Sri Lankan Tea Factory Tour

By Jonny Blair


Tea is a national obsession in Sri Lanka and here where it is grown is a great spot to visit on your travels. Sri Lankan tea is famous the world over and when in the country you should head to the Hill Country and visit tea factories and plantations. It's just marvellous! Head to Haputale which houses the impressive Dambatenne Tea Factory, built and created by Thomas Lipton who came from Scotland and made it his base over one hundred years ago. You can get a tour of the factory up in the hills![]

It's in the middle of nowhere in fact so visiting Dambatenne tea factory is an off the beaten track gem. If you've grown up on drinking tea it's a place not to be missed though I must say.

How do you get to the Dambatenne Tea Factory?

Getting to the Dambatenne Tea Factory is tricky for tourists. Up in the mountains and valleys there is no rail system here. The bus system does run, but the roads are so narrow you are better off finding a local driver. Get a local driver to take you and save the hassle! He will know what he is doing! []

What price is it to visit Dambatenne Tea Factory?

You will be charged 250 Rupees to enter which is fair enough. You must pay in cash at the main entrance. You might also have a short delay before starting the tour as the workers may be busy and not ready to give you the guided tour yet. However it will be worth the wait.

What length of time is a tour of Dambatenne Tea Factory?

Your tour will be split into three main parts and should take around 25 minutes:

1. Visiting the upstairs rooms where the tea leaves are brought into the building and they are placed into the massive circular machines before going through the refining process.

2. Secondly you are in a large room downstairs to watch the process of the tea being refined before it is heated at the end.

3. Lastly all the tea will be heated then let to cool. Once cooled, it goes into bags to be distributed around the globe!

You can't take photos inside during parts 2 and 3 which is fine as it's their system. The staff will all be working hard in the background so it's important to respect that. The opening hours of the tours seemed to be 9-5 but double check before you visit.

What else can you do on the tour?

It's a very basic and quick tour and that's really all there is to it. I was surprised to learn that there is NO tea shop or even souvenir shop there - I'd have thought they would have made money from something like that, but alas the only thing you can do is buy a fresh packet of Dambatenne Tea!!

The packet of tea cost 300 Rupees and that's the Dambatenne stuff. However the better tea called Simondou costs a whopping 1,100 Rupees! You can also buy them in the nearby towns of course.

What else can you do near to the Dambatenne Tea Factory?

It's a sparse hilly region so activities are not vast, however I pinpoint these four things in the nearby area, it's also easier if you have a driver (car or tuk tuk) as they can stop for you anywhere you want:

1. Savour the mountain views

2. Walk at leisure round the endless tea plantations on the hills

3. Enjoy a cup of tea in a cafe with an impressive view

4. Visit the actual town of Haputale (there are hotels, markets, shops and even an ATM there!)

I was just trying to see if the post could be stretched out any more and extra details added, but basically like I said, it's a short and basic tour and that's really all there is to it. If you have any questions on it, do leave a comment below or get in touch. They don't even have their own website, despite the enormity of their production, and for once I'm not even going to bother linking to a site about it!

Time for a cup of tea!




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