Sights of Nuwara Eliya - what to see

Almost all the attractions of Nuwara Eliya are natural formations and beauty, including man-made Parks and viewing platforms. But there are practically no outstanding historical or architectural sights, temples, since the city was founded by the British in the XIX century. In the city itself you can see the colonial architecture, several churches and temples, but nothing particularly interesting.

But in the vicinity you can see the indescribable beauty of tea plantations on the slopes of the hills, beautiful parks and Botanical Gardens, many waterfalls. A special place that is visited from Nuwara Eliya is the Horton plateau and the "land's end", but they are quite far away, and it is better to get to them with an excursion, rather than on your own.

Most of the entertainment in Nuwara Eliya is somehow connected with the inspection of all the same natural attractions: horseback riding, jeeps or bicycles around the neighborhood, visits to tea factories and plantations. On Lake Gregory in the center you can go boating, and even on jet skis, and those who are fond of golf will find excellent courses in the vicinity.

Separately, we will mention such a popular entertainment in Nuwara Eliya as visiting tea factories. Yes, this is entertainment, not an attraction, since the purpose of all excursions to such factories and tea centers is to briefly tell tourists about the cultivation and production of tea, and then offer something to buy in the factory store. So, to visit at least one such factory during a trip to Sri Lanka is necessary, but no more. They all present the same information, and it ends with a tasting and an offer to buy something. Prices in such places are inflated.

You can explore the sights in Nuwara Eliya and the surrounding area on foot, by rented bicycle or motorcycle, by tuk-tuk (expensive, better to rent for the whole day for 2500 rupees), or by bus. If you have a limited budget and enough time, then almost everything, with a few exceptions, can be viewed on foot and by bus. They go often and in all directions, the fare is a penny. If you have difficulty with which bus you can get where, then it is best to come to the bus station in the center, and ask the first driver or Barker, and you will definitely be helped and put on the right bus.

There's not much to do in the evening in Nuwara Eliya, but there are a couple of pubs with fresh draft beer on Bandaranaike Mawatha Street. These are the pub, Wyndsor Bar and others nearby. It is here that active young people and tourists spend their evenings.

Below is a list of the most popular and interesting attractions and entertainment in Nuwara Eliya and the surrounding area, indicating opening hours, costs, and ways to get to them. You can print this list (pages adapted to print on the printer) and use it as a guide. Also available for printing is our map with the sights of Nuwara-Eliya, which you can print or download a KMZ/KML file with labels from it for use in navigators or Yandex map editor applications Masp.me, OSM and others.

Attractions within Nuwara Eliya city limits

• Victoria Park

  

  Victoria Park is one of the most beautiful and well-maintained urban parks in Sri Lanka, in a sense it is even a botanical garden, since some plants here are marked with signs. Walks on it are especially pleasant from March to May and in August and September, when the flowers open their buds exuberantly. There are also several exotic species of birds. At the end of the park is a small children's playground. Learn more about Victoria Park and photos here...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: from 07:00 to 18:00.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: 300 rupees (0.76 USD, see currency of Sri Lanka, exchange rate), = 150 rupees.

  🚶 How to get there: the park is located in the heart of the city (Park on the map). The entrance is on the south side from Uda Pussellawa Street.

• Lake Gregory

  

  Gregory Lake is one of the most popular places for tourists and locals to spend active time within the city. You can not swim in the lake, but you can swim on a rented boat in the form of a swan, kayak, jet ski; ride a pony; watch the landing of airplanes on it; eat in a restaurant with beautiful views of the water. Well, or just walk along the equipped path. However, oddly enough, for a walk around the lake on these paths in the daytime charge. You can approach the lake from the other side for free, but the places there are very dirty, no one cleans the garbage on the shore.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: for a walk around the lake, an adult is charged-200 rupees (0.6 USD), children 20. Pedal boat and kayak rental 500 rupees 30 minutes, motor boats 1500

  🚶 How to get there: the lake is located in the southern part of the city (Lake on the map).

• Galway National Park

  

  Galway's Land National Park-one of the newest and smallest national parks in Sri Lanka, it is even located within Nuwara Eliya, almost in the heart. In fact, this territory has been protected since 1938, and received the status of a National Park only in 2006. Since then, the entrance to the park is charged, and quite high. For $ 10, you can walk along a 2-kilometer trail overgrown with beautiful mosses in the midst of lush tropical vegetation. But not everyone can see the birds that this park is so famous for, it all depends on luck. To be more fortunate, it is best to come here early in the morning, for its opening. Otherwise, there is a chance that you just walk through the rainforest for so much money, and nothing but plants will not see.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: 06:00 – 17:00.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: $10+ 12% tax (about 1700 rupees,5.14 USD).

