Established in 1889, the Nuwara Eliya Golf Course situated right next to the Grand Hotel, is one of the most picturesque 18-hole golf courses in Asia. At an elevation of 1859 meters, the course is challenging with narrow fairways that require straight driving.

Founded by golfers from the Gordon Highland Regiment, it is the only course in the world where 15 of the 18 holes can be followed by a car. The other three holes are carved in to the side of a mountain, an area known as “Switzerland” by regulars at this course.

Fir trees line the fairways, a trout stream gurgles through the course and a game in the bracing air of this mountain course is every golfer’s dream..

The Galways Bird Sanctuary is within the town limits, and a 27 acre park is best seen in the month of April – when the official Nuwara Eliya “Season” gets underway.

This is the time of year when the sport of kings – horse racing – happens at the Nuwara Eliya Race Course. Boat rides on Lake Gregory, Garden and Flower shows, motor racing, golf and tennis tournaments take place around this time of year.

Visit one of the many tea factories perched high in the hills surrounding Nuwara Eliya, and learn how Sri Lanka’s “Green Gold:” is manufactured. It is here that the crème de la crème of Sri Lanka’s teas – the fragrant and delicately flavoured “high growns” – flourish.

Join the colourfully attired tea leaf pluckers as they skillfully move between the tea bushes, deftly picking “two leaves and a bud,” tossing them over their shoulders into wicker baskets slung on their backs.

Visit Hakgala Botanical Gardens to view its beautiful rose garden, exotic orchid house and extensive collection of ferns. Well worth a visit, the awe-inspiring and isolated Horton Plains at an elevation of 7,000 feet (2,134 meters) are a stark expanse of misty grassland dotted with scraggy trees and ice-cold rivulets. Almost uninhabited, they are lonely yet exhilarating.

“World’s End” is a terrifying escarpment which drops vertically for about 1,000 feet (328 meters) and falls away almost as steeply for another 4,000 feet (1,312 meters). Black Eagles, Blue Magpies and other rare birds are found here, along with the occasional leopard, deer and jackal.

A land of cascading waters, Sri Lanka’s hill country is dotted with picturesque waterfalls of varying sizes, tumbling down from their distant origins high in the surrounding mountains.

The Nuwara Eliya town is located at the foot of “Pidirutalagala,” the island’s highest mountain which stands 2524 meters above sea level.

Move a bit further and climb Adam’s Peak, the famed holy mountain which has been a place of pilgrimage for over 1,000 years.

If speed turns you on, you could choose to shoot over white waters and raft the “Bridge on the River Kwai” gorge, go rock climbing, mountaineering, trekking, hiking, rowing or simply amble through the Nuwara Eliya town, and examine the beautiful old Colonial buildings that still stand tall, testaments to an era when this town was established as a health resort.

Take a brisk walk and let the chill winds and swirling mists energize your batteries. Then return to the Grand Hotel, relax by a crackling log fire and immerse yourself in serenity as you experience the Healing Touch of our Hill Country Paradise….