Things to do in Colombo
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Circle Sri Lanka
15 days (ex Negombo)
by Intrepid
Bliss out beachside in Mirissa, Learn the secrets of Sri Lankan cuisine in Bandarawela, Shop up a storm in Colombo, Walk the ramparts of Galle, Witness elephant…Not LP reviewed
from USD$1,625 -
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Lakpahana
As with Laksala and Lanka Hands, this Cinnamon Gardens showroom carries traditionally crafted items, including lacework, jewellery, batik and masks, as well as tea.
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Gallery Cafe
The historic building that houses Gallery Cafe used to be an office for Sri Lanka’s most famous architect, Geoffrey Bawa. The open-air cafe area looks over a pebbled courtyard, while the lounge bar is where Bawa’s old office used to be – in fact, his desk is still there. The decor is stunning and the Sri Lankan–inspired dishes focus on fresh ingredients and bold, clean flavours. As a cheaper option, come for an afternoon coffee.
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Green Cabin
This place is a bit of an institution in the local restaurant trade. It’s well known for both its baked goods and its inexpensive Sri Lankan, Indian and Chinese dishes. The lunchtime buffet is excellent value – the mango curry, if it’s on, is very good. For a snack try the vegetable pastries or the cardiac-arrest-inducing bacon-and-egg pies.
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Clancy's Irish Pub
Colombo’s stab at Irishness offers pub grub and a variety of beers and ales, including Guinness. It’s a popular spot, with regular quiz nights, live music on weekends and a few couches to sink into. All drinks are discounted 50% during the daily 6pm to 8pm happy hour. Long pants are required attire.
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House of Fashion
This three-storey surplus outlet for the nation’s garment industry is the place to go for serious clothes shopping. Many items are hugely discounted.
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Odel Unlimited
Head here to shop with the glamorous. You’ll find everything from homewares, designer-label clothing and sportswear to banana soap.
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Rhythm & Blues
This place has live rock, R&B and blues nightly. Despite the Daisy Villa Ave address, it’s on RA de Mel Mawatha.
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Delifrance
Filling sandwiches for shoppers on the go. It’s on the ground floor of the very popular Odel Unlimited store.
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Isipathanaramaya Temple
The Isipathanaramaya Temple has particularly beautiful frescoes.
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Wolvendaal Church
The 1749 Wolvendaal Church is the most important Dutch building in Sri Lanka. When the church was built, this area was a wilderness beyond the city walls. The Europeans mistook the packs of roaming jackals for wolves, and the area became known as Wolf’s Dale, or Wolvendaal in Dutch. The church is in the form of a Greek cross, with walls 1.5m thick, but the real treasure is its Dutch furniture. The Dutch governors had a special pew made with elegant carved ebony chairs, and the workmanship in the wooden pulpit, baptismal font and lectern is just as beautiful. The stone floor includes the elaborate tombstones of five Dutch governors.
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Beach Wadiya
Renowned for its seafood, Beach Wadiya has attracted a popular following for decades, including an impressive list of celebrities: Princess Anne and Richard Branson, among others. Come early to pick a table inside the weather-beaten beach shack or outside in the sand, order a chilled Three Coins beer while a waiter fills you in on the day’s catch, and receive your specially customised grilled or fried seafood platter. Reservations are recommended. Also, take care when entering the restaurant: you have to cross the railway tracks and there is no signal when trains approach.
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St Anthony's Church
One of the city’s most interesting shrines is St Anthony’s Church. Outside it looks like a typical Portuguese Catholic church, but inside the atmosphere is distinctly subcontinental. There are queues of devotees offering puja(offerings or prayers) to a dozen ornate statues; a statue of St Anthony said to be endowed with miraculous qualities is the centre of devotions. Mothers often bring pubescent daughters here to pray for protection from evil spirits that might take advantage of the girls’ nascent sexuality. Photography is frowned upon.
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University of Colombo
The centrepiece of the district is the 50-acre University of Colombo (also called the University of Ceylon) campus, which originally opened as the Ceylon Medical School in 1870.
Today it contains elegant tree-lined streets and the posh mansions of the wealthy and powerful, as well as the city's biggest park, several sports grounds and a cluster of museums and galleries. But the centrepiece of the Cinnamon Gardens is the 50-acre campus of the University of Colombo, which originally opened as the Ceylon Medical School in 1870.
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Fort
During the European era Fort was indeed a fort, surrounded by the sea on two sides and a moat on the landward sides. Today it’s a curious mix of brash modern structures, such as the World Trade Center, and venerable red-brick institutions from the Colonial-era, such as Cargills and Millers. The security presence is heavy here, curtailing vehicle access and some pedestrian access. A good landmark in Fort is the clock towerat the junction of Chatham St and Janadhipathi Mawatha (once Queen St), which was originally a lighthouse.
