General Facts
Nuwara Eliya was by far my favourite place in Sri Lanka. It is however where we lived, so I admit - I'm a bit partial.

Nuwara Eliya is a small town, located way up in the mountains in the south central part of Sri Lanka. In fact, it is the highest major town in the island, and over 6,000 feet above sea level. This makes for a very pleasant climate - not too much different than the end of a Canadian summer.

Whereas Westerners often flock to sunny beaches for a getaway, locals in Sri Lanka escape the every-day heat by coming to Nuwara Eliya, especially in April when they have their New Year celebration. After that, the rainy season starts and drags on for most of the remaining year. It's a stark contrast to the weather elsewhere around the island. As you travel up in elevation towards the town, you can feel it getting cooler and cooler.

Nuwara Eliya is very reminiscent of the colonial days and still has a British feel to it. It is also the centre of the tea-growing industry and agriculture in Sri Lanka. Every inch of the hills around it is covered with tea plants or terraced vegetable gardens. The town is also the site of Lion Brewery - the main brewery in Sri Lanka.

Nuwara Eliya is home to both Sinhalese and Tamils, as well as Muslims (they run most of the shops) and Christians (the large Catholic church is a prominent landmark).

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Is it safe?
I would say yes. In fact, it is probably one of the safest parts of the island these days. It is far removed from the war battlefronts and it is not as likely a target for terrorist attacks as Kandy or Colombo.

Although there is a large majority of Tamils, the Tamils who live in Nuwara Eliya are of a slightly different background than their Northern counterparts and they have lived there in relative peace now, for several years (There were a lot of problems in 1983 and again in the early 90's).