Sigiriya Rock Fortress and Cave Temples Day Trip: Explore Sri Lanka's Historic Sights
4.4
59 Ratings
Sigiriya
Embark on a day trip to Sigiriya Rock Fortress and Dambulla Cave Temples in Sri Lanka. Explore historic sights, ruins, and Buddha-filled caves with a private tour and air-conditioned vehicle.
Duration: 12 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Sigiriya - Greet your professional Chauffeur Guide at Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) or your hotel and proceed to Sigiriya, passing through Rambukkana.

  • No 21, Ayurvedic Herbal Garden - Discover Sri Lanka’s famous spices in a man-made forest and enjoy a complimentary 10-minute head massage. The garden is rich with herbs, spice groves, and plants, all shaded by tropical trees that enhance the unique aroma of each spice and herb. Visitors can explore and learn about Sri Lankan spices, herbs, and the benefits of Ayurveda. The tropical climate helps preserve the ancient originality of the plants and herbs. The educational tour, known as “The Spice Tour,” allows visitors to experience the essence of Sri Lankan spices and herbs, with demonstrations in various foreign languages to meet customer needs.

  • Sigiriya The Ancient Rock Fortress - Admire Sigiriya Rock, a granite outcrop that turns into water gardens during the rainy season. Climb the metal steps to the top of the rock, where you’ll find the ruins of a fifth-century fortress. View the frescoes along the way and explore the remnants of a royal citadel built by King Kasyapa at the summit.

  • Pidurangala Rock - Hike up Pidurangala Rock, visit the ancient temples, and enjoy a full view of Sigiriya Rock for stunning photos.

  • Sigiriya Craft Village - Experience the best of Sri Lanka in the village with Kingfisher Tours and get a unique insight into village life. Take an oxen cart ride and see the world from a village farmer’s perspective. Enjoy a relaxing catamaran safari on a calm lake. Walk through golden fields ripe with paddy. Watch a traditional cooking demonstration that teaches the basics of Sri Lankan cuisine. Savor a home-cooked lunch made over a wood fire and served on fragrant lotus leaves placed on woven trays. Enjoy the life of a Sri Lankan villager for a day. (Optional)

  • Dambulla Cave Temple - After lunch at the Oakray Restaurant in Inamaluwa, visit the UNESCO-listed Rock Temple of Dambulla: five hill caves converted into a temple in the first century BC and filled with Buddha statues. Explore the caves with their stunning wall and ceiling murals as your guide shares the history of Dambulla.

  • Colombo - Return to your original pickup location and conclude your day tour.

What's Included
  • Private transportation
  • On-board WiFi
  • Bottled water
  • Lunch
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
  • All Local Taxes & Charges
What's Not Included
  • Food & Drinks except Lunch
Additional Information

Two prized attractions in Sri Lanka, Sigiriya Rock and Dambulla Cave Temple, are not feasible to visit in a day using public transportation. This exclusive tour from Colombo, Negombo, or Kandy enables you to tick off both of these sites in a single day, courtesy of a private air-conditioned transport. Discover the ancient ruins on top of Sigiriya Rock from the 5th century and be amazed by the Buddha statues situated in the caves of Dambulla, all under the guidance of your dedicated driver-guide. The tour also comes with lunch provided.

