The Pekoe Trail

The Pekoe Trail is a 300km network of walking trails offering a chance to experience the natural beauty, cultural richness and historical significance of Sri Lanka’s beautiful tea country.

It was designed to increase the flow of responsible travellers to remote communities here, bringing opportunity to local people. As such, the trail focuses on heritage preservation, environmental sustainability, and economic development.

The entire route covers 7 valleys, though exploring just 1 or 2 sections of the trail is a fantastic way to experience the region – each stretch covers 8-16 km and takes 4-6 hours. We’ve explored most sections and have all the information you’ll need to choose the one that best suits your interests or accommodation. Certain sections work particularly well whilst staying at specific properties; we can discuss all the options. More experienced hikers can of course, choose to cover more ground if they wish.

Along the route, you can experience the best of nature and some interesting human encounters with farmers, tea pluckers and villagers. Several of the region’s most interesting landmarks, such as Adams Peak, Lipton Seat (trail 13) and Nine Arch Bridge (trail 16), can be seen or visited along the way. Each section of the trail covers something different. Still, there is a focus on the tea industry’s culture throughout, including tea factories, planter’s bungalows, old post offices and the historic train line that was constructed to facilitate the profitable trade of coffee and tea in the 19th century.

All in all, we highly recommend a day along the Pekoe Trail as a unique way to immerse yourself in everything that is great about Sri Lanka.

What you’ll do

• Hike sections of a 300km trail network through Sri Lanka’s tea country
• Choose a stretch (8–16km) to suit your interests, fitness, or hotel location
• Discover scenic valleys, heritage sites, tea plantations, and local village life
• Highlights include Adam’s Peak, Lipton’s Seat, Nine Arch Bridge, and tea factories
• Designed for responsible travel: supports local communities and preserves heritage