Colombo City Walk with a Local (Private 3-Hour Tour)

Colombo City Walk with a Local (Private 3-Hour Tour)

(SKU: LK60014000) This 3-hour tour takes you on interesting and healthy walk to see the most important landmarks of Colombo City. Have fun on the green spaces of Galle Face Green, with the sea close at hand. Walk through the bustling streets of Colombo’s central business district, and visit the old Colombo Fort Clock Tower. Tour the crowded market streets of Pettah with its many colorful street sellers. Stop by the Red Mosque, one of the oldest within the country. Pass by the colonial era Fort Railway Station that remain the Railway hub of Sri Lanka. Finish off with a visit to the holy edifice of Gangaramaya Temple.

SKU: LK60014000

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Dutch Hospital Shopping Precinct, Hospital Street Galle Fort, Colombo 00001 Sri Lanka

You will be starting your tour at 9:00 am from the Old Colombo Dutch Hospital. This refined shopping mall itself has a history to tell, as the complex was once used as a Hospital by the Dutch invaders during the late 17th century. As your guide who will meet you there will tell you, this now renovated building is supposed to be the oldest within Colombo. At the beginning of your tour, you will be given your snacks and water bottle and will receive a detailed explanation of the route.

Duration: 30 minutes

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

Your first stop on your walk will be at Galle Face. This wide green space adjoining the beach lies close to several landmarks, including the Old Parliament and Galle Face Hotel. It’s used as an open-air venue for several major events. Continuing on your walk, you will pass into Colombo’s core business district. A place where millions and billions of Sri Lankan Rupees exchange hands. The buildings here mostly hail from the colonial era, a place of 'old money’. The Fort Clock Tower stands at a crossroad and tells the time to busy passers-by. During the time it was built in the 1800s the tower not only served as a clock tower but also as a lighthouse. But now only the Clock Tower function is in use.

Duration: 30 minutes

Pass By: Pettah, Colombo Sri Lanka

After weaving your way through busy office workers and seafarers in the business district, you will be walking through Pettah. Grime from centuries of trade coats the ground and walls of old dilapidated warehouses dating back to the colonial era. But then you come to the market zone, and your environment bursts into bright color, noise, and smells. Hawkers shouting, people chattering in droves, colorful wares stacked in small boxy stalls, larger shops, and even on the ground, little carts selling fragrant street food, etc. It is said that every product that comes to Sri Lanka from abroad, passes through Pettah. So you can find anything and everything there.

After the interesting sights of the Pettah Market, you will be visiting the century-old Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque on Second Cross Street, also known as the Red Mosque. The area is once again filled with olden day buildings. The Mosque gains its name from the Red and White striped paintwork of the Mosque. You will receive a brief tour here. Next, you will visit the main rail hub of Colombo, the Colombo Fort Railway Station. Constructed by the British during their invasion, the station celebrated its centenary anniversary recently.

Stop At: Gangaramaya (Vihara) Buddhist Temple, 61 Sri Jinaratana Road, Colombo Sri Lanka

The final stop on your tour will be the famous Gangaramaya Temple, which was built during the 19th century. This fully fledged hermitage is famous for its smoothly blending of modern design with classic Sri Lankan architectural style. Today the Temple serves multiple roles as a place of prayer, an institution of learning, an orphanage and more. After touring the Temple, you will return to your starting spot at the Dutch Hospital, completing your tour

Duration: 30 minutes