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Sigiriya and Dambulla One-Day Private Tour
Instead of long bus journeys or haggling with cabs, see Sigiriya Rock and Dambulla Cave Temple in one stress-free and illuminating private tour from Colombo and west coast hotels. With your own air-conditioned vehicle to relax in and a driver-guide to share the UNESCO-listed sites’ history, cover more ground in a day, be free to make other stops, and obtain a deeper understanding of both attractions than if exploring alone.
Is this trip right for you?
- The entire trip is private (transfers and sightseeing); only you and your associates take part in the trip.
- This 1-day trip packs a lot in. It’s one of the most popular Sri Lanka tours; we run in our original style, perfect for those who look for a one-week trip and a desire to do the most with it. If you are after a more leisurely trip in Sri Lanka or a shorter trip, please check our other tour itineraries.
- Sri Lanka can get extremely hot in the summer. While we aim to do our walking tours and city tours early in the morning or afternoon, when it’s cooler, remember to keep water on you and to bring a hat, sunscreen, a long-sleeved shirt, and anything else that will protect you from the sun.
- Part of traveling with serendipity means respecting local cultures and sensibilities. That way, you get the most out of your interactions with local people and environments. We visited a number of temples on this trip, and to enter them, you must have clothes that cover your wrists and below the knee. At the same time, you have to remove the head covers and shoes upon entering the temple. Please click here to know more about the rules and regulations pertaining to Sri Lanka temple visits.
Why you'll love this trip
- Visit Sigiriya Rock Fortress, the proposed 8th-century world wonder, one of the oldest landscaped gardens in the world, which dates back to the 5th century.
- Visit Dambulla Golden Temple, the sacred pilgrimage site for 22 centuries with 157 Buddha statues and paintings (with a surface area of 2100 m2).
- a guided hike at Sigiriya Rock Fort to learn about the historical site.
- Jeep safari in the national park of Minneriya in search of wild elephants, jackals, deer, mongooses, monitors, and other creatures frequently seen in the park.
Highlights
- Take a panoramic view from the summit of Sigiriya Rock.
- Trek to Dambulla’s Cave Temples and witness one of the oldest cave temples in the world.
- See the families of macaques (monkeys).
- Swap buses and taxis for the comfort and flexibility of a private vehicle
- Explore the sites and hear background on them. You might miss it by yourself.
- wildlife safari in Minneriya National Park.
- Relax with convenient pickup and drop-off at hotels in Colombo on the west coast.
Trip includes
- Entire ground transportation as per the tour itinerary in an air-conditioned, private vehicle
- Service of an English-speaking driver or guide (please inquire about other languages)
- Meeting arrangements at the airport on arrival and departure and pick-up from the hotel can be arranged.
- All government taxes
Trip excludes
- Expenses of personal nature such as tipping, porters, laundry, telephones, etc.
- Any meals not specified throughout the tour
- Site Guide for Sigiriya Rock
- Entrance fees (customer should pay at the entrance)
- Sigiriya rock fortress
- Dambulla Golden Cave Temple
- Pidurangala temple
- Safari in Minneriya National Park
Best price guaranteed
We guarantee the best price. If you find the same tour package at a cheaper price elsewhere, we do match the price of other tour packages and, furthermore, add a further 10% discount to it.
Choose your payment method.
We offer you mainly three payment options: card payments, bank transfers, or payment on arrival. You can choose whatever is the most convenient payment option for you.
No hidden fees and commissions
The price you see on the product pages is the exact same rate that you see in the final stage of the trip booking. There are no hidden fees and taxes such as GST, BTT, service charge, nation-building tax, hotel tax, etc.
Cancellation policy
Cancel 24 hours before the event and get the full refund.
Single supplement
The trip can be booked with a single room for the entire trip with a single supplement (please inquire about your chosen category of the hotel).
Additional info
- Confirmation will be received at the time of booking.
- A current valid passport is required on the day of travel.
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Comfortable walking shoes are recommended for this tour.
- All visitors to Buddhist and Hindu temples are expected to remove footwear and hats upon entering the temples.
- Dress code: shoulders and knees should be covered.
- The duration of transfers is approximate; the exact duration will depend on the time of day and traffic conditions.
- A current valid passport is required on the day of travel.
- Subject to favorable weather conditions
- If cancelled due to poor weather, you will be given the option of an alternative date.
- Infants must sit on laps.
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems.
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not suitable for travelers with heart problems or other serious medical conditions.
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level.
- This is a private tour/activity.
- You can reach us 24 hours a day through our hotline, 0094-77-4440977.
Sigiriya and Dambulla One Day Tour
Itineraries
Day 1
Time : 5:00 am
COLOMBO / DAMBULLA / SIGIRIYA / COLOMBO
Meet and greet by Serendipity Tours representative and leave Colombo early in the morning (at 05.00 hrs); en route, visit Dambulla cave temple and Sigiriya rock fortress. GOLDEN CAVE TEMPLE DAMBULLA In the 1st century BC, the king of Anuradhapura fled the city due to a South Indian invasion and took refuge in the caves of Dambulla. On recapturing Anuradhapura after 13 years, the king converted the caves into a monastery and gifted them to the Buddhist monks. SIGIRIYA ROCK A prince of the 5th century who committed patricide made the rock of Sigiriya his hideout in order to stay away from his half-brother who sought vengeance. This prince, Kasyappa by name, not only fortified his stronghold but also added to its artistic beauty. (declared as a world heritage site by UNESCO). OPTIONAL LUNCH BREAK We have already planned a lunch break on this one-day tour. However, if you do not need a break, we can continue the trip without a lunch break, or you can perhaps have a small break to have a refreshment. MINNERIYA SAFARI In the afternoon wildlife safari in Minneriya National Park. The Minneriya national park is located close to the Sigiriya rock fortress, and your driver guide takes you to the national park within 15-20 minutes. The wildlife safari on Minneriya lasts between 3-4 hours and it gives you the opportunity to see a large number of animals, such as elephants, buffaloes, crocodiles, deer, monkeys, mungoes, and elusive leopards sometimes. After the safari return transfer to Colombo and end of the tour
Ronnie– :
You have to go to Sigiriya Rock and climb it. We climbed the rock twice before, the first time being two years ago. I think having a helper would be great because it made the rock come to life. Every step you take in Sigiriya is worth it because it’s such a beautiful place. The steps weren’t too hard for us, and the view from the top was amazing.
We went to the Dambulla rock temple in the evening. Some of the most beautiful art in the world can be found in this temple. The statues are also very amazing. The big Buddha figure at the front door is beautiful. This tour definitely deserves 5 stars.
Pulak– :
There are many things to see and do in both Sigirya and Dambulla. From the top of Sigiriya, you can see the most beautiful views. The same goes for dambulla. Because the ride was so long, we got going very early. The driver showed up on time and was very polite. During the walk, he even bought us snacks. The most fun part of the trips was climbing the Sigriha. It was never easy to climb the rock, but the view from the top was well worth it. That was the other part: the Dambulla temple and its paintings. We won’t be sorry we went on this tour; it was well planned and worth it.
Rugieri– :
Most Wonderful and Amazing Place. For any traveler, Sigiriya is a fantastic place to see.I will always remember this incredible event.
Pamela– :
This is a great day trip to see Sigirya and Dambulla, which are in the middle of Sri Lanka’s culture triangle. Gardens and fresco art at Sigiriya are some of the things that make it famous. To get an idea of how things are set up, you should go to the museum at the bottom. After that, you can begin to climb. There were a lot of steps, including a metal stairs. Most of the area around the rock is flat, so the views from the top are great. The whole site took about two hours to look around. After that, we ate lunch at a nearby restaurant. The next place we went was the Dambulla Cave Temple. The five very big holes were cut into the rock more than 2,000 years ago. You should go here if you’re interested in Buddhism. Everything about it was worth it.
Arnold– :
One of the wonderful creations in the world. Breathtaking view. A place was built on top of this rock. it’s a place full of antiques.
Rucki– :
With his upbeat and kind demeanor, Gayan went above and above, and I genuinely feel that he became a member of the family (I shed a few tears when we said our goodbyes). We are incredibly grateful to Gayan, Seerendipity Tours, for making our trip unforgettable! ❤️🙏
Mathews– :
We were in Sri Lanka on a short vacation and did not have much time for a sightseeing tour, so that we opted for Sigiriya tour. It was super easy to book the trip with local agent and it was just a couple of WhatsApp message and everything is done. Our guide mohan was prompt to arrive. He was energetic, knowledgeable, and engaging. He taylored the tour to my preferences. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with him and highly recommend this trip.
Yadev– :
Tough and fully packed trip. Though it was interesting. Yohan did a great job by driving safely during the trip.
Johanna– :
Sigiriya tour ist eine interessante Reise, aber anstrengend
Mary laila– :
It was a sudden decision from our end to take the one day trip to Sigiriya and Dambulla. After considering many options we decided to try with Seerendipity. The local company was extremely responsive from the minute I booked the tour. We wanted to visit Sigiriya rock and dambulla golden temple, however our guide suggested us to do a wildlife tour in Minneriya. It was a good idea of Sam and we enjoyed the safari a lot. Minneriya safari was a bonus to us because otherwise we had to do another one day trip to see Sri Lanka wild animals. We ended up skipping the pidurangala temple because we were short of time as we have done the safari.
Ross– :
We did the Sigirya Sri Lanka one day private tour with Sam and we must say that tour with Rosha was exceptional. Roshan had good knowledge about all the places we visited on this trip. As his customers, we got his full attention and we highly appreciate that. We had improved our knowledge on the island, religions and it people thanks to Roshan. We definitely recommend doing Sigiriya tour with Roshan!
Iris– :
We booked Sigiriya one day trip from Colombo with Seerendipity and it was a nice trip. I and my husband had a great day exploring many temples, willife park and sigiriya. Everything was very well organized, someone from their office contacted us before the trips and WhatsApp us all the details of the pickup time, guide contact etc. Our guide, Rohan very friendly and very cooperative. He was fully concentrated on his job and explained us many interesting things about Sri Lanka and the places we visted. Our guide had good knowledge about the history of Sigriya and the Buddhist temples we visited and looked after us well. We had to drive a lot on the trip but we felt very safe during the road trip and very comfortable the whole trip.
David– :
We had to travel a lot on the trip. For a one day tour it is too much. Sigiriya and Dambulla temple visit was very interesting and we were able to see more than 100s elephant during safari.
Elizabeth– :
Amaara ist eine sehr angenehme, ruhige Person, die mir im Laufe des Tages den Buddhismus nahe gebracht hat. Sauberes, desinfiziertes Auto und es ist auch regelmäßig das Fenster geöffnet worden. Amaara geht auch gerne auf Sonderwünsche ein. Fazit: Es war ein toller Tag, viel erlebt, viel gesehen, viel erfahren.
Rishard– :
Started very early morning but early return to ten hotels as well, it was the nice program for us because we have seen a lot within a day despite the long drive
Jean and Isabella– :
Sanjeewa gave my friend and I a wonderful tour of Sigiriya, temple and minneriiya, It was fantastic. We enjoyed seeing lot of thyings like ancient constructions, buddha staues, paintings most importantly a large number of freely moving wild elephants. Sanjeewa drove very carefully and we felt very safe with him. Sanjeewa also told us a lot about Sri Lankan culture, its history, and its people. Our tour was in English – Sanjeewa speaks very good English.
Rudiger– :
Wonderful trip enjoyed a lot. Gihan was our guide he was very nice and friendly explained everything about Sigirya and dambulla.
Peter– :
We started the trip early morning from our cruise ship and returned to the ship the same day evening. The perfect plan for us. Our guide was very nice and very knowledgeable, highly recommended.
Graham– :
The climb at Sigiriya is bit difficult and to make it worst you have to climb it fast because you have limited time to complete the trip. I think the trip cannot be suitable for people like me in 70s.
James– :
Sanju is very knowledgeable and engaging. He gives a great Sri Lankan experience tour. The hike at Sigiriya was a bit intense to me because we are old, however, our guide helped us to conquer it. He gave us enough time to climb the rock despite it was important to do everything fast on this trip. We liked it and he was very caring too.
Merks– :
What was most interesting for us in the Sigiriya tour was the safari. We are not much into history and culture but but enjoyed the trip to Sigiry and temple
Diana– :
good trip
Linda– :
It was a perfect tour package for us we had only one for sightseeing in Sri Lanka. The trip was short but it is packed with tons of activities and experince. Very well organized and had seen a lot within a day.
Jelan– :
Nice trip enjoyed a lot
Christine– :
We had a very delightful and magical tour with roshan. His easy going and pleasant manner made it feel like we were with a good friend or family relative taking us around Sri Lanka.
Neuman– :
Highly recommended for travellers who have very little time in Sri Lanka
Mihael– :
Very nice day trip
Sandra– :
The trip us affordable but keep in mind you have to pay separately for entrance at Dambulla and Sigiriya
Gonzales– :
Good trip
Riza– :
Saman was a very knowledgable and experienced guide and he is very nice too. It was a nice trip
Thomas– :
Good trip but a lot of travelling