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Travel guide
Sigiriya
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: February to April, and July to September
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Welcome
Sigiriya, in a few days
A 180-metre block of rock rising from the dry plain, crowned by the palace King Kasyapa built between 477 and 495. About 1,200 steps lead to the top, past 5th-century frescoes and a polished wall covered in graffiti more than a thousand years old.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Sigiriya Rock · 2 to 3 hThe magma plug of an extinct volcano, where Kasyapa, who seized his father's throne in 477, built his capital before his brother defeated him.
- Afternoon · The Sigiriya maidens frescoes · about 30 minIn a sheltered hollow on the west face, around twenty 5th-century painted women, bejewelled and carrying flowers, survive from a set of perhaps five hundred.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Sigiriya€80 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Sigiriya water gardens · about 30 minAmong the oldest surviving landscaped gardens in the world: pools, islands, channels and fountains fed by gravity that still spout after heavy rain.
- Afternoon · Pidurangala Rock · about 2 hA second rock a kilometre north, with a Buddhist monastery, a brick reclining Buddha in a cave and a boulder scramble to the top.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Sigiriya Village Hotel€75 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Minneriya National Park · half a dayAround 9,000 hectares around a 3rd-century reservoir; in the dry season up to 300 elephants gather on its shores, known as The Gathering.
- Afternoon · The ancient city of Polonnaruwa · 2 to 3 hThe island's capital from the 11th to 13th centuries, with a royal palace, a council chamber and Gal Vihara's four colossal rock-cut Buddhas.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Kassapa Lions Rock€90 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Dambulla Cave Temples · about 1 h 30Five caves used as temples since the 1st century BC, with around 150 Buddha statues, a 14-metre reclining Buddha and painted ceilings.
- Afternoon · Ritigala Monastery · about 2 hRuins of a forest monastery on the highest hill of the northern plain, where ascetic monks built bare platforms linked by stone bridges.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Elephas Resort€70 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Rice and curry: half a dozen curries around a mound of rice, all at once.
- Hoppers: a bowl-shaped pancake of fermented rice flour, often with an egg in it.
- Kottu: roti chopped and fried on a griddle, to a rhythm you hear down the street.
- Dhal: lentils cooked slowly in coconut milk, on every table.
- Ceylon tea, drunk where it grows, in the hills of the interior.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Bare feet and covered shoulders in temples. Hats off too.
- Never turn your back on a Buddha image for a photograph. It is an offence here, and people have been deported for it.
- Agree the tuk-tuk fare before you get in, or use the PickMe app.
- Bottled water only. The monsoon hits the two coasts at opposite times of year, so check which one you are on.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ Sinhala
| English | Sinhala |
|---|---|
| Hello | ආයුබෝවන් (ayubowan) |
| Thank you | ස්තූතියි (sthoothiyi) |
| Please | කරුණාකර (karunakara) |
| Yes | ඔව් (ow) |
| No | නැහැ (naha) |
| Excuse me | සමාවෙන්න (samavenna) |
| Goodbye | ආයුබෝවන් (ayubowan) |
| Do you speak English? | ඉංග්රීසි කතා කරනවාද? (english katha karanavada?) |
| I don't understand | මට තේරෙන්නේ නැහැ (mata therenne naha) |
| How much is it? | මේක කීයද? (meka kiyada?) |
| Where are the toilets? | වැසිකිළිය කොහෙද? (wasikiliya koheda?) |
| The bill, please | බිල ගේන්න (bila genna) |
| Help! | උදව් කරන්න! (udaw karanna!) |
| Cheers! | චියර්ස්! (cheers!) |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencySri Lankan rupee (LKR)
BudgetAbout €73 a day, mid-range
Best seasonFebruary to April, and July to September
PlugD/G/M · 230V
Tap waterBottled only
TippingAppreciated, around 10%
Emergency119 / 1990
EntryAn ETA is required and must be applied for online before you travel, with a passport, for EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian citizens.
HealthHepatitis A and typhoid are recommended. Malaria risk is low and confined to rural areas; dengue is the one to guard against, so use repellent at dawn and dusk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/sigiriya
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.