Kitulgala, Sri Lanka

A brief look

Kitulgala is an adventurer's paradise, perhaps best known as the setting of filming for the 1957 Academy Award-winning film Bridge on the River Kwai. It is a rest station west of the Kandy-Nuwara Eliya route, around 60 kilometers from Kandy to Kitulgala. The scenery is characterized by dense rainforests, tea farms, rubber plantations, hills, and mountains. The premier white water rafting base in Sri Lanka is located a few kilometers upstream on the Kelani River. There are also beautiful waterfalls in the vicinity that provide eye-catching scenery.If jungle hiking is your thing, the undisturbed forest cover, with its plethora of animal species and rare vegetation, provides the ideal environment. A Kitulgala adventure day excursion also transports you back in time hundreds of years.

Popular Tourist spots

White Water Rafting

Kitulgala water rafting comprises five big and four smaller rapids in a five-kilometer stretch of the Kelani River. The weather is also good for flat-water rafting.

Makandawa Forest Reserve

It is the watershed area of the Kelani River and one of Sri Lanka's most virgin rain forests. It has the most lowland endemic bird species after Sinharaja.

Belilena Caves

The bones of Homosapiens Balangodensis, a 12,000-year-old prehistoric man, were discovered in these caverns, which are an archeological site.

Aberdeen Falls

This 98-meter-high waterfall is next to Laxapana Falls. The base pool provides an excellent vantage point for viewing the falls and its rocky outcrop.

Laxapana Falls

With its twin hydroelectric power units, this 126m waterfall practically lights up Sri Lanka. Its deep foundation pool and misty spray of water are a marvel to see.

Olu Ella Falls

It is one of the lesser-known and frequented waterfalls, and its name derives from the Olu flower-like cascade. It descends in four sections from a height of 127m.

To Do List

Nalagana Ella Falls is a charming waterfall tucked away in the forest.
White water kayaking is available over 7km of the Kelani River with world-class rapids.
The many waterfalls in Kitulgala offer waterfall abseiling opportunities.
Zip-lining through the forest is the best aerial rope activity in Kitulgala.
Canyoning is rock sliding down to refreshing natural plunge pools of waterfalls.