Ceylon Tea Trails

About Ceylon Tea Trails

By the ULTIMATE Sri Lanka Editorial Team

Site Editor: Tara de la Motte

Five restored planters’ bungalows on working tea estates around Castlereagh Lake offer the most intimate way to live in tea country. Here is what a stay is like, and who it suits.

The planters’ bungalows

Ceylon Tea Trails is made up of five restored heritage planters’ bungalows, Norwood, Tientsin, Castlereagh, Summerville and Dunkeld, set on three working tea estates in the Hatton and Bogawantalawa area of the Central Highlands. They stand at around 1,250 metres, so the air is fresh and the views run over rows of tea down to Castlereagh Lake.

A family of tea makers

The idea came from the Fernando family, the Sri Lankan tea producers who founded Dilmah, and the bungalows are run by their hospitality company, Resplendent Ceylon. Tea Trails marked its 15th anniversary in 2020, and it is a member of Relais & Châteaux.

Five planters’ bungalows, three working estates and a lake: tea country as the planters lived it, with a butler and no fixed menu.

Life in a bungalow

Each bungalow has only a handful of rooms and suites, and you can book a single room or a whole bungalow for a family or group of friends. A personal butler looks after you. There are no fixed menus or set meal times: the chefs talk to you about each meal in advance and suggest a menu for the day, cooked from seasonal produce from the estate gardens and nearby communities.

The tea experience

The signature experience is a guided visit to the Dunkeld Tea Factory with a resident tea planter, who explains how the leaf is withered, rolled and dried, followed by a tasting. The Tea Planter’s Tiffin Lunch is another of the estate’s traditions.

Out on the estates

The bungalows are linked by estate paths, so you can walk from one to the next through the tea. Cycling, kayaking and boat trips on Castlereagh Lake are also on offer, and early mornings, when the mist lifts off the valleys, are the best time to be outside.

Who it suits

It suits couples and families who want peace, space and real tea country rather than a big hotel, and travellers who enjoy walking. If you want nightlife or a busy town, base yourself in Nuwara Eliya or Ella instead and visit the estates on a day trip.

Practical tips

Nights at this altitude are cool, so pack warm layers. The bungalows are reached by road through the hills; in late 2026 parts of the hill railway are closed for repairs, so check our train guide before planning a rail journey. Book directly through resplendentceylon.com: the old teatrails.com address no longer belongs to the hotel.

Our advice: stay two or three nights, walk the estate paths between two bungalows, and save the Dunkeld factory tour for a morning, when the leaf is being processed.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Ceylon Tea Trails before you go.