ポロンナルワ遺跡入場券（ガイド付き）

We spent a few hours in the afternoon exploring the archaeological ruins and loved it! We were surprised at how few people were there and it appears that most people go in the morning and do an animal safari in the afternoon so we had great views and had no one in our photos! The ruins are spread over a large area so it is definitely worth having a driver and an air conditioned vehicle to get from site to site. The museum is worth a visit to get an understanding of how the buildings probably once looked and to see various relics. Having a guide to explain the architecture and the meaning behind the various buildings and sculptures is definitely worthwhile. We happily roamed around, dodging the various hawkers and monkeys and soaking up this fascinating area. Thoroughly recommend a visit here.

+1

The Polonnaruwa experience represents an extra for all those who have already had the opportunity to visit the entire island or are passing through those areas. The visit costs $30 per person which is really a lot considering local costs. The visit begins at a small museum that explains the history of this ancient civilization and then continues towards the city itself where you can admire all the monuments, temples, etc., reduced to ruins. Decent experience that, as anticipated, is not mandatory and transcendental, but if you are in the area you can consider visiting. Small piece of advice, don't be fooled by local guides, ask for the cost of the entire excursion first and then proceed.

+23

This is a vast site of inner and outer cities that you can drive or cycle around (bikes available just outside) stopping at a number of ruins to explore further. The museum explains the site and has some good models of what the buildings would have looked like (and did before restoration too) so worth going in first. Hot though as the A/C isn’t currently working! The ruins on the site are mostly just the lower brickwork so need to use your imagination. The official guide's value comes in now aa they know the best way round to see the most. You could spend all day here! Too hot for that, 42ish when we visited. Quite a few hawers selling mostly trash but a firm no thanks with a smile and the leave you alone. A number of sites are religious so be prepared to remove shoes and hats often if you want to go in. All quite clean - my white socks are barely stained.

+6

These ruins are well worth a visit. There is so much to see. It is spread over a very big site so you do need transport to get around. We went with our Walker’s Tour guide, who was very informative. It is very interesting.

The site is huge and pleasant to visit. But they're just ruins. Some of them are nevertheless interesting and suggest the magnificence of what it must have been.

I must declare up front that the guide we had didn't explain much about this site we did affect our views on the visit as we felt we lacked the context to fully appreciate what turns out to be the remains of a complete city. If you go the musuem first there is a tableau there that allows you to see the whole city and appreciate the whole site, you can even hire bikes there to cycle around it. Lots of sites to see and proably deserves 5*.

Polonnaruwa is amazing place full of history worth visiting. However, be aware of the guides. We always prefer to take a guide when visiting such place just to get some knowledge and information. Our driver recommended and organized for us a certified "good" guide right from the site (in front of museum entrance). As he was recommended by local and had certification batch, we agreed on the price (40dolars) and started the visit. Huge mistake. This guide could not speak almost any english and was not able to make one clear sentence. All he knew was maybe 20 words altogether which he was randomly repeating: "roof stone, roof old, old, stone". We didnt learned any history that day and I got more information from informational tables. I do not say you should not take guide at all, but I very strongly recommend that you test their english level before you agree to take one, so you will avoid hassle and dispoaintment later. Their certification does not cover language skills.

Thoroughly enjoyed out tour through the ancient city. I would typically read my way through independently or use Google for info, but we decided to hire a local guide who was well worth it. Jayalath was very knowledgeable and gave us far more information than we would have thought to search for. There are many guides outside the ticket area but Jayalath was waiting at the first ruins area and gave us a much better rate. I would highly recommend finding Jayalath if you can and make the most of your trip through the ancient ruins.

I’ll open with I’ve been to a lot of ancient cities and a lot of temples over the years. Unless you’re a serious history/archaeology buff, this is probably going to be underwhelming. And even if you are, it will quite possibly still be underwhelming. The scale, taken as a whole is impressive, but it’s doesn’t really have that Angkor Wat wow factor plus the lack of information boards (some deliberately destroyed or defaced at that), maps etc for context, frankly useless guides and a high ticket price makes this a missable site from my perspective. We had a car and got through the lot in a couple of hours because to be frank, there wasn’t that much to see. The southern part of the site is in a poor state of preservation and this is exacerbated by a museum that may as well not exist and a disappointing amount of garbage. There are some standout parts of the northern part of the site, specifically Gal Viharaya which are very obviously well cared for. It’s a shame as it was obviously somewhere very important but precious little effort has been put into presenting the site. Don’t plan your trip around this - it’s a morning stop off at best.

Such an amazing place to visit, well worth it, we had a guide who was able to explain all of the different areas. It was extremely busy with tourists and school children and was a much larger site than I realised it would be. A definite recommendation.

+11