18 Things to Do in Sri Lanka for Foodies & Adventurers

When you see photos of Sri Lanka, it’s almost always of the pristine beaches with golden sand lined with palm trees. And that is absolutely accurate; some of the most beautiful beaches we have ever seen EVER. But there are so many more things to do in Sri Lanka.

If you’re up for an adventure, you’re into learning about culture and history and food, Sri Lanka is also the place for you. This phenomenal little island quite literally has it all.

Hike to insane viewpoints over the jungle, flag down the bread man in his singing van, climb the most vertigo-inducing tower we’ve ever encountered, stay overnight at a historic tea estate, buy fried snacks that get served in paper bags made from homework (I’m totally not kidding!), explore ancient sites dating back to the third century BC!

Anyway, this is one of our all-time favourite countries, we first visited in 2018 and have been back three more times because we just cannot get enough. The perfect mix of relaxing, adventure, and tasty food; Sri Lanka has it covered.

1. Eat Rice & Curry (with your Right Hand)

So, you don’t have to use your hand to eat rice and curry, and for someone who is not used to it, this could be a challenge. I get it.

BUT when in Rome… get stuck in!

We have very much got the hang of it since we’ve spent many months in India and Sri Lanka using our hands, but at the very beginning it was tough. Not so tough that we threw the towel in. Just tough enough that it slowed down our eating, which is probably a good thing really.

But rice and curry is a way of life in Sri Lanka. Usually served between 11am and 2pm, you get a dollop of a selection of curries that have been prepared ahead of time. Think dal, beetroot, pumpkin, mango, green beans, breadfruit. There are SO many vegetarian options in Sri Lanka! Often, you’ll get a couple of meaty curry add-ons but they’re not usually the default selection of curries. The food tends to be on the cooler side compared to how we would have it back home, but that makes it easier to pick up with your hands.

3. Climb the Iconic UNESCO Sigiriya Rock

Sigiriya Rock is iconic. We’ve actually been up three times over the last eight years! I’ve heard loads of travellers miss it because the ticket price isn’t the most affordable: it’s about $30. But, for foreign tourists, the fees for attractions are all around this sort of price.

Is it worth it? Yes, no question.

There are outrageous views from the top as well as fortress ruins, beautiful grounds with historic pools at the base of the rock, there are the famous huge stone lion paws at the base of the steps, ancient frescoes; and it’s a UNESCO world heritage site! We easily spent three hours exploring the whole site; it’s very much somewhere you could spend a whole morning or afternoon.

Keep an eye out for the particularly pesky monkeys in Sigiriya; they are a little too comfortable with tourists!

We’ve written a blog post all about climbing Sigiriya Rock and what to expect.

4. Hike to Sigiriya’s Best Viewpoint: Pidurangala Rock

The most fun hike/scramble to get to the best viewpoint over Sigiriya. This pretty easy-going hike (until the very end) takes you up steps to a temple, through the jungle, past a huge reclining Buddha built into the rockface, clambering over massive boulders before bringing you out at a clearing with the most beautiful panoramic views over Sigiriya. The jungle views seem never-ending, and you can even see the famous Sigiriya Rock from here.

It’s really popular at sunrise because, well, the views are outrageous already but partnered with a colourful sky, it’s pretty special.

We hiked this with my parents and it didn’t take any longer than an hour to get to the top.

Definitely check out our full guide on hiking Pidurangala Rock.

5. Explore the Ancient Buddhist Dambulla Cave Temples

Buddhist temples have been carved into the rockface and have ancient Buddha statues and religious artwork. Yeah, it’s as impressive as it sounds. If you’re looking to add some culture and history to your Sri Lanka itinerary, Dambulla Caves need to be right up there.

They’re right in the cultural triangle and are close by to Sigiriya so it’s a nice easy half-day trip from there. Oh, and the location on the map shows two entrances and we managed to go to the wrong one of both of the occasions we visited! So, yeah, we break it all down in our Dambulla Cave guide – we made the mistakes (twice) so that you don’t have to 😣.

