Ratnapura

Ratnapura, famously known as the city of Gems is situated 103 km’s east from Colombo and it’s considered as the provincial capital of Sabaragamuwa District. It takes around 3 to 3 ½ hours to get to Ratnapura from Colombo by car or public transport.

If you have an interest in buying gems or if you just want to have a feel of how gem mining is done, this is the city you should visit while you are in Sri Lanka. Because of the precious stones available in this city, Sri Lanka falls on to the Top 5 list of countries that have precious gems. In the mines of Ratnapura there are various coloured star sapphires, rubies, topaz and many other types of precious and semi precious that are unique to Sri Lanka. You should not miss the small Gem Museums and gem cutting centres in that’s filled with these precious beauties. 
It can be quite hot and humid during day time so you are advised to wear light clothes during your visit to this city.
The ones who love nature and greenery would love this city. The endless green paddy fields of rice can be a very soothing sight to your eyes. Farmers also grow different types of fruits in this area.  Lot of low country tea is produced in plantations in and around the city of Ratnapura and this city is rich with rubber plantations as well. 
If you like hiking through difficult routes, you can travel about 1.5km’s from Ratnapura and you’ll be able to find the starting point of the hard route to climb the famous Adam’s Peak that hold importance to Buddhist, Hindu’s and even Christians because of different beliefs. And there are many beautiful waterfalls surrounding this city as well. Bopath Ella visited by a lot of local and foreign tourists is one of them.
There are several boutique hotels and rest houses that you can find comfortable and modest accommodation or this city is perfect to visit on your way to some other city.