Luxury bespoke hotel holidays to Stafford Bungalow, Ragala, Sri Lanka
Facts in brief
Location In Ragala, around 30 minutes’ drive from Nuwara Eliya
Closest airport Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport
Distance from airport Around 5 hours’ drive
Hotel facilities and services
Dining Room, Pool, Cooking Experience, Tea Estate Morning Walk, Tea Factory Tour, Tea Plucking, Tea Tasting, Hikes Around Estate, Board Games, Mini Golf, Croquet, Herb Garden, Reading Library, Bike Rental.
Complimentary
Wi-Fi
Land sports
Hiking, Mini Gold, Croquet
Out and about nearby
Guests can find an abundance of things to do around the estate, such as hiking, birdwatching, cycling the trails, as well as visiting the vibrant village of Ragala, where clients can find painted homes, the Ragala Temple, and the weekly Sunday fair.
Absolutely loved it. Bespoke sense of the trip is very good. Very pleasant and efficient service.Mrs H, Sep 2023
Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a deluxe double room
From about
Holiday Code EXH46766
The prices displayed here are a guide only. Each holiday price will be tailor-made at the time of booking to reflect all actual costs including up-to-date special offers.
Call us on 01392 441245
Luxury bespoke hotel holidays to Stafford Bungalow, Ragala, Sri Lanka
The Stafford Bungalow is a boutique hotel with 6 rooms located in Ragala, around half an hour away from Nuwara Eliya. The historied estate was founded in 1865, with the main planter’s bungalow built in 1884, and is surrounded by lush tea plantations. Its rooms are decorated tastefully in either a colonial or contemporary style, and the hotel is both homely and welcoming, with guests given cinnamon-spiced hot chocolate upon entering the bungalow. Bask in the sunlight in the dining pavilion, listen to the stream down by the picnic spot with a picnic basket prepared by the chef, or enjoy the gourmet cuisine (which showcases flavours from Sri Lanka, as well as numerous other places from the Mediterranean to Singapore). Fresh ingredients are sourced from the bungalow’s organic garden and orchard, and guests can enjoy a cooking experience with the chefs, following the preparation of Sri Lankan classics and curries from the garden to the plate. Both nature and culture can be enjoyed nearby, with opportunity for hiking, birdwatching, venturing along the cycle trails, and visiting the village of Ragala.
Room descriptions
Stafford Bungalow has 6 rooms spread between the Heritage Bungalow and the Owners Cottage. Rooms have Wi-Fi, rain shower, safe.
Absolutely loved it. Bespoke sense of the trip is very good. Very pleasant and efficient service.Mrs H, Sep 2023
Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a deluxe double room
From about
Holiday Code EXH46766
The prices displayed here are a guide only. Each holiday price will be tailor-made at the time of booking to reflect all actual costs including up-to-date special offers.
Call us on 01392 441245
Luxury bespoke hotel holidays to Stafford Bungalow, Ragala, Sri Lanka
The journey and how you get there
Most of the stays at Stafford Bungalow are part of a longer touring itinerary in Sri-Lanka, accompanied by driver-guide but a stay here could be combined with another hotel in this region or another to make a two-centre holiday.
Absolutely loved it. Bespoke sense of the trip is very good. Very pleasant and efficient service.Mrs H, Sep 2023
Holiday price guide Sample prices are per person based on two people sharing a deluxe double room
From about
Holiday Code EXH46766
The prices displayed here are a guide only. Each holiday price will be tailor-made at the time of booking to reflect all actual costs including up-to-date special offers.
Call us on 01392 441245
Luxury bespoke hotel holidays to Stafford Bungalow, Ragala, Sri Lanka
About Tea and hill country
An Expressions tailor-made holiday to Sri Lanka’s Tea Country incorporates the best of this diverse and exotic region. Popularly known as the High Tea Country, the temperate highlands of southern central Sri Lanka are wonderfully scenic with stunning mountain and valley vistas almost everywhere you go, and of course, often carpeted in tea bushes. Thanks to the multitude of micro-climates, the landscape is constantly changing, and it is an incredibly beautiful mountain area, worth visiting for the scenery as well as the tea culture. It is also Sri Lanka’s heartland for market gardens and dairy products; endless rows of vegetables and strawberries hug the slopes, vying for space with the tea bushes. Kandy, the royal capital of the hill country is a UNESCO world heritage site, built beside a placid lake surrounded by hills. This is certainly a thriving cultural capital with its universities and centres for Buddhist learning and the arts. Kandy is home to one of Buddhism’s most sacred sites, the ‘Dalada Maligawa’ Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha, as well as a number of other historical and cultural places of interest.
