Sigiriya – quick travel guide

Tiny town where tourists come to see Sigiriya Rock aka “Lion Rock” (UNESCO site).

Go here for the big UNESCO ancient fortress palace on top of a giant rock sticking out of the jungle. Many cheap and nice nature accommodations to stay. And it’s close enough to several other destinations (between Kandy & Trincomalee). You have no excuse not to visit here.

Come as a day trip or stay the night. Maybe add a day if you just want to chill in a tiny tourist town.

Where to stay:

• Main road (Sigiriya Road) – this makes the most sense for getting in and out quickly. You’re staying in town and can around to everything easily, even at night.
• Isolated areas – just about any area not on the main road is considered isolated. Dangerous to walk around outside (especially night), due to danger of wild elephants (which will kill you). You’re staying in these because they’re especially nice and resorty and/or have nice views of Sigiriya Rock or Pidurangala Rock. You’ll need tuktuk to get around.

Sigiriya is really small. A tuktuk ride to anywhere is probably super cheap. Maybe going to Pidurangala Rock is the farthest you’ll ever go (and that’s 400lkr on PickMe). Unless you’re staying for a while and want to be by the lake or something. It makes more sense to just be on the main road so you can get in and out quickly.

Hostels & Hotels:

• Sigiri Rock Side Home Stay – super nice place we wish we stayed at (but we made a mistake and booked for the wrong days). Both the location and garden layout and rooms, everything super nice!
• Flower Inn – nice simple place on main road that we enjoyed. Lovely host. Very central location.

Neighborhoods & Walking areas:

• Main road – this is the only place to be generally.

Activities to do:

• Sigiriya Rock “Lion Rock”:
  • An ancient rock fortress palace built (late 400’s) on top of a big rock in the middle of the jungle. Originally shaped like a lion, the King Kashyapa built it for security and though it’s in ruins today it still amazes everyone who visits.
  • Yes, it’s worth the $30. Not just because it’s a UNESCO site (and world wonder) but because the ruins itself is beautiful and also the views from the ruins.
  • Getting to the rock has you walking across beautiful ancient pools and gardens. The path climbing up has stairs and takes about 30-45 minutes especially if you or the people in front of you take pictures.
  • At the top, you’ll enjoy many layers of the fortress and climbing around the different levels to take photos of the 360-degree nature landscape all around you.
  • Going down takes even longer. People slower to take photos, also because it’s a little scary to descend, and because the exit route has you going through the cave paintings and mirror wall.
  • Overall time is probably 3 hours. 30 minutes up, 45 minutes down, and probably 1.5 hours at the top taking photos and enjoying views. 2.5-3 hours is a very realistic estimate. I started early 9:15am during rainy off-season late December, and got down at 11:45am. The people starting when I came down looked to be much more crowded and slow since they had more sun to take photo stops and water breaks. My group had rain so there were fewer people and we tried to be quicker.
  • I didn’t get a guide. I didn’t feel it was necessary in terms of enjoying the place and its visuals. If you wanted more historic explanation, sure.
• Pidurangala Rock:
  • It’s a big rock in the middle of the jungle. Climb it and you get to see 360-degrees of natural landscape beauty all around AND the Sigiriya “Lion Rock” itself.
  • Costs 1000 LKR ($3 USD). You can get there with a 10-min tuktuk ride from the town, and it’s highly advised NOT to walk (especially during night hours) due to elephants.
  • You pay from the base of the rock, are given a map to start climbing the rock. Which takes 20-30 minutes to reach the top.
  • Many stairsteps are built from rocks and there are some parts where you have to climb over rocks, or support yourself from a rope. But it’s very doable, even with those of low fitness. I’m very fit but not in competition shape, and got up just fine in flip-flops in pouring rain and limited light in 20 minutes. The slowest individiuals or groups with children still made it in 40 minutes.
  • The view is indeed absolutely beautiful. And it’s magical to see the majestic Lion Rock sticking right out of the jungle. Like something in a Disney movie or superhero cartoon. Also nice that the rocks on top has a big slanted surface for everyone to see all around without blocking each other’s view.
  • You’ll feel an immense accomplishment getting up here and it’s really not hard at all. Again, I did it in pouring rain and had limited visibility because of the clouds and still I have no regrets. I had such a great experience even with a dark, rainy, cloudy sunset hike that I even came back the next morning for the sunrise version.
  • You can easily get up and down within an hour. But you’ll probably spend at least 30 minutes at the top taking pictures and marveling the view. Sit and relax, eat your lunch (if you brought one), and it’ll take another hour. Most people take 1.5 hours in total, to go up and down.
• Sigiriya Rock vs Pidurangala Rock:
  • Which is better deal? $30 USD Sigiriya Rock or $3 USD Pidurangala Rock?
    • Many people argue Pidurangala is a better deal or even bettere experience than going to Sigiriya Rock but I feel it’s just people trying to justify saving money. I’ve gone to both and think you should do both rocks. Even if it’s crowded. Even if it rains. No matter the excuse, I would recommend BOTH regardless.
  • What if it rains?
    • Another tip I’d give is to take a chance even if it rains. Or even if the weather report predicts nonstop rain.
    • Of the 3 climbs, I did…all 3 of them had dreadfully pouring rain and nonstop rain predictions but the rain would stop momentarily and the sky would clear here and there for beautiful pictures. Things may look dark and depressing at the bottom but up there, the rain stops and you have spots of clearing sky to take nice photos. Perhaps it’s even more worth it since fewer people are there to be in your photos.
  • Are the views the same?
    • No the view is now the same! Whoever said that is absolutely lying.
    • Pidurangala has views of mostly forest all around, and then the Sigiriya Rock sticking out from the jungle.
    • Sigiriya Rock has views of jungle but also the big lake south of the Sigiriya Rock (which you can’t see from Pidurangala), and the city. And of course views of the fortress itself. Sigiriya Rock is higher and sees more and has a wider variety of different landscape views. It is not 2 equally high rocks sticking out from the jungle and looking ate each other. Sigiriya sees more!
  • Which is more crowded?
    • Sigiriya Rock is more crowded because more people go there, and it has more to see. The way up also makes it more crowded since you’re going up a narrower set of stairs and people stop to take breaks and photos of monkeys.
    • Pidurangala has fewer people going, and there’s more break points and places with space for people to stop and take breaks, or enjoy the views. At the top also feels more spread out as well. The space at the top is smaller than Sigiriya Rock but you’ll have more space because fewer people go to this one, and also have fewer reasons to stay longer.
  • What’s the best time to go?
    • Generally, the best views are sunrise and sunset. At least that’s what most people recommend. Only thing is Pidurangala Rock opens and closes at later hours, and Sigiriya Rock opens slightly after sunrise time (like 6:30-7am). So for this reason, most people recommend going to Pidurangala at sunrise, and then Sigiriya at sunset.
    • I agree with the general advice but will also add that you should make sure to have enough time to look around and take all the photos you want for Sigiriya.
    • What I did was Pidurangala for sunset the day I arrived, then Pidurangala the next morning for sunrise (hoping to get a better view because previous night was rainy)…then went to Sigiriya right after. No regrets. All 3 visits were beautiful and gave me different views and photos.
    • If you’re going late hour, get your tuktuk driver’s number to call him for pickup when you get down. Or else, you’ll be isolated in the middle of nowhere with no rides. And it’s dangerous to be outside in elephant territory at night.
    • Elephant danger
      • Absolutely, you DO NOT walk to or walk back from the Pidurangala Rock.
      • Sigiriya Rock, you can only walk to and from the town to the South Entrance, but not the West Entrance.
      • And generally, you should not be outside around the rocks at dark. It’s extremely dangerous. See elephant notes below.
      • In conclusion…Pidurangala Rock, you take tuktuk there and back. Sigiriya Rock, you take tuktuk there and then can walk back to town using the South Entrance or take tuktuk back as well.
• Viewpoints, landmarks, sunsets:
  • Sigiriya Viewpoint – looks like a beautiful lake viewpoint for those not wanting to climb. You can see the rock from here as well. I regret not finding out about this before I left town.
  • Viewpoint – another viewpoint option by the lake.
• Dambulla Cave Temple:
  • It’s a big rock hill with a big temple at the top. The rock hill itself gives nice views of the area below, but the inside the temple is where the action is. Just make sure you buy tickets at the bottom BEFORE you climb up, or else you’ll disappointed to find no ticket office is up there. Beware of annoying and aggressive macaque monkeys on your way up.

