Visited the place in Aug 2018. The place is rich with heritage. Its a cultural masterpiece. Don't be in a hurry to visit this place - you'll need time to enjoy every moment of it. Please respect the place and maintain silence. It's understandable to have fun while vacationing, but is more important to respect local traditions while visiting the place. Joking or talking loud isn't respectful at all.

The ticket office is off the main road. You then have a fairly steep 20 minute walk to the entrance. The caves are interesting, but all very similar, and not as amazing as we had expected. Worth visiting for sure but didn't give off a spiritual vibe to us.

Nice climb and at the top you’d see cave paintings and Buddha statues built inside the cave. You can buy flowers in the middle of the climb for offering. Unlike other world heritage site you can take photos inside. Mind you , they close the door for 15mins between 10.30-10.45 for daily offerings.

A truly incredible site! We arrived at 8am and were among the first to get our tickets (currently 2000lkr). The walk up the stairs (kings way route) was shaded and not nearly as arduous as Sigiriya Rock or Pidurangala Rock. About 10 - 15 minutes max even with a couple of photo stops. You wear your shoes up the stairs and leave them at the top just before you enter the temple area. My shorts (just below the knee) were fine. His shorts (just on the knee) were deemed insufficient and so he had to borrow a sarong. The caves are all immediately adjacent to each other. We started at 5 (the furthest) and worked back. Even for people with zero interest in religious art, the caves were just amazing. Walls and ceilings are painted, and in good condition and there are a large number of Buddha figures. Caves 3 and 2 are the most impressive (1 is the smallest). The lighting was well done and allowed for beautiful photographs. What really made the experience for us was the fact that we had the caves (very nearly) to ourselves. As we were leaving, the hordes were streaming in which would definitely detract. There were a few touts outside the gates (not inside). If you are not interested, a simple no, thank you suffices, they are no big deal.

The temple is well worth a visit but we entered through the front ( Golden temple entrance) at 7am when the caves open and the ticket office was closed. This may have been because it was so early. We thought perhaps as it was early we could buy a ticket at the top. After climbing a lot of very steep steps ( we were sweating profusely as it was already hot) we got to the top entrance to be told we had to go back down to the ticket office which was off the main road ( think it said near the car parking area) nearly gave up but went and found said ticket office. Climbed the steps again and glad we did. Very ancient caves and well worth a visit. A guide joined us ( without asking) which we needed to pay for and we had to make a donation to store our shoes. Cost was 2000 lkr to get in and 2000lkr for the guide. ( he told us the price after giving the tour so if you don’t want it be firm!) but it was useful to understand the history. Don’t make the save mistake as us and ensure you have a ticket before you start climbing the stairs.