Matale Spice Gardens

The road north from Matale is lined with spice gardens that take visitors through a planted plot showing cinnamon, pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, clove, vanilla and cocoa growing, with the bark peeled and the pods opened as you go. Matale district has grown spices for centuries and the gardens are a real reflection of that, though the tour always ends in a sales room and the ayurvedic products pushed there are the actual business.

What you actually see

• The growing plants - cinnamon, pepper, cardamom, nutmeg and clove on the stem.
• The cinnamon peeling - bark stripped and rolled in the traditional way.
• The cocoa and vanilla - pods opened and explained on the tour.
• The spice history - the district's long trade in these crops.

When to go

Year round; gardens open through the day. Mid-morning is when most tours run. The road is busy with tour traffic.

Honest expectations

The tour is free because the sales room at the end is the point, and the pressure there is heavy; ayurvedic products are sold at high prices with strong claims. Quality between gardens varies. Twenty minutes of the tour is real and the rest is selling.

Nearby

Aluvihare is south, and Dambulla is north.