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National Museum
Colombo’s National Museum is amust-see sight. Within its hallowed halls you’ll encounter all manner of art, carvings and statuary from Sri Lanka’s ancient past, as well as swords, guns and other paraphernalia from the colonial period. There are fascinating 19th-century reproductions of English paintings of Sri Lanka, and an excellent collection of antique demon masks. Look out for the magnificent royal throne made for King Wimaladharma in 1693. The museum, built in 1877, is located on the south side of Viharamahadevi Park.
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Cinnamon Gardens
About 5km south of Fort and 2km inland, Cinnamon Gardens is Colombo’s ritziest address. A century ago it was covered in cinnamon plantations. Today it contains elegant tree-lined streets and the posh mansions of the wealthy and powerful, as well as the city’s biggest park, several sports grounds and a cluster of museums and galleries.
The centre piece of Cinnamon Gardens is the 50-acre University of Colombo (also called the University of Ceylon) campus, which originally opened as the Ceylon Medical School in 1870.
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Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara
Even if the thought of seeing yet another temple sends you reaching for the arrack, this Buddhist temple is worth the effort. The original temple was destroyed by Indian invaders, restored, destroyed again by the Portuguese, and restored again in the 18th and 19th centuries. The dagoba, which (unusually) is hollow, is the focus of the Duruthu Perahera in January each year. To reach the temple take bus 235 from in front of the traffic-police station, which is just northeast of the Bastian Mawatha bus station.
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Shanti Vihar
This place's deliciously spicy vegetarian food and very reasonable prices make it popular with locals and foreigners alike. It's a basic, well-worn eatery, though there is a fancier air-con section. The menu's South Indian offerings are especially good: masala dosa (curried vegetables inside a paper-thin lentil-flour pancake)for Rs 60, curd vadai (a deep-fried lentil-flour patty with yoghurt) for Rs 25 and Madras thalis for Rs 90. Shanti Vihar also has a home-delivery service.
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Viharamahadevi Park
This is Colombo’s biggest park, originally called Victoria Park but renamed in the 1950s after the mother of King Dutugemunu. It’s notable for its superb flowering trees, which bloom in March, April and early May. The broad Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha cuts across the middle of the park, while Colombo’s white-domed Old Town Hall (also called White House) overlooks the park from the northeast. Working elephants sometimes spend the night in the park, happily chomping on palm branches.
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Water's Edge Golf & Country Club
In Kotte on the eastern edge of Colombo, the Water's Edge Golf & Country Club has a modern 18-hole golf course. The lovely large pool here is open to the public and the relatively new 450-sq-m Aryana Spa offers a menu of Sri Lankan, Thai and Balinese treatments at very reasonable rates.
Visitors can use the pools at several top-end Colombo hotels for a fee. One of the nicest spots is the outdoor saltwater pool right by the seafront at Galle Face Hotel.
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Kanduboda Meditation Centre
Kanduboda Meditation Centre is a major centre for meditation instruction in the style of the late Mahasi Sayadaw. Accommodation and meals are offered free of charge, though donations are expected. Most meditators stay for an initial three-week training period, after which they can meditate on their own for as long as they like. White clothing (available on loan at no charge) must be worn. The Colombo-Pugoda bus 224 passes the centre.
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Gangaramaya Temple
A short walk east of theSouth Beira lake is the sprawling Gangaramaya Temple. Run by one of Sri Lanka’s more politically adept monks, the temple complex has a library, a museum (donation Rs 100) and an extraordinarily eclectic array of bejewelled and gilded gifts presented by devotees and well-wishers over the years. Gangaramaya is the focus of the Navam Perahera on the February poya(full moon) day each year.
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Dehiwala Zoo
By Western standards the conditions for the inhabitants of this are pretty dismal. Having said that, the place has steadily improved over the years. Still, most of the cages are too small and it’s pretty depressing to see all the elephants chained up at the foot. The monkeys seem to have scored the best digs. The zoo is 10km south of Fort; you can get there on bus 118 from Dehiwala train station.
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Chutneys
Decked out in black furnishings and pastel colour schemes, this chic-but-cheap restaurant offers some of the best South Indian fare in town. Try the signature dish, a ‘cap dosa’, one of 30 types of dosa (paper-thin rice- and lentil-flour pancakes) available. The dress code requires long pants. Despite the upscale atmosphere the prices make this place accessible to midrange budgets.
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