It is hard to know how to feel about Ella, Sri Lanka. I was only able to spend one full day in Ella, so I am hardly an expert. But while there, I felt incredibly comfortable and at ease. Things felt familiar to me.
So what’s the problem? Ella is the only place in Sri Lanka I felt that way. I loved Sri Lanka – I found the people, the food, and the countryside all to be thrilling and memorable. But the culture is different from my modern American sensibility and I never felt totally comfortable… until I hit Ella.
Ella has been booming in recent years and welcoming an influx of backpackers and European-based visitors. There is a good expat community. All this means that, for those of us who live in more Westernized areas and even suburbs, Ella feels more familiar. There are traditional cafes and coffeehouses, boutiques with handcrafted goods and beautiful clothing all displayed in a lovely way that no one haggles over, credit cards are used with ease, the restaurants have all the food that we are used to seeing in a Western society, and open-air bars have pool tables and dance floors with DJs. Could I live in Ella? Absolutely! But that’s what’s kind of perplexing.
I loved the complexity and chaos of Kandy and Colombo. The beach towns we visited were awash with customs that unfmiliar. But Ella (and to a certain extent, so did Galle, coming soon to the website) is heavily influenced by tourism and feels … well…easy.
Not that there is anything wrong with that. As a solo white woman traveler there to do yoga, find enlightenment, and travel relatively alone, Ella was a perfect fit for me. In fact, it seems made for people like me. I loved it.
But it also didn’t have the edge that the other places in Sri Lanka have. I didn’t once get hounded by a tuk tuk driver in Ella, for example!
I will be curious to see how Ella continues to evolve.
In general, Sri Lanka has seen booming rates of tourists, exceeding pre-pandemic levels, hitting 2.5 million international tourists in 2024 (source). While official records on tourists in Ella are not kept, it is safe to say that the vast majority of those who visit make it to Ella. The primary countries of visitors are India, Russia, the UK, Germany, and China (which totally tracks with my experience there, most of the time the only American in sight).
Ella is well known around the island nation for being a backpacker haven.
But because Ella is fairly small, and the downtown area feels like it is being taken over with newer businesses catering to tourists like me (all the construction going on can not be missed!), it is hard to remember that farmers who have inhabited the area for centuries still work their farms right outside the city limits, immune to the coffee house sale of the day or the person in athleisurewear looking to find the way to the trailhead for Adam’s Peak. One part of Ella is very much capitalizing on a global travel economy – another part is the same area that, until very recently, was a quiet hamlet of farm life.
Ella is wonderful. Go and see it. Love it as much as I do. But remember that sometimes we need to be uncomfortable to experience the truest essence of a place.
About Ella, Sri Lanka
Ella isn’t a terribly big town, but it sits in the mountains of the Uva Province and has risen to fame in an era highly influenced by Instagram. The reason? It is truly beautiful. It has everything a tourist traveling to this region could want: green, cloud forests, cooler temperatures, mountains, waterfalls, animals, abundance, and peace. Tourists (and there is a huge backpacker community presence here) flock here for a reason.
Ella town is just a few blocks of artisan galleries, coffeehouses, and cafes (as I mentioned, this will be familiar to Western tourists), bars, and restaurants. In fact, Ella is one of the towns in Sri Lanka that offers a more robust nightlife.
It has a total population of just over 45,000 people and sits at 1,000 m above sea level.
You can get the official guide to the area at ellaguide.com.
Getting to Ella, Sri Lanka
A lot of travel bloggers will talk about the train ride into Ella. You can read my thoughts on that here. But my group did not take the train primarily because the train ride itself is a full day (6-7 hours), pretty much regardless of where you travel from. If you are looking to maximize your time hiking or otherwise sightseeing, you should consider cutting out the train for more efficient transportation.
But Uber and the local PickMe app work great for getting around the country, particularly from city to city.
Where to Stay in Ella, Sri Lanka
Our group stayed at Amba Estate, which is a farmstay a 30-minute drive from downtown Ella. This organic farm produces tea, all its own fruits and vegetables, and has very comfortable, albeit simple, rooms. I loved this spot.
Our group was fed vegetarian home-cooked meals our entire stay (except for lunches). We were even given a cooking class and a tea tasting. The Estate was simply beautiful, and also had many trails to walk and explore. It was incredibly relaxing and was the first moment on the trip when I felt my heart and thoughts calm.
That said, a 30-minute drive from downtown Ella isn’t terribly convenient. Tuk tuk drivers are difficult to contact to make this drive, and I personally would not feel comfortable driving in Sri Lanka. If you are looking to be within walking distance to the bars, coffee shops, and stores in Ella, this is not the place.Â
If you want to relax deep in Sri Lanka’s tea country, surrounded by local agriculture on a well-kept farm, then you can’t do better than Amba Estate.
Things to do with One Day in Ella
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Hike Ella Rock
This was my favorite activity we did in Ella. (Maybe not a shock given our hiking proclivities, see here and here and here and here for just a few examples.) The reward from the top was stunning. It was on top of Ella Rock where I could feel what this part of Sri Lanka is – the stunning green, the majesty, the depth, the peaks that are rugged under a blanket of lushness…
How to Hike Ella Rock (Tips and What to Know)
- Plan the time of day you hike carefully!
