Local Businesses
Every journey we plan leans on the island's makers, growers and cooks. Here we share their work — so you can seek them out, or ask us to weave them into your itinerary.
1 / 3Tea Estate
Four generations of hand-rolled hill-country tea.
Nuwara Eliya
A family-run estate at 1,900 metres where the leaf is still plucked by hand and rolled on century-old machinery. Guests walk the terraces with the estate manager, watch the withering lofts at work, then sit down to a guided tasting of single-garden teas on the planter's veranda. Every purchase supports the estate's school and clinic for its worker families.
1 / 3Artisan Textiles
Wax, dye and thread — cloth made the slow way.
Kandy
In a courtyard workshop above the Mahaweli river, a collective of twelve women artisans carry on the island's batik and handloom traditions. Visitors can try the tjanting wax pen themselves, watch indigo baths transform white cotton, and commission bespoke sarongs, table linen and wall hangings. Zee Ceylon guests receive a private studio visit with the founder.
1 / 3Jewellery & Gems
Ceylon sapphires, cut and set within the ramparts.
Galle Fort
Housed in a 300-year-old Dutch merchant's house, this atelier sources ethically mined Ceylon sapphires and moonstones directly from the Ratnapura fields. Watch the master cutter at his wheel, learn to read colour and clarity through a loupe, and design a one-of-a-kind piece that is finished before you leave the island.
1 / 3Restaurant
Dawn catch, dusk table — barefoot on the sand.
Mirissa
Run by a fishing family whose boats you can see from your table, The Catch Kitchen serves whatever came in that morning: grilled whole snapper, jaffna-style crab curry, prawns in clay pots. Tables sit on the sand under lanterns, and the menu changes with the tide. Ask for the sunset seating and a glass of arrack sour.
1 / 3Wellness
Ancient healing, mountain air, no hurry at all.
Ella
An open-air treatment pavilion perched above the Ella valley, led by a third-generation Ayurvedic physician. Programmes range from a single restorative afternoon to a fourteen-day panchakarma, using herbs and oils grown in the sanctuary's own gardens. Mornings begin with yoga as the mist lifts off the tea.
Own a business in Sri Lanka?
Write to us with a few photographs and a short description, and we will feature your work here for our guests.
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