Negombo Trip Overview
A unique experience for travelers staying for a short while in Negombo. A great way to explore Colombo at it’s best. A splendid way to do a quick round of last minute shopping that you missed out on and see the bustling city of Colombo.
The time duration of this tour is entirely up to you to decide as we are flexible and can accommodate any changes.
Additional Info
Duration: 4 to 6 hours
Starts: Negombo, Sri Lanka
Trip Category: Tours & Sightseeing >> Bus & Minivan Tours
Explore Negombo Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Negombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka
A unique experience for travelers staying for a short while in Negombo. A great way to explore Colombo at it’s best. A splendid way to do a quick round of last minute shopping that you missed out on and see the bustling city of Colombo.
The time duration of this tour is entirely up to you to decide as we are flexible and can accommodate any changes.
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Pass By: Old Parliament Building, Fort, Colombo Sri Lanka
The Old Parliament Building, is the building that houses the Presidential Secretariat of Sri Lanka. Situated in the Colombo fort area facing the sea, it is in close proximity to the President’s House, Colombo and adjacent to the General Treasury Building. The building housed the island’s legislature for 53 years until the new parliamentary complex was opened at Sri Jayawardenepura in 1983.
Stop At: Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, Bauddhaloka Mawatha Near China Embassy, Colombo 00700 Sri Lanka
The Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, is a convention center located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Built between 1970 and 1973, the convention centre was a gift from the People’s Republic of China in memory of Solomon Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, Prime Minister.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Independence Square, Independence Avenue, Colombo 00700 Sri Lanka
Independence Memorial Hall (also Independence Commemoration Hall) is a national monument in Sri Lanka built for commemoration of the independence of Sri Lanka from the British rule with the restoration of full governing responsibility to a Ceylonese-elected legislature on February 4, 1948. It is located in Independence Square (formerly Torrington Square) in the Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo. It also houses the Independence Memorial Museum.
The monument 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 occurred at a special podium February 4, 1948.
Located at the head of the monument is the statue of the first prime minister of the country Rt. Hon. Don Stephen Senanayake “The Father of the Nation”. Most of the annual National Independence Day celebrations have been held here. Apart from a monument it served as the ceremonial assembly hall for the Senate of Ceylon and the House of Representatives of Ceylon until the parliament was moved to the new parliament complex. Currently it is the venue for religious events and annual national day celebrations.
Duration: 15 minutes
Pass By: Colombo Racecourse Sports Complex, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo Sri Lanka
Colombo Racecourse was a harness racing course in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. During the Second World War, it was used as a temporary airfield
Stop At: Colombo City Centre, 137 Sir James Pieris Mawatha, Colombo 00200 Sri Lanka
Opened in 2018, the grandiose Colombo City Centre is Sri Lanka’s first international mall catering to the shopping enthusiast looking for that much needed retail therapy. Boasting a variety of retail spaces; from designer fashion brands to those everyday essentials, from high end electronics to jewellery, the international shopping mall serves many a shopping enthuse. Coupled with a Multiplex Cinema and a food court specialising in international cuisine, along with its central location, the Colombo City Centre certainly has got all your requirements under one roof.
Duration: 45 minutes
Pass By: Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre, Nelum Pokuna Mawatha, Colombo 00700 Sri Lanka
The Nelum Pokuna Theatre is a newly built theatre in the shape of a lotus flower which is used for performing arts productions.
Stop At: Viharamahadevi Park, Colombo Sri Lanka
Viharamahadevi Park (formerly Victoria Park) is a public park located in Colombo, next to the National Museum in Sri Lanka. It is the oldest and largest park of the Port of Colombo. Situated in front of the colonial-era Town Hall building, the park is named after Queen Viharamahadevi, the mother of King Dutugamunu. The park was built on land donated to the Colombo city by Charles Henry de Soysa during the British rule of Sri Lanka, and used to be named “Victoria Park” after Queen Victoria. During World War II it was occupied by the British Army with Australian 17th Brigade based at Victoria Park. After the war the park was restored and open to the public in 1951.
There used to be a cricket ground in the park, which was used for first-class cricket between 1927 and 1995. Ceylon played against a touring English team there in 1927 and against an Australian team in 1935.
The park features include a huge Buddha statue and a series of water fountains. It also includes a mini zoo, a children’s play area and a BAC Jet Provost.There are Muscovy ducks in the park. They swim in the lake and walk on the grass beside it.