Much like with Sigiriya Rock, avoid doing this in the mid-day heat and sun, which can be intense.
- Bring cash.
There is a fee to enter the viewing area (which you will get to once you reach the top and have done all the climbing). You will need cash here – remember that Sri Lanka is a cash-based economy.
- Be very clear on the route/directions or get a guide.
Finding the trailhead and following the trail can be hard, and it is not well-marked. There are blog posts with detailed instructions (although download before you go, as you may not have access to the Internet around the country). We had a guide who actually brought us up to Ella Rock from a different direction (by the monastery) and then down into town on the more popular route, where we walked along the train tracks.
We encountered many lost and confused hiker tourists, though, so be warned, the trail isn’t easy to find.
- However, do not accept assistance from strangers on the trail (who will then demand payment for the help).
If you get a guide, arrange for one in advance.
- You can access the trailhead in downtown Ella.
Depending on where you stay, you may or may not need transportation to the trailhead.
- This is not the easiest hike, but it is not the worst, either. Just be prepared!
Even though we went the back way, so we ended up not doing an out-and-back as most people do, we still had an elevation gain of 591 feet, with a significant steep drop as we headed back down on the popular trail.
I highly recommend good hiking shoes, particularly for the steeper sections that are a bit overgrown in parts. Also, be sure to pack water and snacks. You may want to consider a hat or other sun protection – parts of the trail are very exposed.
- Avoid leeches.
There were a great number of tiny leeches that rode on my group’s shoes throughout the hike. We were vigilant and removed them all before they attached to the skin, but you will want good shoes, socks, and bug spray. It wasn’t a big deal and didn’t ruin the hike in any manner, but it did require some attention.
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See Nine Arch Bridge
The Nine Arch Bridge is an active railroad track today, but given the setting of the old arches jutting up from the gulley against “broccoli-crusted” mountains, it is a place where people linger and enjoy. In fact, there are vendors selling fresh coconut water and more on either side of the bridge.
The bridge is a colonial-era bridge “built by local labor under British supervision.” It is a feat of engineering, especially as the blocks were built from local materials, and any steel that was to be used (outside of the rails) was taken for the British World War I efforts. It really is beautiful to see.
It is a bit of a walk to get down to the Nine Arch Bridge. This blog post has good details. Once there, there isn’t much to do, of course. But that’s what I love about Sri Lanka – time ceases to exist.
We tried to wait for the scheduled train to cross the bridge, but the trains in Sri Lanka are notoriously late, so even after a considerable wait, it never arrived.
You can walk across the bridge, of course, and explore the area. There are few human safety measures taken here, at least not like there are in America. Feel free to explore on your own free will – just be careful, as it is an active train track and trains will come through.
Visit A Waterfall
Our group stopped at Ravana waterfall, right outside of Ella on the highway. There were street vendors and easy viewpoints here. (Apparently, one can climb up and find a swimming hole, but it was the wet season during our stop, and the rush of water was too intimidating to swim in.)
Another popular waterfall to visit in the Ella area is Diyaluma. You can learn more about that at this website.
Take a Cooking Class or a Tea Plantation Tour
We had the fortune of having a cooking class included in our stay at Amba Estates, as well as a tea tasting (which was a very different experience from the one I had in Colombo). I had been on a tea plantation tour in another area of the country, but I also found that fascinating.
Sri Lankan food is delicious – lots of spices, taste, and vegetables (very little meat).
If you’d like to take a Sri Lankan cooking class, Ella Spice Garden offers some great options.
Tea is a massive part of the economy and history in Sri Lanka so, while there, you should spend some time learning about it. Ella is a good launching point, being as tea is grown in the higher altitudes and more mountainous regions. This tuk tuk company offers guided tea plantation tours or you can find the right fit for you and your companions on Get Your Guide.
With More Time in Ella, Sri Lanka
- Little Adam’s Peak.
This is a popular hike (second to Ella Rock) in the area. It is much shorter and less intense than Ella Rock. I did not have time during my visit to do both, but consider Adam’s Peak as an option. - Take a yoga class.
A friend of mine moved to Ella, Sri Lanka and opened a yoga studio. It is located in the heart of Ella town and she is such a lovely instructor. If you get a chance, enjoy a class with Christina at 1 World Yoga.
While my opening paragraphs on Ella may seem harsh, I truly did love this town. I just worry, as I reflect on my trip, that the reason why I loved it was that it felt more like the United States and Europe than Sri Lanka. I don’t think I can honestly answer that question. But I can say I’d go back to Ella in a heartbeat. I’d move there. And it still had all the most lovely things about Sri Lanka: the food, the people smiling, the land.
I simply want to remain the sort of traveler who travels to experience, not to check a place off a list without understanding the reality it beyond the standard tourist sites. Most of the time, standard tourist sites are the heart of the culture and area. So I have no regrets on hitting major landmarks (never have, never will).Â
But Ella is still growing and changing. As the local economy continues to rely on tourism, I will remain curious as to what the town and city will become in the future.
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