Visting Lipton’s Seat
Lipton’s seat at Haputale is a spectacular vantage point at the summit of surrounded by tea plantations. Haputale is a misty village in the hill country of Sri Lanka.
Lipton’s seat is a must place to visit if you are in Haputale or you stay a couple of days in Ella town
As its name suggests, this place is linked to the Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, a renowned tea planter in Sri Lanka and the founder of the Lipton tea brand.
Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton
By the age of 40, he owned 300 stores throughout Britain and he soon entered the tea trade.
In 1890, he visited Sri Lanka which was then Ceylon and made business deals with James Taylor who introduced tea plantation to British-Ceylon.
Sir Thomas Lipton brought tea gardens in the hill country of Ceylon and in doing so he established the Lipton tea brand
He brought up plantation all over the hill country, but his favorite was Dambethenne and he built a tea factory here and Lipton’s yellow label tea was born in Dambethenna.
Lipton’s Seat
On the crest of a ridge, nearly 2000 meters above sea level was Lipton’s seat with panoramic view
Sir Thomas Lipton used to spend his evenings and survey his plantation at this vantage point. It is said that he frequently entertained his local and foreign friends here.
Now, there is a statue of Sir Lipton where you can get a picture of yourself with the old planter
Do not forget to take some pictures of the viewpoints tucked high among the lush tea fields
Best time to visit
Sunrise is the best time to visit this place due to two resons
- You can see incredible views as it begins to start rising sun
- Only few people arounf this place
Try to plan to go early morning to this place if you want to get some photos like this. Otherwise, the fog will cover the beauty of hills around Lipton’s seat. Fog can roll at any time from the morning to the afternoon.
I really like to capture the photos of stunning colours in the sky
When I visit this place, I usually go early in the morning to see the magnificent sunrise. The opening time of the ticket counter is 5.30 AM.
Possible ways to reach Liption’s seat
There are two roads you can use to reach this place
- From Bandarawela
- From Haputale
You can rent a motorbike or tuk-tuk to go there.
You can hire a tuk-tuk from Haputale and they charge Rs 2500 for rethe turn trip. This tuk-tuk will go to the summit.
You can get a public bus from the Haputale and go to the Dambetenne Tea factory. Bus fare is Rs 36. Once you get off from the Bus you can walk or take a tuk-tuk to go to the top which will cost you Rs 600. The first bus of the day leaves from Haputale around 7.30 AM.
Your journey to Lipton Seat from Dambetenne factory
I do not recommend you go this portion of the journey in your taxi car or van because the road is narrow, twisty; also, you may not find space to park your vehicle.
I have seen a lot of tourists walk along the street from the Dambetenna Tea factory to the top, which is the best option.
So you can enjoy this 6km hike because all the way along, you can see picturesque tea plantations on either side.
Every time, when I visit this place, I enjoy walking along the road
Do not forget to say “Hi” tea pluckers and take some pictures of the tea pluckers. You will get chance to pluck the tea leaves with them