6. Cycle Around Ancient Ruins of Polonnaruwa

Polonnaruwa was Sri Lanka’s second capital city after Anuradhapura was breached back in the 11^th century. Today, the ancient site is UNESCO-recognised and is full of ruins of buildings, temples, stupas, and Buddha statues.

It is an impressive complex that is relatively compact, meaning you can cycle from ruin to ruin, which is what makes this more of an adventure. (Not just because the quality of bike you’ll get likely won’t be the best!) Put your suncream and hat on, jump on your hire bike, and off you pedal!

Entrance fee is pretty steep for this one at around $35 USD. It’s easiest to pay for it by card at the museum, but make sure you hold on to your ticket for inspection around the complex.

There is very little info on site, so make sure you visit the museum where you buy the ticket. And then if you want to learn more about the history, you would be better off with a guide or tour – take a look at these ones.

7. Explore the Sacred City of Anuradhapura by Bike

The original capital city of Sri Lanka dates back to the 4^th century, which absolutely blows my mind. Anuradhapura is a much larger sacred city than Polonnaruwa so you’ll have to cycle more, or you could even hire yourself a self-drive tuk tuk if you fancied!

Entrance fees are the same as Polonnaruwa at around $35 USD but there is much more to see here. A full day is the minimum to see all the highlights. There are HUGE dagobas and stupas everywhere, ruins of buildings, intricately carved moonstone. And the best part about Anuradhapura is that almost no foreign tourists make it this far north, so you will probably have the site to yourself.

Again, the site doesn’t have much info so make sure you take around the museum where you buy the ticket, and if you want to know more about the history, you’ll need a guide to really explain what you are looking at.

Tuktuk or bike tours are available through Get Your Guide.

We’ve got all the best bits you can’t miss when visiting Anuradhapura in this guide.

8. Head into the Knuckles Mountain Range for a Yoga Retreat

Ok, now this was so much fun! If you’re really into yoga or if you’re a beginner or even if you’ve never tried yoga before but you’re kind of intrigued, get yourself up here.

Just outside of Kandy, is Welikande, a beautiful retreat centre set up in the mountains overlooking phenomenal views of the surrounding jungle and mountains.

Have two yoga sessions per day, vegetarian meals, ayurvedic massage, and day trips to explore the area, cooking classes, hikes, etc. You can get a little bit of everything here and it’s such a wholesome experience. We left feeling calmer, a little bendier, and with a renewed love for yoga.

9. Hike to Ella Rock

From Ella train station, walk beside the train tracks to Kithalella train station. The directions can be a little confusing for this one, but just use good old trusty Maps.me to bring you the right way.

Walk through tea plantations and climb up steep rocky sections to get to the Ella Rock viewpoint. It can get slippery and there may be leeches if there’s been rain, so make sure you bring good sturdy footwear.

Unfortunately, like it seems to be the case with many beautiful places in Sri Lanka, they now charge for you to see the view. There’s a fence and ticket office where you have to pay 900 LKR in cash (as of Jan 2024).

10. Take a Public Bus

If you’re up for a proper adventure, it doesn’t get much better than the local buses. They’re bright and colourful and have banging music (even at 6am) and have flashing lights (like you’re at a rave, and yes, even at 6am), and they career down the roads swerving in and out of traffic.

These buses are very much the king of the road, well, unless a big old elephant makes an appearance on the road. They’re busy and loud and a little overwhelming, but they’re also affordable, fast and a quintessential Sri Lankan experience.

11. Drive Your Own Tuktuk

This is such a dream activity for us! Unfortunately, the last time we visited Sri Lanka, the country was having big issues with availability of petrol (no thanks to Trumpy and his temper tantrums) so we decided against getting our own transport and instead went with local buses and trains for the month. BUT next time we visit, oh my god we will definitely be hiring our own tuktuk to drive around the island!

Tuktuk Rental helps you out with the tuktuk, training, and all the nitty gritty so that you’re ready for Sri Lanka’s roads! Make sure you have all the right paperwork before you head over there; there have been some 2026 changes to the driving permits required.

12. Climb Ambuluwawa Tower

This tower is wild.

