Ella is Sri Lanka’s most loved hill town. The valley below it, a deep basin of tea estate green framed by the Ella Gap, is as visually beautiful in person as in every photograph, and the town’s pace is exactly slow enough to make a day feel genuinely restorative. The Nine Arches Bridge, Little Adam’s Peak, the independent cafes, and the quality of simply sitting on a terrace with the valley in front of you are all excellent reasons to give Ella at least two nights rather than one.