Highlights of Tea Country
Kandy market; Kandy area – handicrafts villages and workshops – brass, musical instruments, basket weaving, batik, painting; Kandy evening cultural show; Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage; Peradeniya Botanical Gardens; Mahaweli River and Victoria Dam; Tea estates; Drive to Nuwara Eliya and around the tea plantations, visiting a tea factory; Hantana mountain and Hantana tea plantations - walks and museum; Buddhist sites near Kandy – Gadaladeniya, Hindagala Vihara, Embekke Divale, Lankatilake; Mahiyangana – Rajamaha dagoba; Aluvihara Buddhist temple; Aluvihara Heritage Centre (Ena de Silva batik art and workshop and Sri Lankan rice & curry lunch); Knuckles Mountain Range - scenic drives and walking; Rubber plantations; Spice farms; Rail journey to Tea Country; Relaxing in the lush tropical hills; Treat your body, mind and soul to a programme of Ayurvedic massage and herbal treatments; Golf at the Victoria Golf course; Riding at Victoria Saddle Club; Walking and trekking; Cycling; White water rafting at Kitulgala.
Cultural highlights of Tea Country
Places of interest in Kandy include the Temple of the Tooth, the sacred Buddhist site which holds the tooth of Lord Buddha which is said to have been brought from India in the third century. The Temple lies within the Royal Palace complex along with the National Museum, the Audience Hall and a museum dedicated to the famous elephant, Raja. British legacies remain in central Kandy, in the form of grand old buildings and hotels, St Paul’s Church and Royal Palace Park. It is possible to walk most of the way around the lake besides which Kandy is built, where you can see the Royal Bathing Pavilion and the royal summerhouse which is on an island in the centre of the lake.). There is a lively market and a plethora of shops, gem showrooms and arts & crafts workshops. There are also several nightly cultural shows that showcase traditional Kandyan drumming, music and dance and the city boasts a fine international cricket stadium. Other highlights of the region include Pinnawela elephant orphanage where abandoned or injured elephants are cared for; Nuwara Eliya, a hill town with many British influences; the mountainous scenery and tea plantations around Ambewela and Bandarawela; the Highland Railway between Kandy and Badulla; and Tea Experience and Tea museums, an essential part of any visit to this part of Sri Lanka.
Festivals in Tea Country
Kandy - Esala Perahera Festival - July or August (depending on the date of the Esala full moon). This spectacular cultural pageant is held over 10 days with the processions and celebrations getting more elaborate and longer each day. Although in ancient times this was a procession to honour Hindu gods, during the reign of King Rajasinghe it was decreed that the procession should be in honour the sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha. Each night, dancers, drummers, flute players, whip-crackers and elephants form a procession around the streets and Kandy lake. The ornately decorated elephants increase daily in number to 100 on the last night, the finest of them being the Maligawa Tusker which carries the Sacred Tooth Relic, led by the Chiefs of the Temple in traditional silver and gold ceremonial dress. The Nuwara Eliya season runs from April to June. Horse racing in High Tea Country (trotting) in January, February, April, August and December. Bandarawela Perahera on full moon day in June.
Climate in Tea Country
Climate in Kandy: The daytime temperatures in Kandy and the surrounding hills range from around 22° C to 31° C, with cooler evenings averaging 17° C. It is fairly humid and misty in the evenings with short outbursts of rain. Heavier rainfalls occur during the south-west monsoon from May to August. Climate in the High Tea Country: At an elevation of above 4,000 feet the climate is cooler and less humid with cool mornings, warm days and cool evenings. Daytime temperatures are in the low to mid 20s Celsius and at nights can drop to around 10° C. The driest part of the year is between December and April, and September is normally quite dry. The rainy season is May, June and July, and October and November due to the north-east, south-west and intermediate monsoons, and July is generally the coldest month. February and March are usually dry and around 20° C. Micro-climates exist from valley to valley. The weather at Warwick Gardens, for example, is around 16° C at night and can reach 26° C during the day, whilst the temperature at Bandarawela goes from 12° C to 20° C.