The most vertigo-inducing experience I have ever had. I am not great with heights (Chris is fine with them), and the higher you go, the narrower the steps get. Once you’re near the top, the steps are so narrow that you have no option but to physically squeeze past other people.

It’s all a bit claustrophobic as well as being rough for people who hate heights, but there is no doubt that this is one of the most unique structures that we have climbed. The views (if you have better weather than us) are outrageous. The views over the jungle and mountains on the tuktuk ride up there were amazing, and then as we got to the tower, the cloud dropped (of course!).

Entrance fee was 2750 LKR per person in May 2026 which we could pay with cash or card.

13. Sip on Fresh King Coconut Water

Most coconuts tend to be green, but when you go to Sri Lanka, they have the king coconut which is a bright orange! Track down a stand at the side of the road (they always have the tastiest ones) and get the machete-wielding vendor to cut the top of for you.

Sip the delicious coconut water straight from the fruit. And depending on how mature your coconut is, you can get them to also whack it open with the machete again to scoop out the coconut meat. It doesn’t get any fresher than that!

14. Flag Down the Bread Man

That’s not his official title by any means, but you’ll hear him all over Sri Lanka. He drives a tuktuk where the back has been converted into a wee windowed shelving area for all the bakery snacks. The tuktuk sings like an ice cream truck back home sings so that you know he’s coming.

Run outside with some small change and buy yourself a snack from the bread man. We always go for the veg curry roll – stunning!

15. Try Dal Wade with Dried Chilli

These are SO GOOD! They are small spiced lentil fritters with curry leaves, onion, dried chilli are deep-fried until the outside is so crisp that you think you might break a tooth. The amount of these little snacks we ate on buses and trains and just whenever we saw a shop selling them, like, I have lost count!

If you get them from a bus or train vendor, you might even be lucky enough to get a paper bag made out of old homework! It’s maybe not the most hygienic way to package up your snacks, but it’s dead unique and I’m all for recycling, so 🤷

Make sure you ask for the dried chill to go with it. Take a wee nibble of the chilli, followed by a bit of the dal wade. The perfect bite!

16. Brave a Wood Apple

These genuinely look like rocks! And they really are rock hard. You need to smash them on a concrete step or use a big old cleaver to get into them, but they are so unique! And if you love things sour like me, well you’ll like this guy too.

Once you’ve broken your way in, the flesh is brown and mushy and fibrous and has a smell that’s pretty similar to a strong apple cider or something very fermented.

I might not be selling it too well, but I really liked it. Often, you’ll see locals add some sugar to it to calm down the sourness, but you’ll also see it blended into smoothies or lassis or juices or jams.

We’ve only ever seen wood apples in South India and Sri Lanka.

17. Drink Arrack and Coke

Sri Lanka’s classic spirit is arrack. It’s made from the sap of coconut palm flowers and it has a nearly-rum vibe to it. The alcohol percentage hovers around the 40% mark, and it is perfect mixed with coke or some kind of lime-flavoured drink.

18. Have a Traditional Banana Leaf Meal in Jaffna

Jaffna, in the very north of Sri Lanka, has huge South Indian influence in their culture and food. If you head up north to Malayan Restaurant for a meal laid out on a banana leaf. There are loads of different things to order on the menu but our favourite is always the curries with rice, poppadoms, etc. The restaurant is set in a pretty, historic building and it’s a proper local spot.

Plan more of your trip with these:

• Travel Tips for Sri Lanka: 12 Actually Useful Things to Know
• Vegetarian Food in Sri Lanka: 19 Delicious Dishes to Try
• Climbing Sigiriya Rock: Sri Lanka’s Lion Fortress Ruins
• Pidurangala Rock: Hiking to Sigiriya’s Best Viewpoint
• 6 Top Things to Do in Anuradhapura: Sri Lanka’s Sacred City
• Mihintale: Sri Lanka’s Sacred Cradle of Buddhism
• Kandy to Ella Train: Review & Tips to Not Be Disappointed
• 6 Best Beaches in Sri Lanka Without Crowds (& 2 to Skip!)
  • See all of our Sri Lanka guides