Haputale – The perfect starting point for Lipton’s Seat

August 27, 2024

Lipton’s Seat is a popular excursion destination in the tea plantations. In this article, you can find out what to expect, whether it’s worth it and how you can visit this place from Haputale.

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The small town of Haputale

Haputale is a small village south of Ella and is ideally located for visiting Lipton’s Seat. The Diyaluma Falls are also easy to reach from here. Although you can also make both trips from Ella or another location, you must plan significantly more time and money. So if you are heading south from Ella or the other way around anyway, it might be worth making a stopover for 1 night in Haputale.

Haputale itself doesn’t have too much to offer, but is located in a beautiful area and is well-connected. The village is super small and not touristy at all, which I found quite refreshing after the very crowded Ella.

How to get to Haputale?

You can easily reach Haputale itself by train. From Ella, it’s a one-hour journey towards Kandy/Colombo. You can check the timetable at the train station in Ella or on the website and then buy your ticket at the counter. We combined our onward journey from Haputale southwards with a stop at Diyaluma Falls. To do this, we spoke to tuk tuk drivers the day before and organized a ride to Wellawaya (where you can change into a bus) over the waterfall. For this trip we paid 7000 LKR (20 EUR).

Is a trip to Lipton’s Seat worth it?

The trip to Liptons Seat was definitely worth it for me. Not necessarily because of Liptons Seat itself (the viewpoint), but because of the way there. The short hike through the tea plantations was almost deserted and really idyllic, so I’d say the journey is the reward.

Before you reach the viewpoint you pay an entrance fee of 550 LKR (1.6 EUR).

What to expect at Lipton’s Seat

Lipton’s Seat is named after the Scotsman Sir Thomas Lipton, the founder of the famous Lipton tea brand. With the founding of the Dambetenne tea factory and the surrounding plantations, he established the cultivation of the famous Ceylon tea in what is now Sri Lanka.

It is said that Lipton’s Seat was the Scotsman’s favorite place to watch the hustle and bustle on his plantations.Today, in memory of his legacy, there is a bench and statue in front of the breathtaking view over the tea plantations.

There is also a small cafe selling tea and snacks. You are served a platter of various specialties such as dhal pastries, vegetable samosas, roti with spicy sambol and sweet pancakes and the more you eat, the more you pay. At least that’s how we understood it.

We were lucky that the initial fog cleared quickly, so we were able to enjoy the view with two cups of tea and a few snacks.

We then walked down to the village of Dambetenne, which I would definitely recommend as the path is fantastic.

How to get from Haputale to Lipton’s Seat by bus

You can of course travel all the way from Haputale to Lipton’s Seat by tuk tuk. To save money, however, we once again looked for a way to get there by bus. And it’s not that difficult.

There is a direct bus from Haputale (Haputale Bus Station) that goes to Dambatenne at regular intervals. Just ask the bus driver there where the bus starts. It only cost us 400 LKR (1.2 EUR) for a return trip for two people.

We decided to take the tuk tuk to the top and then walk back to the village through the tea plantations. Google Maps shows a one-way journey of around 1 hour, but there are numerous shortcuts through the tea plantations, so it’s not really necessary to take the tuk tuk.

We simply walked back and forth down towards the village, which was a really nice walk. You can also take the bus back to Haputale afterwards. Don’t let the tuk tuk drivers convince you otherwise.