Why is The Pekoe Trail so special?

Take it step by step

The route begins in Kandy, Sri Lanka’s second largest city - a stone throw from the island’s first tea plantation established by Scotsman James Taylor. From here the trail unfurls like the spiral of a snail shell all the way to Nuwara Eliya in the heart of hill country. En-route, hikers pass through two provinces, 25 towns, 80 villages, 24 tea plantations, eight railway stations, ten forested nature reserves and even a leopard corridor.

Handily, the route is divided into 22 stages making it easy to incorporate a bitesize chunk into any Sri Lanka itinerary. Each section is 10 to 20km, so easy to accomplish in the cool of the morning, leaving the afternoon free for you to relax by the pool. For the most part the terrain is flat and at a low elevation, making it accessible to almost all visitors.

Accompanied by a local guide, at one moment you can be walking under tall eucalyptus trees, then the vista opens into a deep valley of tiered rice paddies. Pine forests give way to dense jungle. A colonial era cricket club here, a village shrine filled with colourful deities there.

Ceylon Tea

Tea is the throughline that connects each stage of the Pekoe Trail along ready-made paths and tracks through parakeet-green plantations. In fact, the word pekoe refers to a premium grade of black tea made from the young, small leaves and buds of the tea plant, a speciality of Sri Lanka and India.

The British established Sri Lanka’s tea-growing industry during colonial rule in the 19th century. Ceylon Tea came to define the island – Sri Lanka’s famous trains were built to haul tea from the fields to the coast, and tea is still one of Sri Lanka’s biggest exports. But the pandemic, economic challenges and shifting global markets have put the industry and the communities that depend on it under threat.

Miguel Cunat hopes that bringing responsible, low-impact tourism to this region will give tea-picking villages visibility and an alternative income. Already local people have been trained up as walking guides, sharing their knowledge of tea plantation history and the native flora and fauna with trail hikers. They’ll introduce you to a cast of characters from village elders to school children and of course, the tea pickers themselves.

Traditionally, tea picking has been done by the lowest tier of Sri Lankan society. It’s back breaking, badly paid work, mostly done by women who collect 20kg of tea leaves a day in huge sacks attached to headbands. This too is slowly changing though, as new initiatives aim to upskill and involve tea pickers in all parts of the production process. From plant to cup, pickers are retraining as tea artisans who oversee drying and rolling, tasting and packaging. In this way, little by little, the Pekoe Trail hopes to restore pride in Sri Lankan tea production.

Accommodation

Some of our favourite Sri Lankan hotels make a great base for accessing the trail. Nine Skies is in reach of stages 16 & 17 and offers stylish bungalow accommodation in the hills around Ella. It’s just a short walk from Demodara Station which boasts a rare 360-degree loop at the eastern end of the Main Line Railway.

Also near Ella, 98 Acres is an eco-friendly resort and spa for fans of barefoot chic. Thatched-roof chalets cling to the hillside with to die for views of misty jungle peaks.

Ceylon Tea Trails sits on a tea estate above Castlereagh Lake that dates back to 1888. Five colonial era chalets feature four-poster beds, roll-top baths, teak furniture and verandas made for afternoon tea served by your very own butler. Nearby, our latest recommendation is Uga Halloowella which opened in 2024 in a colonial mansion in the former British hillfort of Hatton.