape in Kandy has made it the prime location for tea plantations since 19th century. Walking through the tea plantations will feel magical and the experience will be unparalleled to any other. The tea plants are neatly arranged in rows and columns, and trimmed by skilled tea pluckers gathering tea leaves by hand.

The best times to visit the tea plantations in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya are from December to April when the rainfall is less and the skies are clear. If you are planning on visiting, Haputale and Ella, the best time is between June and September.

There are many hotels and resorts to choose from. Some of them are located in tea plantations making the experience unique for the visitors staying at a resort in Kandy. There are uniquely decorated rooms and beautiful pools overlooking the tea plantations and many mountain ranges in the area. Most places offer unique activities like tea plucking with the locals, Kithul tree tapping for Toddy and Treacle, high tea with freshly brewed tea, and Sri Lankan culinary lessons. Picking a place that offers these experiences will save you time and will be cost-effective as well. One such resort is Aarunya Nature Resort.

Kaduganawa Tea Factory is situated about 16 Km from Kandy. The factory is one of the oldest tea factories in the country. The factory is open from 10 Am to 5 Pm. The entire tour will take about 1 hour. The workers will explain the history of tea production and every step of the production. At the end of the tour, you will be served a freshly brewed cup of tea with palm sugar. You can also purchase any type of tea from the many flavours available to take home as souvenirs.

Nuwara Eliya, also known as the Tea Country must be the next stop in your tour. The best way to get to Nuwara Eliya is via the train from Kandy or Peradeniya Railway station. The train will stop at Nuwara Eliya station also called the Nanu Oya Station.  Each train has a 1st class, 2nd class, and observation deck. The train will travel through tea plantations and mountain ranges with breathtaking views. Make sure to pack Snacks and some warm Tea into a tea flask from a local tea shop to enjoy during the journey.

Most tea estates will have tours where you can learn the secrets of hand-plucking the tea leaves or you can capture the beautiful view of Lechami’s (female tea pluckers) plucking tea. Some estates like the Giragama tea factory, Mackwoods Labookkellie tea factory, and Pedro tea factory will offer factory tours as well. Most of these tours will end with serving you multiple flavours of tea like green tea, black tea, and flavoured tea. Some places will offer White tea which is one of the rarest and expensive varieties of tea in the world.

The Ceylon Tea Museum is located in Hantane, about 3 Km from Kandy city. The museum has 4 floors exhibiting old machinery, tea plantation history, a library, a sales outlet where you can buy the finest Sri Lankan tea as Souvenirs, and a tea café where you can taste a variety of tea flavours. The tea café gives you a panoramic view of surrounding areas like Hunasgiriya, Knuckles mountain range, and Matale mountain range. There are telescopes mounted on the 4th-floor tea café for you to view the beautiful mountain ranges. This is a must-visit location for anyone visiting Kandy.