Location
Sigiriya
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.4
(59 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
Morgandmindy
Feb 26, 2024
Stunning views - Excellent experience but not for the lighthearted. Have to be reasonably fit to climb this. Although, you’d be surprised at how many infirm can manage it!! Beautiful views and definitely with a trip. Take lots of water. Locals will try for cash at every opportunity so have your wits about you.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nabe
Feb 11, 2024
Sigiriya Rock Day Trip - The service and hospitality was excellent. We also got a free car upgrade, so we were able to spend a comfortable time. They also suggested sightseeing around Sigiriya Rock based on our needs, so it was a very satisfying day tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aswar
Feb 6, 2024
Covering the main attractions in one day - Perfect day tour covering all the top attractions in one day. The Lion Rock view was stunning and the village experience was a lifetime memory Definitely will recommend
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Annushka13
Jan 15, 2024
Day trips from Sigiriya - We took a few day trips from Sigiriya with a local driver Lalantha Kumara. We went to Dambulla Caves, Kandy City and Palonnaruwa Ancient City. He was very caring, punctual and professional, and quoted a very good price for us. Dambulla Cave paintings are very well preserved and are amazing. Driving from one site to another in a car with Lalantha was very efficient. He made sure that we saw everything. This ancient city is extensive. So much history and so much to see. I highly recommend him.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
406nazimb
Dec 13, 2023
A great way to start Sri Lanka - Wonderful day trip we took from this company highly recommend our driver Aswar who was very knowledgable and very helpful. We really enjoyed climbing the lion rock and the safari experience was fantastic
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lanah_j
Oct 23, 2023
Lots of sightseeing packed into one day! - Great experience, got to alter the itinerary as we wished. Enjoyed climbing Sigiriya Rock and the villiage experience - food very nice and authentic. Safari was highlight, knowledgeable safari driver which was arranged by the company. Our driver for the day Ferose was friendly and knowledgeable. Comfortable car for long drives. Ferose was helpful and chatty and enjoyable company. Only thing to note is that all activities you need to pay for so have a decent amount of cash handy.
Review provided by Viator
Jeffcreek
Apr 1, 2024
Not enough time to do it all - We arrived by cruise ship and this was a one day experience. We have done lots of trip advisor trips so we do have experience. The guide is the important link. Communication from the tour company is second. The communication from the tour company was pretty good but on the day we arrived, we didn't know where to meet the guide. We arrived in a working port. I called our guide and he said to take the shuttle bus to the port gate. That is not uncommon in a working port. It too dangerous to let tourists walk through the port. He was at gate one. The bus dropped us off at gate two. We had no control over any of this. I called our guide again and he said he would pick us up. It took him 15 mins to get there. Aashik then took us to our first stop. A jewelry store. I kept asking him the same question all day. Do we have enough time to do everything on the tour. His answer was always yes. I told him that the most important thing was to get us on the ship by 10:30 pm. He always said, "no problem". My wife liked the jewelry store and the owner made some great deals. I told Aashik that out of all of the things on the tour, the Elephant part can be dropped if time is an issue. We spent about an hour at the store. Next stop was a spice farm. We got the personal "speedy" tour with one of the reps. We also received some great back rubs with red oil. We made some purchases here also. Traffic was horrible the entire way. Driving in Sri Lanka takes a special talent. Our driving was in the passing lane often. 2 lane highway the entire time. We were in the car for hours.Obviously we skipped the included lunch. I don't even know where that would have taken place. We stopped at the Elephant place. I don't know why. We got out of the car and told the attendant that we had no interest. Other things to do. Back in the car. More driving. We were 8 miles from Sigiriya and it was already after 5 pm. We stopped for the ancient dinner experience. We boarded a cart pulled by an ox. About 20 mins down the road we boarded a hand paddled boat for a trip across a lake. We arrived at a little village where some women prepared us dinner. They demonstrated the ancient ways of preparing the food. The food was delicious. There was a charge for dinner. The tour company allowed us to pay less because we didn't get the lunch. Time was now an issue. Do we go to Sigiriya, the whole reason we took this tour, or we do we drive back to the port? We had 4 hours before the ship left. Sigiriya was 30 mins away with traffic. 2500 steps, up to the top. We needed 2 hours to do? Who knew this? We chose to go back to the port. Traffic is too unpredictable. Halfway back we got onto an expressway. What a relief. I am guessing that all of the other stops interfered with taking the expressway on the way there. We arrived back into the port at 8:45. Time to spare. I am glad we left when we did. If you choose this tour and are on a ship, realize the issue of time and traffic. It is unavoidable. Plan accordingly.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Donna
Nov 24, 2023
Unable to take Tour - I booked this tour while traveling on a cruise ship docked at Colombo port. I arrived at the meeting point on time, to be told that this tour was not possible as it was too far from the port to make it back before the ship left. First, why would you offer this from Colombo port if it is too far? Ships are never in port that long- even if they're there overnight. And, I even inquired about the pick up location and still was not told it was too far to the destination. The operator/ owner said he did try to call me the night before but I only had ship WiFi and did not receive the call. He said he would give me a refund and offered me a city Tuk Tuk tour which I accepted and was very good. Unfortunately he didn't tell me the cost of the Tuk Tuk tour and so far I have not received any refund. I am still hopeful though. My advice would be to check the distance from your hotel/ port to the destination before booking. I do think the tour company should give an approximate distance from their pick up cities so travelers would know the travel time involved. I will be more careful in the future.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Krishnagdr
Oct 4, 2023
misguide and mis programmed - fake visits, and fake safari's arranged as against genuine. At the end was trying to avoid the best programme of climbing mount sigiriya and was forcing to take up forest safari for earning dubiously
Review provided by Viator
Daniel_p
Sep 22, 2023
This isn’t a tour but... - This isn’t a tour but rather an option to rent a driver for the day. It’s very pricey and I felt rushed through the day. I had to pay for my own tickets and tour guides. I would not recommend as it was very expensive and not a good experience.
Review provided by Viator
Select Date and Tickets
minimum 2 guests
-
up to 15 guests
2 Adult
June 2024
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Today