Minneriya National Park in Sigiriya

Spot a huge gathering of an Asian herd of elephants here

Quick Information

See Map
Best time to visit
Jan - Apr
Ideal Duration
5-6 Days
Visa
On Arrival
Starting from
Rs. 1,980
  • Ideal for families
  • Ideal for friends
  • Adventure Activities

About Minneriya National Park in Sigiriya

Sri Lanka is a beautiful island country rich in wildlife. It is a land known for its flora and fauna. With quite a range of national parks, it offers some of the best wildlife tours to visitors. One such park that is known for its safaris is Minneriya National Park. Minneriya National Park was announced a wildlife sanctuary in 1938 and became a national park much later in 1997. It is located in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka and is an amazing place to add to one’s Sri Lanka trip. The reason behind making it a national park was to save the catchment area of Minneriya Tank and to also save the wildlife in the area. The main attraction here are the Asian elephants, and one can enjoy watching one of the largest gatherings of an Asian herd here. It is quite a spectacle and the top attraction of this national park.

The park is situated in a dry zone of Sri Lanka, and during the summer season, it becomes the feeding ground for animals, which is when one can spot these magnificent Minneriya National Park animals. If you are wondering about things to do in Minneriya National Park, then there are jeep safaris which are the top activity to do here. There are various jeep safari tours that one can take here on their visit to Minneriya National Park. The Minneriya National Park jeep safari is available both in the morning and evening. The morning safari gives one a chance of birdwatching and spotting peacocks, pelicans, eagles and other birds. While the evening Minneriya National Park safari offers one with a chance of spotting some of the largest herd of elephants among other animals like crocodiles, Iguanas and more.

Other than the main attraction here which is watching the elephants in the wild in their natural habitat, the national park is quite scenic. One can click a lot of pictures of the flora and fauna here. The park is at a distance of 180 km from Colombo and one can take day tours from the city to this national park. Visit Minneriya National Park on a trip to Sri Lanka among other wildlife attractions.

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Authentic Traveler Reviews

Read on to find out why our customers love us!

Nachiket's 7 days trip to Sigiriya

Thank you to Dilini and steeple travels for making our trip to srilanka successful we are taking back a lot of good memories to cherish. All the stays were 5/5 as committed Transportation 5/5 Food arrangements 5/5 Special thanks to kasul our dedicated and very professional driver and guide for being so helpful throughout trip. He is truly dedicated to his profession, very knowledgeable and friendly we enjoyed our trip with him. We will surely recommend our friends and family to travel to srilanka via steeple travels. Thank you once again

Nachiket Patil Mumbai

Venkatesh's 6 days trip to Sigiriya

My Grandparents and I recently had the pleasure of exploring Sri Lanka with Discover Ceylon Tours, and I must say it was an incredible experience from beginning to end. From the moment I contacted them, their team was very responsive, knowledgeable, and attentive to my needs. We had a lot of complementary places to visit including a beautiful tea estate and a fully guided spice garden and a spice shop with all the spices available in Sri Lanka. Since we were Tamilians, The agency especially got us a specific Tamil driver. One thing I Really appreciate about the agency and especially the Driver is that, once we told him that my grandfather had special medical condition, he took that in to account very seriously unlike other drivers that we had met. He would drive accordingly and drop us near the entrance of the site and then park his car. The driver was always there with us to take care of us especially my grandfather, who he took VERY good care of. He would guide us everywhere because we were new to Sri Lanka. The driver would not hesitate to take us wherever we wanted and would give us extra tips about the wonders of Sri Lanka. He was always cheerful, helpful and adjusting. Kudos to Mr. Nasran (Our Driver). What truly set this agency apart was their attention to detail and commitment to providing a personalized experience. We were a vegetarian faily and they paid special attention to that point and booked us hotels which accommodated this Indian cuisine and diet. The accommodations and facilities in the hotels provided were top-notch, offering a comfortable stay after each day's adventures. Overall, my experience with Discover Ceylon Tours met my expectations. Their exceptional service, combined with their local expertise, made for an unforgettable journey. If you're planning a trip to Sri Lanka, I highly recommend booking with Discover Ceylon Tours for a truly memorable experience! Kudos to your team and especially Mr. Wazim for making our trip go smooth.

Venkatesh Subramanian Bengaluru

Raajesh's 7 days trip to Sigiriya

I had travelled to srilanka with group of 4 members via travco adventures on May 1 St to May 7 th . I really liked the way Roshell and Fernando communicated with us and Roshell slowly and very politely explained all the details of itenary. Most importantly how many times u call Roshell to get details she will reply politely and do all the necessary details . I have asked for change of hotels in all places and they have done that and communication is very important which they have done to their best. They have done that very prompt. They have sent driver Dhanuka who was driving the car for 7 days . And his driving skills is too good and will inform a day before about the itenary and time to start the tour. It was indeed great trip. Thank u travos and especially Roshell and Fernando for the wonderful trip organised.

