Wales Park (Royal Palace Park)

Wales Park — also known as the Royal Palace Park or Wace Park — sits on a small hill overlooking the lake from the south, offering one of the best viewpoints in central Kandy. The park is small and well maintained, with benches overlooking the water and good views across to the Temple of the Tooth. It is quiet during the week and popular with local families on weekends.

Access is via a short walk from the southern shore of the lake. The park is free to enter and is a pleasant place to sit for half an hour in the afternoon. The tree cover makes it noticeably cooler than the streets below.

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A story
Wales Park occupies a small hill on the south side of the lake that served as the site of the Kandyan royal palace's pleasure gardens. After the British took Kandy in 1815, they demolished most of the palace buildings but retained the garden, which was landscaped in the English manner and renamed for the Prince of Wales during his 1875 visit. The park's role shifted from royal garden to public promenade — a transition that says something about how the colonial administration understood its relationship to the Kandyan legacy.

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