  🚶 How to get there: the park is located in the center (Park on the map). The entrance is on the north side from Havelock Rd.

• Mount Pidurutalagala

  

  Pidurutalagala-the highest peak in Sri Lanka, 2524 meters, and it is located right next to Nuwara Eliya 700 meters above the average level of the city. On its slopes you can make an excellent walk lasting several hours, but you can not always climb to the top, because there is a television antenna and some military equipment. The route, which can be overcome, takes a length of 4 kilometers in one direction, and passes along a good asphalt road Pidurutalagala Mountain Rd. Along the way there are beautiful views, you can see exotic plants and if you are lucky – animals. But to get up, you have to negotiate at the checkpoint to let you through, but this is not always possible. If you are lucky enough to get to the top, then in good weather you can even see Adam's Peak.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: during daytime.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: the mountain is located near the city, the road Pidurutalagala Mountain Rd leads up (entering a route on the map). Having risen almost to the very top, you will rest against the Forbidden Zone. To get inside, you need to negotiate with the guards on the other side of the fence, sometimes they let tourists pass.

• Single Tree Hill

  

  If you do not find the strength or fail to agree on admission to mount Pidurutalagala, you can completely replace it with a climb to Single Tree Hill. Its height is 2100 meters, and it is the 10th peak of Sri Lanka. But do not be alarmed, to climb from the center of Nuwara Eliya, you will have to overcome only 4 kilometers and 200 meters in height.

  The climb is not difficult and will take an hour and a half, and a good dirt road leads to the very top. Along the way, you will meet a Buddhist temple under construction. And, of course, all along the route you will be surrounded by wonderful views and green tea plantations. Do not forget to take water and a panama hat for protection from the sun. Learn more about Single Tree Hill and photos here...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: daytime, best in the morning.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: the mountain is near the city (mountain on the map), leading up to the road Single Tree Road (entering a route on the map). This road meanders upward, first past houses, then through tea fields and a temple.

• Victoria Museum

  

  This is the only museum in Nuwara Eliya, and a rather conventional museum. In three halls there are photographs and documents telling about the history of the city and the appearance of the city. Victoria Park. Inside, for some reason, you can not even take photos, although by and large there is nothing to photograph there. You can safely skip this place, or look for a maximum of a couple of minutes during a walk in the park. Learn more about the museum here...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: from 07:00 to 18:00.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: the entrance to the museum is free, but you must pay 300 rupees for the entrance to Victoria Park (0.76 USD).

  🚶 How to get there: the museum is located in Victoria Park, after the entrance from Uda Pussellawa Street next to the ticket offices (Museum on the map).

• Nuwara Eliya post office

  

  Nuwara Eliya Post Office is the most recognizable and photographed building in the city. It really looks very cute, like a toy gingerbread house. Here you can buy a postcard and send it home to your family, it is quite inexpensive, about 100 rupees (0.3 USD). Also inside you can see several carefully preserved historical exhibits. And by the way, this is one of the oldest post offices in Sri Lanka, built in 1894 by the British. Learn more about the post office here...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: located in the city center opposite the bus station (post office on the map).

Attractions around Nuwara Eliya

• Horton plateau and the end of the world

  

  The Horton Plains is one of Sri Lanka's most popular national parks. It attracts tourists, first of all, for two reasons: here is the famous landmark the end of the World (World's End), and unlike most other major national parks in the country, this can be visited independently without accompanying paid guides, renting an SUV and the like. Learn more about the Horton Plateau and the end of the world, and how to get to them, here...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: from 06:00 to 18:00, seven days a week. Ticket sales end at 16:00.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: the price for visiting the park by foreigners is calculated from the current dollar exchange rate, includes the entrance itself, service fee and vehicle entry fee. As a result, it comes out in the region of 4000 rupees per person.

  🚶 How to get there: the park is located 32 kilometers from Nuwara-eliya (Horton plateau on the map). The entrance to the park can be reached with a tour or independently by rented transport, and further along the route on foot.

• Pedro's tea factory

  

  At the Pedro Tea Estate, you can learn how to make the tea that is served to you every morning during your stay in Nuwara Eliya. This factory has been operating since 1885, and the production still uses machines produced in the 19th century. A visit to the factory by tourists includes a tour of the production with a detailed explanation of the technology of making tea from raw materials, as well as a walk through the adjacent tea plantations. The factory produces a special very light grade of tea, the production process of which takes place only at night in cool weather, so during the tour in action you will, unfortunately, see little here. But if you have not yet had time to visit tea factories in other places in Sri Lanka, be sure to visit this one. Learn more about the factory here...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: from 08:00 to 11:00 and from 14:00 to 16:00.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: 250 rupees (0.76 USD).