Restaurants & Cafes:

• Shenadi – don’t understand the high reviews. The food was bad IMO.

Bars, clubs, and nightlife:

• This really isn’t the town for nightlife but the restaurants here will have alcohol.

Miscellaneous tips:

• General travel tips for Sri Lanka.
• Beware of elephant danger!
  • There is a war here between man and elephants. Taking turns attacking each other and creating more bad memories of each other.
  • In Sigiriya, you are told by everyone never to walk around outside since elephants can come.
  • They often attack and kill about 5 people every year in that town alone. You’ll hear many tales of tuktuk drivers being chased, or people seeing an angry bull elephant blocking the road. There was a young girl who died shortly before I was there. Another story of a local guy was killed when the elephant broke in his home and killed him (because he was cooking rice).
  • Elephants love rice and corn and are especially active during those crop seasons. Attempts at containing them with electric fences don’t work since they know how to knock down the wooden posts and walk over the downed wires. The battle wages back and forth like a modern day Jurassic Park.
• Bus to Trincomalee:
  • We had a hard time finding a ride to Trincomalee (for 3ppl with luggage) so the local tuktuk guide showed us how to catch the bus (which comes pretty frequently during the day).
  • We took a 30min bus from Sigiriya back to Inamaluwa (direction of Dambulla) for 60 LKR. Then took a 2hr15min bus from Inamaluwa to Trincomalee for 520 LKR. The first bus, we had our luggage with us on the seats and the bus had just enough space for everyone to sit. The 2nd bus allowed us to put our big luggage into the back space of the bus.
  • Total ride cost was 580 LKR per person and 2hr45min bus, instead of 5,333 LKR per person and 2hr taxi.
  • Bonus part of our bus ride, there was a huge elephant along the road at one point and all vehicles were scared to pass by. Then at some point, the vehicles just crept past it one by one. Nothing happened, that I saw.
  • Locals definitely stare at you a lot since there’s usually never any foreigners on the bus. We were the only ones the entire time.

Itinerary:

• Go to Sigiriya Rock and Pidurangala Rock in whatever that best fits your schedule and weather forecast.

Nearby towns:

• Kandy** – nice central highlands mountain town in Sri Lanka. Good food options, with more Indian stuff here (than in the south). Has nice elevated mountain viewpoints of the city to see, botanical gardens (yes, a unique and worthy one to see), nearby day trip to Ambuluwawa Tower.
• Trincomalee – very conservative beach town in the northeast of Sri Lanka.

Unfiltered notes:

• The Jewel in Sri Lanka’s Crown – The Lion’s Rock of Sigiriya – Adventures of Jellie
• Sigiriya The Ancient Rock Fortress – TripAdvisor