There are train journeys that get you from A to B, and then there are train journeys that change the way you see the world. The scenic railway through Sri Lanka’s central highlands – winding from Kandy through Nanu Oya to Ella – is firmly, unmistakably in the second category. If you are planning a visit to Sri Lanka and you have even a passing interest in landscapes of arresting beauty, this is not something to miss.
The journey begins in Kandy, the island’s cultural capital, and within minutes of departure, the city falls away, and the train begins its extraordinary ascent into the highland interior. The landscape transforms almost immediately: rubber and coconut give way to terraced tea gardens that roll over every hillside in a seamless carpet of luminous green, interrupted only by the silver threads of waterfalls cascading from higher elevations, the dark silhouettes of forest ridgelines and the occasional flash of a workers’ settlement in the valley below.
The train itself is an experience to be savoured rather than simply endured. The older carriages, with their wooden-framed windows that can be pushed open to let in the rushing mountain air, are the ones worth seeking out – the observation cars, with their open doors and standing room at the carriage ends, are the photographers’ paradise of choice. Standing at an open door as the train curves through a tunnel of cloud and emerges above a valley of tea gardens, the wind in your face and the impossibly green landscape spread out below, is one of those moments that resists description but writes itself permanently into memory.
The journey from Kandy to Nanu Oya takes approximately three to four hours, and from Nanu Oya to Ella another two to three hours, allowing, if you choose the full route, a day of uninterrupted beauty that requires nothing of you beyond the willingness to sit, look and let Sri Lanka do what it does best. We recommend travelling in the morning when the light is at its most beautiful and the mist is still clinging to the valley walls. Book your seats in advance for the more popular observation class, bring water and snacks, and leave your schedule open at the other end. You are going to want to sit quietly for a while upon arrival.
Ready to experience the world’s most beautiful train journey for yourself? Contact the Ceylon Welkin team today to have it built into your Sri Lanka itinerary.