Colombo City Tour by Open-Deck Bus (Private 3-Hour Tour)

Colombo City Tour by Open-Deck Bus (Private 3-Hour Tour)

This weekday tour lets you glimpse the heart of Colombo city - that living core formed from its history, culture, architecture, and people. Travel on an open-topped double-decker tour bus around the city watching the most important locations that are seeped in local or old colonial history, or are unique and beautifully built by famous architects, or even the best shopping precincts to visit. This tour gives you an overview of them all to the busy traveler in Sri Lanka who is very short on time. A very appropriate tour for a flight stopover or first day in Sri Lanka.

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Galle Face Green, Galle Road, Colombo Sri Lanka

Your tour will start at either 9:00 am or 3:30 pm on a weekday depending on your booking. A tour guide will pick you up from your hotel in Colombo in a red city tour bus.He will explain your itinerary and start by traveling alongside Galle Face Promenade where a number of World War II cannons are placed on display. Your tour will also pass by the following attractions. The tour guide will also stop the bus and take you to some of them for a closer look.

Galle Face Promenade - a five hectare ocean-side urban park

Southern Expansion of Colombo Harbor

Colombo Lighthouse opened in 1952 by the first Prime Minister of Ceylon

Kingsbury hotel - formerly Ceylon Continental, the first five star hotel in the island

The Old Lighthouse and the Clock Tower - a Victorian landmark designed by Lady Ward and built two years prior to the Big Ben of Westminster, London

The Prison Cell of the last Sri Lankan King

The Old Dutch Hospital - the oldest building in the Colombo Fort area

The remnants of British Colonial architecture overlooking the harbor area

The historical Cargills and Millers and Caves buildings.

Khan clock tower

Slave Island - where the colonials kept African slaves in imprisonment

The Lake House complex

Air Force Headquarters

Sri Murugan Hindu Temple

Beira Lake

Gangarama Buddhist Temple

The ‘Seema Malakaya’ / Chapter House was designed by famous Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa

The War Memorial

The Colombo Public Library

The National Museum

Nelum Pokuna Theatre

Vihara Mahadevi Park

Colombo Town Hall

Horton Place, the elite residential area of Colombo

The Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH)

A replica of the Aukana Buddha Statue - a 12m pure granite standing Buddha dating back to the 5th century

The Cricket Board

Independence Avenue

Independence Memorial

Arcade Independence Square - originally an asylum, now a converted high-end shopping precinct and public gathering space

The historic Colombo Race Course - once used as a temporary airfield during WW II

Laksala - the State owned Handicrafts and souvenirs store

Your bus will stop at Colombo Town Hall so that you can take some photos of the elegant structure. You will also stop at the Independence Memorial for 15 to 20 minutes. There will be chances to do some souvenir shopping at Laksala and even optionally visit the high-end branded stores at Arcade Independence Square

Your tour will be completed at 11:30 am or 6:00 pm, depending on when you started, and you will get dropped off back at your hotel.

Special Locations for Weekend Tour

St. Anthony’s church - the historic church was the location of the famous Easter attacks

The Red Mosque

Ponnambalawaneswaram Kovil - a historic Hindu Temple constructed entirely out of granite

The Gold Market

The Old Colombo Town Hall

The market

The Belfry

Streets of historic Old Fort trade area

Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte - the location of the capital of the 14th century Kotte Kingdom

Diyawanna Lake and its surroundings

Parliament Drive bordered with the National Tree of Sri Lanka, the Ceylon Ironwood (Mesua ferrea)

The Parliament Complex designed by the Geoffrey Bawa

Note

Colombo at Night Tour held on Every Weekend

Enjoy a delightful boat ride on the Diyawanna Lake (Colombo at Night Tour Only) with views of interesting fauna and flora and exclusive views of the Parliment Complex. (Approximately 15-20 mins.)

Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes