Sigiriya Sri Lanka, Central Province

Sigiriya, meaning “Lion rock”, is a giant rock formation that juts out of the ground with a surrounding complex that is almost 2 miles long! It can be seen miles away, but the real treat is admiring the entire civilization that was built inside. It was built to be a protected fortress for King Kashyapa and became the capital of Sri Lanka during the time of his rule. It is surrounded by a lush forest landscape that creates a breathtaking view both of the rock and from the rock looking out.

Visitors can admire ancient rock carvings within Sigiriya. At one point, visitors were able to add their own inscriptions to one of the walls in the palace, but thankfully that has since been stopped to preserve the original carvings.

The walk to the top takes about an hour and will make you sweat! It’s tiring, but doable and there is a lot to look at on the way up. It can get pretty hot on this trek, so visiting during the cooler months of January-April is recommended. Make sure to get a good look at the gardens; these are some of the oldest landscaped gardens in the world and are still kept up today using water from the ancient cisterns around the rock.