A Trip to Lovers Leap Nuwara Eliya

Cool clime, waterfalls, torrential rain, mist and the extensive green cover are some of the things that come into one mind upon hearing the word Nuwara Eliya. Nuwara Eliya, the beautiful city nestled at the elevation of 1800 meters above sea level, is the most popular holiday destination in the mountains of Sri Lanka, the fame of Nuwara Eliya as a holiday destination goes back many centuries.

Histical fact of Nuwara Eliya

According to the historical notes, it was first touched by British planters and Nuwar Eliya was largely uninhabited before the arrival of British colonial rulers. And with the arrival of British colonial rulers, the city of Nuwara Eliya started to shine as a destination for holidays due to its healing climate. Even today Nuwara Eliya attracts a large number of foreign as well as local travellers mainly due to its healing climate.

The popularity of Nuwara Eliya as a holiday destination goes back to many centuries. Nuwara Eliya had been the most popular health resort on the island starting from the early 18’s and there is no other popular health resort in the country until today.

Extensive forest cover, jacked mountains, valleys, rivers and waterfalls is another popular reason for its popularity as destination holidays. Healing climate combined with the gorgeous scenery across the rugged mountain terrain is unique to Nuwara Eliya.

Mountains and escapements are the most prominent geographical features of Nuwara Eliya. Rivers, streams, waterfalls, tea plantations and patches of forests improve the natural beauty of Nuwara Eliya. Most importantly the cascading waterfall is a real natural gem and visiting waterfalls are in the bucket list of every traveller.

Nuwara Eliya harbours many important catchment areas and they are fortunately they are protected under the wildlife act, these catchment areas are under the purview of the forest department. Nuwara Eliya coming under the wet zone of Sri Lanka, where the yearly rainfall is highest on the island. Some areas of Nuwar Elia like Watawala record more than 5000 mm of yearly rainfall.

Mountains, escarpment catchment areas, jungles and high rainfall with all these ingredients Nuwara Eliya is heaven for waterfall and nature lovers. Nuwara Eliya harbours many dozens of waterfalls and there are around 10 waterfalls withing easy reach of Nuwara Eliya. Lovers leap Nuwara Eliya a popular spot in Nuwara Eliya mainly due to one of the most beautiful waterfalls known as lovers leap fall.

Among the dozens of waterfalls; lovers leap is an important waterfall and it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Sri Lanka. This waterfall attracts a large number of local as well as foreign travellers every day.

Useful reading

The name “lovers leap falls” is derived from a tragic story that took place during the British colonial era. The visitors can climb up to the top of the waterfall through the woods and the rocky outcrop that to be found bordering the waterfall. As per the legend, once a British couple had climbed to the top of the waterfall, unfortunately, the woman fell off the cliff and killed. After seeing his girlfriend falling off the rocks, the lover had also jumped off the rocks killing him due to the deep sorrow, ever since this waterfall is named as lovers leap waterfall.

How to get there: the journey from the city to lovers leap Nuwara Eliya takes around 1 hour. However, if you drive to lovers leap Nuwara Eliya from Colombo it might take around 4 hours while the journey from Kandy to lovers leap Nuwara Eliya lasts about 2 hours.

The travel route from Nuwara Eliya to Lovers leap

First, you have to reach Nuwara Eliya town, then travel to Boralanda via Hawa Eliya and then proceed to lover leap. The road goes through very beautiful countryside and you are passing tea plantations, lakes, patches of forests and many mountains and escapements. Making a few occasional stops on the way is highly recommended in order to take hold or spectacular scenery.

The road might not in a good shape towards the latter part of the journey, however, the road is at the very good condition at the start of the journey. The road gets narrower and bumpy towards the end of the journey making it difficult to travel by car, therefore three-wheeler is the best vehicle to reach the waterfall from Nuwara Eliya.

After a journey on wheels, the visitors also need to take a walk to reach the waterfall to have a closer look into it. The trek takes place on a very narrow footpath and lasts about 15 minutes.

A Trip to Lovers Leap Nuwara Eliya