Ella is a beautiful small town on the southern edge of Sri Lanka’s Hill Country. It is poopular with tourists and makes a great base from which to explore the surrounding countryside.
Remote view of Little Adam’s Peak
It’s in the middle of beautiful countryside, with small vegetable plots in the valleys, tea plantations on the hill slopes and forests on the tops.
The climate throughout most of the year is typical of the high Hill Country, with a hot sun by midday, but a moderate air temperature. It will often rain in the afternoon, but only for an hour or so. A sweatshirt, or light jacket is needed at night. In December it can rain a lot!
There’s not much to do in Ella itself, with a handful of small shops and only a few bars and restaurants. It’s basically a nicely relaxing base for exploring the surrounding country.
Ella has a small post office and one bank (Bank of Ceylon) with an ATM. Track bashers (rail enthusiasts) should particularly enjoy the line to Badulla, where at the village of Demodara it does a 360-degree loop before crossing over itself.