Gregory Lake
Colonial-era reservoir built in 1873 in Nuwara Eliya at 1,868m elevation, offering boating, lakeside cycling, and views of surrounding tea hills.
Duration
1-2 hours
Entry Fee
Free
Difficulty
easy
Budget
free
About Gregory Lake
Gregory Lake was constructed during the British colonial period in 1873 and named after Sir William Gregory, Governor of Ceylon at the time. The lake sits at 1,868 metres above sea level at the centre of Nuwara Eliya town and covers approximately 254 acres. Pedal boats, rowboats, and jet skis are available for hire from the eastern shore, and a paved pathway around the perimeter makes for a pleasant 3-kilometre lakeside walk. The surrounding highland scenery, including Hakgala peak to the south-east, makes this one of the most pleasant urban green spaces in Sri Lanka. Visit between December and April when the town is driest and flower gardens around the lake are well maintained.
Highlights
- 1,868m elevation alpine setting
- 254-acre colonial-era reservoir (est. 1873)
- Boating and pedal boats available for hire
- 3km paved lakeside walking circuit
Practical Tips
Hire a pedal boat from the eastern shore for LKR 500-800 per 30 minutes.
The lakeside is at its most scenic during the Nuwara Eliya season (April) when the town fills with visitors.
Bring a jacket — temperatures drop sharply after 4pm even in dry season.
Explore by Interest
Best Time to Visit
Best time of day: December to April; April is peak season with festivals and flower shows
Location
Planning Info
- Crowd level
- Moderate
- Physical difficulty
- easy
- Setting
- outdoor
- Child friendly
- Yes
- Senior friendly
- Yes
- Budget level
- free
- Photography
- ★★★☆☆
Plan Your Visit
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ALSO IN THE AREA
Nearby Destinations
Lover's Leap Waterfall
A 30-metre waterfall on the Laxapana River in Nuwara Eliya, accessible via a short walk through a tea estate, named after a colonial-era legend.
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Horton Plains National Park
UNESCO World Heritage plateau at 2,100-2,300m elevation in the Central Highlands, home to World's End cliff dropping 870m and the 20m Baker's Falls.
Explore →
Seetha Amman Kovil
A Hindu temple in Sita Eliya near Nuwara Eliya, built at the site where Ramayana's Sita is believed to have been held captive by King Ravana.
Explore →LET'S EXPLOR™ THE
Tour Packages
from $600Essence of Sri Lanka
Eight days, six bases, and a deliberate order. You start inland at Sigiriya while you still have the legs for a 1,200-step climb, work south through Kandy and the tea hills as the days get slower, and finish flat on the south coast at Mirissa and Galle. Nothing is doubled back on, and no transfer runs over three and three quarter hours. The order is the point when a group travels at mixed speeds. The hard day is the first one, and it lands before jet lag turns into fatigue. After that the walking gets easier: Dambulla's caves are a ten-minute climb, Kandy is flat, Ella's Little Adam's Peak is a stepped 45 minutes rather than a scramble, and Galle Fort's ramparts are level enough for a pushchair. Days five and six hand the work to a jeep and a boat, so nobody has to hike to see the wildlife. Two nights in Mirissa at the end is the part people underrate. It buys a full day with no packing, a Galle day trip that comes back to the same bed, and a coast morning before the airport run instead of a dawn departure from the hills.
8 days / 7 nights
from $450Serene Romantic Escape
Most short trips to Sri Lanka move you every night. This one moves you twice. Two nights in Kandy, one in Ella, two at Mirissa, and the rest of the time is yours rather than the road's. The shape is simple and it goes one way: inland to the last royal capital, up through the Ramboda Pass into the tea country, down into the Ella gap, then off the escarpment to the south coast. You never drive a road twice and you never backtrack to a place you have already been. What that buys you is unscheduled time, which is the actual point of a trip like this. Day two in Kandy is open. Day five at Mirissa is open. Between them, the one long drive is broken by a waterfall, a working tea factory and a hill station at 1,868 m, so even the travel day is not just travel.
6 days / 5 nights
from $1125Ceylon Grand Circle
The Grand Circle is one continuous clockwise loop. You land on the west coast, drive north into the dry-zone plains where Sri Lanka's first capitals were built, climb south and east through the tea highlands to 1,868 m, then come back down to sea level on the southern coast and run home along the expressway. No road is driven twice, and no stop is a detour you have to undo the next morning. The shape of the route is also the shape of the island's history. Anuradhapura was the capital for over a thousand years from the 4th century BC. Polonnaruwa replaced it in the 11th. Sigiriya's rock palace sits between them at the 5th. Kandy held the last independent kingdom until 1815 and still keeps the Sacred Tooth Relic. Above Kandy the road climbs into tea country the British planted from the 1860s, then drops through Ella into the dry southern plains where Yala's leopards are, and finally to the water at Mirissa and Galle. Fourteen nights across nine bases works out at roughly 900 km of driving. It is spread so the longest single transfer is three and a half hours, on day two, and most days are under two and a half. Five of the nine bases get two nights, so you unpack properly rather than living out of a bag. Your driver-guide covers the whole route; the only vehicle you change into is the safari jeep inside Yala, arranged locally on the morning.
15 days / 14 nights
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