Viharamahadevi Park is the only large-scale public park in Colombo, and is maintained by the Colombo Municipal Council. Located at its western end is the Cenotaph War Memorial, Colombo and the Colombo Public Library. The Vihara Maha Devi Park Open Air Stadium is a venue for concerts and public events.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Colombo Lotus Tower, AC6, Colombo 01000, Sri Lanka
Lotus Tower, also referred to as Colombo Lotus Tower, is a tower of 356 m, located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It also reflects the symbolic landmark of Sri Lanka. As of 16 September 2019, the tower is currently the tallest self-supported structure in South Asia.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Dutch Hospital Shopping Precinct, Hospital Street Galle Fort, Colombo 00001 Sri Lanka
The Old Colombo Dutch Hospital (known as The Dutch Hospital) is considered to be the oldest building in the Colombo Fort area dating back to the Dutch colonial era in Sri Lanka. It is now a heritage building and a shopping and dining precinct.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: St. Lucia’s Cathedral, WVX7+7P5, Colombo 01300, Sri Lanka
St. Lucia’s Cathedral Colombo is the seat of the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Colombo in Sri Lanka. The Cathedral is located at Kotahena, in the north east of Colombo, on 18,240 sq. ft. of land. It traces its origins to a small structure for worship built during the Dutch occupation.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Colombo Grand Mosque, Grand Mosque, Colombo Sri Lanka
The Grand Mosque of Colombo is a mosque located in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The mosque has a documented history that goes back over 500 years. The earliest European reference to the mosque appears in a description from November 1505 when the commander of a Portuguese expedition anchored in Colombo bay. In 1520 following an attack on the Portuguese trading post, established earlier by Lopo de Brito, the Captain of Portuguese Ceylon, the King Bhuvanaikabahu of Kotte burnt the town (Colombo) along with two large mosques. The mosque was however rebuilt on the same site soon after. In the 1820s, the mosque was redesigned and rebuilt by Malay architect, Muhammad Balangkaya, the son of a Malay noble of the Royal House of Gowa (present-day Sulawesi, Indonesia),who was exiled to Ceylon in 1790 by the Dutch. The mosque was rebuilt as a two-storey structure, one of the first of its kind. In 1826 the British Governor of Ceylon, Edward Barnes, visited the mosque and commended the architect on the excellence of his work. In 1827 Sir Alexander Johnston discovered an Arabic inscribed tombstone dating to 948AD, which had been moved by the Dutch from the old Muslim cemetery next to the Grand Mosque, which indicates the mosque may be over 1,100 years old and possibly the oldest mosque in Sri Lanka.
In 1897 an additional wing was constructed under the supervision of I. L. M. H. Muhammad Mohideen. The wing was used in 1959 as classrooms for the newly established school, Al-Madrasathul Hameedia. In 1921 the name of the school was changed to the Hameedia Boys’ English School. The mosque was reconstructed again during 1900s to meet the modern needs of the Muslim community.
The mosque contains the shrine of the Malay saint, Tuan Bagoos Balankaya.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Sri Ponnambalam Vanesar Kovil, Kotahena, Colombo Sri Lanka
Sri Ponnambalavaneswarar Temple is located in Kochchikade area in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. This Hindu Temple was built in the year 1915 by the Indian sculptures with Black Stone(Granite). The temple is fully erected with Black stones and a place worth to see and worship. The will reminds you of the India’s Tamil Nadu temples. The temple is based on the human body structure where 9 doors can be found on the entrance of the temple on the top of the structure.
You don’t need to pay any entrance fee or for entrance ticket. There are two main entrances for the temple. To keep your expensive footwear pay up to Rs 10/- at the entrance and get the token with number to get back your footwear. On special Pooja days male visitors will be requested to remove their T-Shirts and Shirts.
Before you enter in to the main temple, wash your legs with tap water which is available on the left side of Temple’s inner entrance.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara, Colombo Sri Lanka
The Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara or Kelaniya Temple is a Buddhist temple in Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. It is located 11 km (6.8 mi) north-east of Colombo. The current chief incumbent (chief priest) is Venerable Professor Kollupitiye Mahinda Sangharakkhitha Thera.
The temple has often been associated with the rise and fall of Ceylon / Sri Lanka, with the popular saying that as the Kelaniya temple rose, Sri Lanka rose and as it fell, the country and its administration fell. It has thus had a deep association with the political powers of the country.
It is also infamous for Mapitigama Buddharakkitha, the chief conspirator of the 1959 assassination of Ceylon’s fourth Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. Buddharakkitha was the chief incumbent (chief priest) of the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara from 1947 to 1959.
Duration: 1 hour
