Colombo City Tour And Private Guided





Description
This City Tour of Colombo, focuses on exploring the commercial capital of Sri Lanka-Colombo. Bustling with energy all day long, this is a city of vibrant colours and rich culture, offering fascinating insights into the national psyche of Sri Lanka. During your brief stay, you will be able to visit the old Wolfendhal Dutch Church (built in 1749), a Hindu Temple, the famous Gangarama Temple situated facing the Beira Lake. On your way around the city, you will also witness a plethora of shopping malls housing designer brands, beautifully landscaped gardens and colonial precincts such as the Dutch Hospital and more.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Gangaramaya is a Buddhist temple with a fusion of modern architecture and a touch of culture. Being a popular landmark of the city, this complex is built on a lake and consists of a temple, a conference hall for Buddhist monks and a vocational training institute.
Independence Memorial Hall in Sri Lanka is mostly popular as a recreational venue for joggers, strolling couples, students from the nearby university and families looking for a refreshing reprieve from the urban environment of Colombo. Independence Memorial Hall is located in the Independence Square at Colombo 7. This place is known as Torrington Square in early days. This Hall was built for the commemoration of the independence from British in 1948. The hall was built at the location where the formal ceremony marking the start of self-rule, with the opening of the first parliament by the HRH Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester occurring at a special podium February 4, 1948. This Hall is based on the architecture of the Audience Hall( Magul Maduwa) located in Kandy. The column and pillers are decorated with traditional Sri Lankan designs and statues of lions are placed around the building.
The Colombo Museum as it was called at the beginning was established on 1st January 1877. It founder was Sir William Henry Gregory, the British Governor of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) at the time. The Royal Asiatic Society (CB) was instrumental in bringing to the notice of Gregory on his appointment as Governor in 1872 the need for a public museum with much difficulty the approval of the legislative council was obtained within a year. The Architect of the Public Works Department, J.G. Smither was able to prepare the plans for new structure on Italian architectural style. The construction was completed in 1876 and the Museum commenced it functions in the following year.
The Kathiresan kovil or Puthiya (new) Kathiresan kovil is a beautiful one easily recognizable from Galle Road in Bambalapitiya -the temple is dedicated to the war God Skanda or Murugan.Kovils are typically vertical structures heavily adorned with images from Hindu mythology. On the corners of the roof of the Kathiresan kovil you'll find Bhairava the Frightful, a fierce manifestation of Shiva.The men selling garlands at the front gate told us that the temple is likely more than a hundred years old.The kovil has both old and new sections, some parts in bright colours and some in gold paint - it's all very grand and superfluous, but the craftsmanship of the artist behind the sculpted figures is amazing. At the back of the premises to the left are the Kathiresan Hall and further in Manikka Pillaiyar Kalai Rangam, halls where weddings are often carried out.If you go round the back of the temple, you'll also find some cages of love birds and cockatoos and even a pretty peahen.
One Galle Face is a mixed-use complex of buildings currently being built near the Galle Face Green in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is also Sri Lanka's first internationally and developed and managed mixed use project and was officially opened on 8 November 2019
Hospital Street where we are located becomes a cozy street every night with lots of activities from Cultural Shows, Jazz Nights, Jam Session Nights, Karaoke Nights, Ladies Nights, Street Food Festival Nights and we have bands playing outside
Travelling past Colombo’s Galle Face Green towards the area known as Fort, a cityscape looms. In the background, silvery skyscrapers and cream-colored buildings dominate. You will notice a building close to the sea whose dimensions are in complete contrast, being several hundred meters long and only three storey’s high. This Neo-Baroque-style building was built during the British colonial era to house the Legislative Council of Ceylon. It was built on an idea of Sir Henry McCallum, which led to a proposal made by a committee to construct the new building for the Secretariat, Council Chamber and Government offices on reclaimed land at the northern end of Galle Face’ were accepted by the Government in 1920. The chief architect of the Public Works Department, A. Woodson was responsible for the design of the building with his initial estimate of Rs 400,000 for the scheme being later revised Rs 450,000, taking into account the extra expenses involved.
Colombo Red Mosque, also known as Jami Ul-Alfar Masjid, is literally an architectural wonder for the world that would stun you with its unusual color patterns and unconventional yet amazing design. Located in Pettah district, this oldest mosque towers over the buildings and streets in the neighborhood with its tall minarets and had been once a reliable landmark for the sailors coming towards Colombo port. Here both men and women are granted access, but you have to be clad in decent clothes and cover your head and respect the customs. The unconventional red tone has won the name,' red mosque', for this beauty
The Lotus Tower also referred to as Colombo Lotus Tower, is a tower of 350 m (1,150 ft), located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sinhala Name is ' Nelum Kuluna " You can go to the top here and use the elevator. This is the tallest tower in South Asia. When you go to the top, you can see the very impressive city of Colombo.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We will meet you at the front lobby of the hotel.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(2)
Guide was personable but was basically a driver, not tour guide, offering little commentary. He was late for pickup with no apology. Itinerary didn’t match what was advertised, leaving out the national museum and adding some shopping sites. The mosque was already closed for the day when we arrived. I was able to see much of Colombo with all the driving around, but with little commentary to explain what I was seeing.
Driver was 2 hours late. Viator blaming Tour Company and Tour Company blaming Viator. They charged me £172.00 for a half baked tour. I booked it early as we had a wedding event in the evening. F I had not contacted Viator we could have been sitting all day in the lobby. Then we get a car come but then half way they decide to change drivers so that was another half hour wasted. No water was provided on the trip and there were tiny flies in the car. Overall experience was very bad will never use this company again. We used Bentota Travel Mart and they were amazing we had one driver for 3 days and he was excellent car was very clean aircon was in very good working order. Please do not book this tour.
We accept that there was a 30-minute delay, but not a 2-hour delay as mentioned. We informed the client in advance about the 30-minute delay, and the client accepted it. To ensure their comfort, we arranged a larger vehicle at no additional cost. The driver change did not take any extra 30 minutes, as claimed. Regarding the expressway entrance, due to standard access procedures, we had to use the normal road, which usually takes around 30 minutes. We also provided an experienced tour driver to ensure a smooth and safe journey. The main issue arose when the client requested to do only a half-day tour because they needed to attend a wedding function in the evening. They then asked for a 50% refund for the unused half day. However, we had already allocated a vehicle and driver for the full day, so a refund is not applicable. We always aim to provide our services without time limitations and with full professionalism. Therefore, we cannot agree with the client’s claims in their review, as the situation was not caused by our service



