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Ceylon Tea Museum, Kandy Overview

Among the many names given to this island country like Lanka, Lakdiva, Serendib, Sri Lanka was also named Ceylon - during British Colonialism - reminding us of the famous Ceylon tea that origins in Sri Lanka. Situated at Hantana, 3 KM away from main Kandy city, Ceylon Tea Museum was structured in 1925 as the former Hantana Tea factory. Later in 1998, this tea factory was converted into the famous Ceylon Tea Museum.

The museum showcases the history and heritage of the world-famous and finest Ceylon tea, exhibits the glory of legendary tea pioneers like James Taylor and Thomas Lipton and also has on display vintage tea-manufacturing instruments. Inside you will also find a large library and a beautifully thematic tea cafe, providing you with the best flavors without any compromise.The ambience of the museum is as raw as its brew making Ceylon Tea Museum a must visit for tea lovers and tea enthusiasts all around the globe.

Timings in Ceylon Tea Museum

Round the year, you can visit the Ceylon Tea Museum without any haste. Ceylon Tea Museum remains open from Tuesday to Sunday in a week. Mondays are closed and also Poya day falling weekdays are closed. On public holidays and Sundays the museum gates close a bit early.

From Tuesday to Saturday the museum is open for tourist from 08:30 AM to 03:45 PM. On Sundays, the museum is open upto 03:30 PM.

Entry Fee in Ceylon Tea Museum

The pricing of the tickets may vary from time to time, depending on the decisions as taken by the museum authority and by the country disciplinary.

Price of tickets for adult is 800 LKR.
Price of tickets for child is 400 LKR.
Guided Tour is LKR 650

Things to Do in Ceylon Tea Museum

Built during the time of British era, the building which now holds the Ceylon Tea Museum is however engraved with both colonial era architecture and kandian architectural excellence. The Museum is vast and emphasized with history in every corner. Ceylon Tea Museum is an exotic place if one wishes to receive rich extracts from history or intends to take tea as a souvenir from Sri Lanka. Ceylon Tea Museum has four floors, all utilised for vivid engagements.

The ground and second floor of this museum exhibits machineries of tea industry from the past. There are rollers namely the ‘Little Giant Tea roller’, dryers of large size, fermentation tables and other vintage tea processing utensils.
The first floor is all decked up with books and facts in different forms and shapes and sizes. Ceylon Tea Museum Library, being a treasure trove to the history of Ceylon tea, is accessible to all visitors. The library has a wide collection of books, prints, CDs, DVDs which talks of the tea industry starting off from late 1800 to now. Display of tea pioneers like James Taylor and others are visible and will surely take up your time.
The third floor is a must explored place for every tourist visiting Sri Lanka and wanting to buy tea as a souvenir. In the third floor of the large Ceylon Tea Museum, there is a tea sales section from where one will be presented in front of large varieties of Ceylon tea, be it Ceylon Green tea, Ceylon Black tea and so on. One can buy these healthy tea leaves and flavours at a reasonable cost.
The top most floor or the fourth floor of the Ceylon Tea Museum is a Tea Cafe. A cup of pure bliss with a panoramic view of the Kandy city will surely be one of the must-dos in the city of Kandy. Alongwith that a documentary, projecting the history and heritage of the museum is played in the top floor, for informative and recreational purposes. Not just for having tea, interested visitors can also be a part of the Tea Tasting session as arranged by the Cafe itself. Stepwise tea tasting procedure is followed by trained tea tasters to provide an insight into the process.

History of Ceylon Tea Museum

The history of Ceylon Tea dates back to 1852, when James Taylor landed in Loolecondera Estate, Galaha. He started the tea plantation process across large 19 acres of land. Later the Ceylon Tea Museum was constructed on the former Hantana Tea Factory, which is a few kilometres away from Loolecondera Estate, where the first tea plantation occurred. The Ceylon Tea Museum is an embodiment of rich history and culture, comprising of archivals of 19th century prints, as well.