Without a doubt one of the best places to visit in Sri Lanka is Ella, this mountainous town is in everyone’s itinerary as you can do so many things there. Obviously for me, the best thing was to go hiking in Ella!
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How to go to Ella
You can travel by bus in Sri Lanka easily to pretty much any place, but the only way you should go to Ella is by train from Kandy, or if you’re coming from the south then you must take the train from Ella to Kandy when you leave the town as it’s considered one of the most scenic train rides in the world.
The bookable train tickets tend to sell out at least a month in advance but don’t worry as 2nd and 3rd class tickets are not capped and you can always buy them on the same day of travelling, not the day before.
When I was travelling in Sri Lanka there was actually an accident as a huge boulder damaged the rail tracks but I still managed to do most of the journey and then shared a taxi with three other backpackers to complete the journey from Nuwara Eliya to Ella.
Where and how long to stay in Ella
Ella is relatively small, it even gave me similar vibes to Ubud as its nature is gorgeous but it’s already starting to show signs of development with fancy westernised coffee places and restaurants so it’s better to go before it gets out of control and the authenticity is lost.
I spent 3 nights at the Cozy House Hostel which was a great place for meeting other backpackers and the host family is really sweet. The location is also great to go on foot pretty much everywhere.
You can easily spend a week or more in Ella as you can go to hikes further afield as well as joining a tour to visit the many waterfalls in the region or even a tea factory. But let’s get into the two short hikes that you can do on your own and without any guides.
What do you need to go hiking in Ella
Although I consider both Ella Rock and Little Adam’s Peak fairly easy hikes, it’s always good to go with hiking or trail shoes, a bit of water, sunglasses and sun protection as it can be quite hot over there.
I always recommend downloading the maps.me app which works offline and has trails all over the world which is always handy when hiking routes are not well signalled.
Apart from that, these two hikes are relatively easy. They will make you sweat on a couple of steeper sections but they’re pretty short so just take your time and you will have a lovely day in the mountains.
Hiking the Little Adam’s Peak
Little Adam’s Peak is an easy short hike where you will get some stunning views of the region and of Ella Rock which sits almost in front of Little Adam’s Peak.
From the town centre you need to walk about 10-20min to the trailhead where tuktuks drop other tourists.
In about 7 min you reach the Flying Ravana Adventure Park, over there you can take a ride on the zip line or do some other activities.
Right from the adventure park you get a few steps to the summit of Little Adam’s Peak. All in all, it’s just about 15min walk from the trailhead.
Once you reach the summit there are some side trails to 3 other viewpoints which I found much nicer as not many people ventured to those so it’s much calmer and out of the crowds. To reach those viewpoints you have to go up and down a few small but slightly steep hills which makes this little hike a bit of a nicer workout.
By the summit you will find a couple of locals selling coconuts and water in case you didn’t bring anything to hydrate.
The hike is pretty easy, no hiking shoes are needed although it’s better not to do it on flip flops as I saw a few people doing.
This little hike is definitely one of the best things to do in Ella and as it’s short so you can combine it on the same day with walking towards the Nine Arches Bridge which is just about 2Km away from the trailhead.
Hiking to Ella Rock
If you go hiking to Ella Rock is arguably slightly harder than Little Adam’s Peak but still a very easy hike in my opinion.
As part of the hike goes through fields where there can be snakes (I didn’t see any) it’s better to go with proper shoes and not flip flops.
You can hike yourself to Ella Rock without a guide, beware that some locals would attempt to give you wrong directions to make you lost and then offer their “guide services”, it happened to me but I was using the maps.me app which shows all the trails.
The hike to Ella Rock took me 1h 20min from my hostel to the summit, so it’s not super long but once you reach the summit you can walk a little bit around some secondary trails. Don’t be afraid to walk on the train tracks as you have a bit of a section on them.
Note that you have to pay a ticket to access the Ella Rock summit which was 930 Rupees.
Ella Rock’s elevation is about 1370 meters, of which you actually climb 500-600m. There are some steeper areas so make sure to take some water with you. Although you will find a couple of spots with locals selling drinks and snacks.
I was not very lucky with the views at the top as it was quite foggy but it was still a great little hike to do in Ella.
On the way down from the Ella Rock summit you can visit the Kital Ella Waterfall which is quite pretty and a great spot to chill and relax.
Other things to do in Ella
There are plenty of things to do in Ella, many of them involve joining tours of the waterfalls and caves, you can also visit tea plantations and do other hikes farther from town.
One activity I really enjoyed was to join a Sri Lankan cooking class in Ella. I did mine with Green Grow which was one of the cheapest but we prepared 7 different curries, a salad and coconut rotis. With many ingredients collected right from the garden in a cool setting, we had a feast of a dinner at the end of the class!
Are you ready to visit Ella?
This was one of my favourite places to visit in Sri Lanka and it’s a common stop for most itineraries in the countries so make sure not to miss it as it’s definitely worth a visit.