  🚶 How to get there: the factory is located 4 kilometers from the city center (factory on the map). You can get there by tuk-tuk for 400 rupees in both directions (1.21 USD) or by bus towards Ragalla. These buses depart from the bus station every 10-30 minutes, cost from 15 rupees, which are paid to the conductor in the cabin. You need to tell him where you need, he will name the price, and then tell you where to get out.

• Lover's Leap viewpoint and waterfall

  

  lover's Leap Falls – a very beautiful 30-meter waterfall in the vicinity of Nuwara Eliya, but only in the rainy season, and during the dry it turns into a thin stream. To get to it, you will have to walk a simple trekking route, but it will pass through beautiful tea plantations. The name of the waterfall can be translated roughly as "lovers ' jump". According to legend, once a young prince hunted in these parts. Lost, he met a young beautiful girl, and they fell in love with each other-Doug. But the position of the prince did not allow him to tie the knot with a beautiful commoner, and then the lovers jumped from the top of the waterfall.

  Attention! There are "Beware of molesters" warning signs near the waterfall. Moreover, local residents warn that there is a gang of children who distract tourists with conversations, and at this time steal things from them.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock, visit during daylight hours.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: the waterfall is located a couple of kilometers from the city center in the East (Garden on the map), but to get to it on foot from the center, you have to walk a good 5 kilometers. It is much easier to take any bus from the bus station to the stop next to the Pedro Tea Estate tea factory (every 10-30 minutes, cost from 15 rupees), and from there walk by road and trail to the waterfall less than 2 kilometers. Near this stop, tuk-tuk drivers are" on duty", who deceive that the waterfall is 7 kilometers away and offer a trip from 500 rupees (1.51 USD).

• Ramboda Falls

  

  The 108 meter high Ramboda waterfall is among the most beautiful in Sri Lanka, and definitely the most visited of Nuwara Eliya. This triple Waterfall consists of three: small (lower), medium, and large (upper). At the foot of the upper waterfall there is a large swimming pool in which you can swim, and a large rocky area where you can have a picnic and sunbathe. On weekdays, there are very few people at the waterfall, so you can come here to relax and swim at least for the whole day. Learn more about Ramboda falls here...

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock, visit during daylight hours.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: view the lower and middle falls from the road for free, entrance to the upper falls 50 rupees (0.15 USD).

  🚶 How to get there: the waterfall is located 24 kilometers from the center of Nuwara - eliya on the way to the town of Ramboda (waterfall on the map). You can get there by tuk-tuk (will cost about 800 rupees), or bus from the bus station for 55 rupees.

• Devathura Ella Falls

  

  Devathura Ella Falls (Devathura Ella Falls – is a small waterfall that is not worth special attention, but if you come to see the Ramboda waterfall, then it is worth getting to Devathura. It is only 15 minutes walk from it down the road. The view from it opens directly from the road, there is no point in getting closer, it is quite small.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock, visit during daylight hours.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: the waterfall is located 24 kilometers from the center of Nuwara - eliya on the way to the town of Ramboda (waterfall on the map). You need to take a tuk-tuk (it will cost about 800 rupees) or a bus from the bus station for 55 rupees to the Ramboda waterfall, and then walk along the road for 15 minutes. You need to go not through the tunnel, but to the left along the Old Road.

• Hakgala Botanical Gardens

  

  Hakgala Botanical Gardens is the second largest botanical garden in Sri Lanka after the Royal Botanic Garden Peradeniya. It was founded in 1861, covers an area of 28 hectares. Its distinctive feature is a wide variety of flowers, a lot of roses and different types of orchids, even more than in Peradenia. But if you have already visited Peradeniya, you can skip this park, because the price here is somewhat overpriced. The territory of the park can be bypassed on foot on your own, or you can hire a guide and an electric car in the form of a sightseeing tour for 20-30 minutes, and therefore already walk here on your own.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: from 07:30 to 17:30.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: Adult - 1100 rupees (3.32 USD); children-550

  🚶 How to get there: located 10 kilometers from the city center and 200 below sea level (Garden on the map). You can get here by taxi or bus in the direction of Welimada.

• Moon Plains

  

  Moon Plains (Moon plateau) is something like a landscape park or a national park, just this place does not have the appropriate status. Moon Plains even received an unofficial name-mini edge of the world (Mini word's End), similar to the edge of the world on the Horton plateau. Therefore, if you have visited the Horton plateau, there is nothing to do here, but if it did not work out, then the Lunar Plateau can be an alternative.

