Kandy, Highlands
& Beach Escape

From just 0.0043% of Earth's surface, Sri Lanka supplies tea to 150 countries. High-grown Ceylon tea (above 1,800m) grows slowly in thin mountain air, producing complex flavour compounds impossible to replicate at lower altitudes — making Nuwara Eliya's teas among the world's most prized.

Only three locations on Earth offer reliable year-round blue whale sightings: the Azores, the Sea of Cortez, and Mirissa, Sri Lanka. The blue whale — the largest animal in Earth's history at up to 33 metres and 190 tonnes — visits Mirissa for the rich upwelling of krill brought by the NE monsoon.

While India fell to British rule in 1757, the Kandyan Kingdom held out until 1815 — making it the last independent monarchy in Asia to resist the British Empire. The ornate Temple of the Tooth Relic served as the kingdom's spiritual and political heart for four centuries.

The central highlands receive up to 5,000mm of rainfall per year — the highest in Sri Lanka — producing more than 100 named waterfalls within a 50km radius of Nuwara Eliya. Horton Plains alone has 8 separate falls accessible on foot.