Raajesh Krishna Chennai

Rejath's 5 days trip to Sigiriya

The tour agents Discover Ceylon did a good job. Though there was an issue with the hotel booking at Colombo, it was resolved quickly. The driver Mr. Kiaz was very good. Regarding the hotels, the one at Kandy Mahaweli reach hotel was excellent. Rest all were decent. Repeatedly asking for documents by Travel Triangle was unnecessary and should be avoided.

REJATH MADHAVAN NAIR Bengaluru

Sudip's 5 days trip to Sigiriya

We had a great tour in Sri Lanka via Crimson Voyages. They were in touch with us throughout and every request and query was accommodated. Thanks to them we had a lovely vacation

Sudip Purkayastha Mumbai

Shanu's 9 days trip to Sigiriya

It was amazing experience... I don't one single moment to share as the whole trip was amazing...

Shanu Prasad Chennai

Rashi's 8 days trip to Sigiriya

We travelled to Sri Lanka for 8D/7N and over 06 locations in April 2024. This was our mini honeymoon as a newly married couple. Organizing our stays, driver, and itinerary with 'I Am Srilanka' was a pleasant experience. Themindi, our travel agent, was professional in accomodating our requests and suggested the itinerary and hotels well in our trip budget. She was polite and it was a pleasant experience communicating with her all throughout. Afzal, our driver, drove well and comfortably. He was aware of the routes and kept the car clean each time we sat. A polite, pleasant, and professional driver. Few things could have been better: The Colombo hotel was a highly rated but a very below average hotel with outdated amenities. Colombo hotel suggestion could have been better. Our itinerary was very hectic with only one day at each location; this made us very tired and we also missed visiting the treks and temples due to the large travel time. We could only touch one or two must visit places in each location. I would suggest booking two/three days per location at the very least. It is important to discuss and clarify all hidden charges and the mode of payment with 'I am Srilanka'. They have some preferences with paying in USD and in cash upon reaching Sri Lanka. Better to have these clarified in advance. Thanks for helping us organise our trip. We do plan to revisit. Chilling on a sun bed, next to our private beach at the Palms Hotel, in Bentota.

RASHI TOMAR Bengaluru

Arindam's 8 days trip to Sigiriya

Travel Triangle and Travco Adventures combined to hlp us for a memorable SL Trip .

Arindam Roy Bangalore

Muhammad's 7 days trip to Sigiriya

Overall experience was good but very uncomfortable , driver was professional, humble and knowledgeable, car was decent, though we didn’t get what we had paid for and definitely we’ll never opt for travco in future. Since my wife is in her final trimester we requested the the travel agent to cut-short our trip skipping sigriya , dambulla and bentotta and keeping 2 days at one destination so that we don’t have to hop from one hotel to another every single day. We covered colombo, kandy, nurwa elliya and ella in 8 days. But the room provided to us were not what we paid for. Both in kandy and nurwa eliyya on first day there was no view/ balcony and we were forced to adjust on day one and were provided the promised room on day 2. UpOn confirming with the hotel reception we were told that the travel agent was told about the unavailability of the room on the provided dates. He played smart, keeping us in dark and had the audacity to threaten us to cancel the trip in nurwa eliya upon complaining when it happened for the second time in nurwa eliyya. So technically we cut short 3 destinations, paid more than the initial quotation and switched rooms every single day for 8 days pretty much adding to the discomfort. Secondly, considering my wife’s pregnancy in mind we preponed the trip by one day without any change in the itinerary thereby adding extra day in colombo to rest and readily paid extra for one day accommodation plus airport transport( that was covered in trip). Travel agent said his service is from airport to airport so if we are coming one day before we’ve to pay extra for airport to colombo transfer. We paid without arguing but we strongly feel this could have been avoided. Thirdly, travel agent always increased the price by 10-15 usd saying the economic conditions in srilanka isn’t good which is clearly unprofessional. Moreover he provided the wrong booking name in all four hotels adding to the confusion.

Muhammad Murad Dubai

Priyanka's 7 days trip to Sigiriya

Overall good trip and arrangements done by Steeple Tour. Thanks Chandi and also Dishan, who showed us all the places.

Priyanka Chitragar Bengaluru

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FAQ's of Sigiriya

Read on to find out why our customers love us!

The best time to visit the park is during the dry season from July to October if one wants to enjoy watching the Asian herd of elephants.

Yes, it is always a good option to book a safari tour or a jeep beforehand to get around in Minneriya National Park.

There are two safari tours that take place at Minneriya National Park. If you want to enjoy bird-watching, then take the morning jeep safari.

Tourism in Sigiriya

Rated 4.33/5 ( based on 3142 reviews )