  At the highest point there is an observation deck, and near the cliff "Mini edge of the world", which offers really stunning views of the surrounding mountains. If you're lucky, you might see animals. The only bad thing here is the overpriced price. And yet, in rainy or cloudy weather there is nothing to do here, you will not see anything.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: from 06:00 to 17:00.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: entrance fee 400 rupees (1.21 USD), a jeep ride of 5000 rupees (15.11 USD).

  🚶 How to get there: located 6 kilometers from the center (plateau on the map). You can not visit yourself, only by Jeep, which are offered at the entrance to the park.

• St. Clair's Fall

  

  This is one of the most beautiful and widest waterfalls in Sri Lanka, it is even called the "Lankan Niagara", although the scale, of course, is not at all. Nevertheless, this is a very beautiful place, and it is located so that many tourists see it, but not many get to it. The fact is that you need to first go to him by Transport, and then still walk. Most are limited to his contemplation from afar from the observation deck along the road.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock, visit during daylight hours.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: located 25 kilometers from Nuwara-eliya (waterfall observation deck on the map). It is best to go by tuk-tuk or rented transport, but you can take any bus towards Hatton (Hatton) or Colombo (go often, the cost is about 50 rupees), and get off at the observation deck of St. Clair Viewing Gallery. From this point, the waterfall is visible in the palm of your hand, but from afar. To get closer to it, you will have to go along the paths through the tea plantations.

• Devon Falls

  

  This waterfall is 97 meters high, is the 19th highest on the island. It is perfectly visible from the observation deck from the road, but it is difficult to get closer. You can see from one of the two viewing platforms.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock, visit during daylight hours.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: located 50 kilometers from Nuwara-eliya (waterfall observation deck on the map). It is best to go by tuk-tuk or rented transport, but you can take any bus towards Hatton (Hatton).

• Seetha Amman Temple

  

  This temple (also spelled Sita Temple) is one of the few temples of Nuwara Eliya with its own history. In general, there are quite a lot of temples and a lot of Christian churches, but almost all of them are new buildings, since the history of the city has a little more than 170 years. But this Hindu temple is special: it is believed that it was built on the place where Sita (this is one of the main characters of the epic Ramayana) was held captive by the demon Ravana, and she prayed daily that Rama would come and save her. On the Stone opposite the temple across the stream there are circular footprints left by Ravana's elephant. As for the temple itself, it is simple, small, but colorful.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: in the daytime, but it is better to visit it during prayers in 08:00, 13:00, 14:00 and 18:00.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: located 7 kilometers from the city center on the way to Hakgal Botanical Garden (temple on the map). You can get here by taxi or bus in the direction of Welimada.

• Bluefield Tea Factory

  

  This is one of the most visited tea factories by tourists, but not because it is very cool here, but because large groups of organized tourists are brought here, and tuk-tuk trips are actively offered to independent travelers. The factory is small, and similar to all other places in Sri Lanka, but much smaller than most factories. A free tour of the factory building lasts 10-15 minutes, you can take pictures of everything. But to hear the guide's story, you need to wait for the collection of a more or less large group of tourists, in other cases you will simply be taken through the production without a story. There is no walking on tea plantations.

  Then you can go to the company store, where two types of tea are tasted. Tea is sold at inflated prices, but in very beautiful packages, just perfect as a souvenir to relatives. If you have something to do in Nuwara Eliya, it is better not to waste time visiting this place purposefully, but you can stop here on your way to the Ramboda falls.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: 09:00 – 18:30.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: the tour is free, tips are welcome. Tea tasting 80 rupees for one type of tea

  🚶 How to get there: located 20 kilometers from the city center on the road to Ramboda (factory on the map). You can get there by tuk-tuk (it will cost about 800 rupees), or by any bus in the direction of Kandy from the bus station for 55 rupees.

• Labookellie Tea Factory

  

  Labookellie Tea Factory (also Damro Labookellie Tea Centre) like other factories in the district, it conducts a free short tour of the production for tourists, including a Russian-speaking guide. After the tour, you will have to visit the company store, where they will persistently offer tasting and buying branded tea. The tea there is really very fresh and fragrant, but the prices, as in all such places, are too high. Walks on the plantation are not held, you can only ride for a fee on a golf cart.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: 09:00 – 18:30.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: located 11 kilometers from the city center on the road to Ramboda (factory on the map). You can get there by tuk-tuk (it will cost about 500 rupees), or by any bus in the direction of Kandy from the bus station for 40 rupees.

Places of interest on the map