The highland railway between Kandy and Ella is rated among the world’s most beautiful rail journeys, and it holds that status in person. Stone viaducts over jungle gorges, cliff-edge sections where valley floors drop hundreds of metres below the carriage, and tea estates so close that the leaf is visible through the open window. Ceylon Travel Escapes arranges reserved window seating and treats the journey as the destination it is, not a transfer between two stops.