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Curious about the best tours in Colombo? We love this city and below are all of our favorite tours we’ve taken over the years.
But it’s not all crab curry and Buddhist temples, there are definitely some tours you want to avoid! We want to make sure you have the best possible time in Colombo which is why we put together this blog.
I’ll cover the best experiences, insider tips, and go over what we think you should stay away from on your visit. By the end, you’ll have a perfect tour booked and ready to go!
Quick Pick: Our Favorite Tour
Don’t have time to read the full article?
Our personal FAVORITE tour is this private sightseeing tour in Colombo. You’ll travel by tuk-tuk and since it’s a private tour, you customize it to what you want to see from temples and markets to the iconic Lotus Tower!
This tour is VERY popular and you can check out the 130+ reviews and book it here!
Tip: Reserve this tour early to guarantee your spot and get FREE cancellation 24 hours before you go!
1. Private Customizable Colombo Sightseeing Tour by Tuk-Tuk
- Price: $32 USD per person
- Duration: 3 to 4 hours
- Time: Departures every 30 minutes from 7 am to 6:30 pm
- Highlights: Guided tuk-tuk tour to several locations of your choice including (but not limited to) Gangaramaya Temple, Independence Memorial Hall, Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque, Sambodhi Chaithya Buddhist stupa, Colombo Lighthouse, Pettah Floating Market, Old Parliament Building, Old Town Hall, Galle Face Green, Ceylon Tea Supermarket, and Colombo Lotus Tower
- Inclusions: English-speaking guide, king coconut water, bottled water, snacks
- Pickup from: Any hotel in Colombo
- Rating: 5 Stars (Read the 130+ reviews here)
- Free cancellation: Yes
We loved this private tuk-tuk tour because you only go to the locations you’re interested in. What’s even better is that you have a local guide to accompany you the entire time! It’s the perfect way to experience the city and with a killer price to match, I encourage everyone to take it.
We are quality over quantity travelers, so when we booked this tour we knew that we wanted to spend more time at fewer places. We hit five spots in total, and if you ask me I think that’s perfect for 4 hours, especially with some small bonus stops in between each.
Our driver and guide picked us up from our hotel around 9:30 am and after some introductions, we were off! Over the course of the tour we went to Gangaramaya Temple, Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque, the Old Parliament Building, Pettah Floating Market, and the Colombo Lotus Tower. A seriously full day!
While it was all worth visiting, I would say Gangaramaya Temple and Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque were my two favorites. Besides being the most important temple in Colombo, Gangaramaya Temple is absolutely stunning and has all sorts of incredible Buddhist artifacts. Meanwhile, Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque is perhaps the most interesting mosque I’ve ever seen and its unique paint job is thanks to pomegranates! It’s a long story, but ask your guide about it when you visit.
Discover the highlights of Colombo by booking this tour today!
2. Private All Inclusive Kandy Tour from Colombo
- Price: $60 – $115 USD per person (price varies by group size)
- Duration: 8 to 10 hours
- Time: Departures every 30 minutes from 4:30 am to 4:30 pm
- Highlights: Guided tour to several locations of your choice including (but not limited to) The Sacred Temple of Tooth Relic, Tea Factory and Tea Gardens, Bahirawakanda Samadhi Buddha Statue, Kandy View Point, Udawatta Kele Sanctuary, Kandy Lake, Herbal Gardens, Upper Lake, Oak Ray Handcrafted Wood Carvings, Gem Museum, and the city center for shopping.
- Inclusions: English-speaking guide, round trip transportation in a private air-conditioned vehicle, all entrance fees, food, drinks, and skip-the-line access at highlight locations
- Pickup from: Any hotel in Colombo or Negombo
- Rating: 5 Stars (Read the reviews here)
- Free cancellation: Yes
I’m a huge fan of Kandy and love this mountain town a lot which is why I think this tour to Kandy from Colombo is a great way to see the best it has to offer. And with a local guide at your side, you’ll see why it’s one of the most popular destinations in all of Sri Lanka!
Since hotel pickup is offered, I suggest making the most of your day with an early start around 6 am. Catching the sunrise as you drive to Kandy is beautiful and you don’t want to miss it! If you like to plan your days, feel free to let your guide know how you want the day to go. However, we told our guide to take us to his favorite locations in the order he thought best and we couldn’t have had a better outcome.
We saw a lot (and I mean a lot) of amazing stuff during our day in Kandy. Easily the coolest part was the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic which actually has one of the Buddha’s teeth in it. We explored this gorgeous temple with our guide as he explained the significance and even brought us to see elephants in the temple!
If you love viewpoints, you’ll love this tour since stops like Kandy Viewpoint, Bahirawakanda Samadhi Buddha Statue, and Kandy Lake are all stunning. It’s such a pretty area!
Book this tour here and you can choose to pay later!
Related Read: If you decide to spend more time in Kandy, check out our full guide on what to see and do in Kandy!
3. Best of Southern Sri Lanka – Private Day Trip from Colombo
- Price: $45-$80 USD per person (price varies by group size)
- Duration: 8 to 10 hours
- Time: Departures every 30 minutes from 5 am to 6 pm
- Highlights: Guided tour to several locations of your choice including (but not limited to) Galle Fort, Madu River Safari, Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Project, Unawatuna Beach, Galle Fort Lighthouse, Stilt Fishermen, Japanese Peace Pagoda, and the Sea Turtle Farm Galle Mahamodara
- Inclusions: English-speaking guide, private round trip air-conditioned transportation, admission into Galle Fort and Galle Fort Lighthouse
- Pickup from: Any hotel in Colombo or Negombo
- Rating: 5 Stars (Read the reviews here)
- Free cancellation: Yes
South Sri Lanka is beautiful and this full-day tour highlights the best it has to offer. I’m a big fan of each stop and since it’s customizable, you can choose to spend more or less time at any of the locations you visit. If you want to experience Sri Lanka’s unique southern culture, this is the perfect tour to do so.
The first stop is Galle Fort, an old Portuguese fortress I love for its beautiful architecture and quaint charm. You’ll walk around here for a bit before exploring the lighthouse and admiring the stunning views of the coast. But a visit to Galle is only as good as the guide you go with and lucky for you, this tour has the best in the business. Trust me when I say that there is a lot to learn!
As an animal lover, I think the stop at the sea turtle conservation project is such a cool thing to see. Sri Lanka takes pride in its wildlife conservation and it was a blast to see it in action up close – baby sea turtles alone are worth booking the tour!
And if you’ve never been stilt fishing (I know I hadn’t) this tour has you out in the ocean with locals trying to catch fish with bamboo spears, talk about adventure! There are tons of other unique stops waiting for you on this epic tour of southern Sri Lanka.
Easily book this tour here to get free cancellation!
Why We Book Tours with Viator
Viator is a trusted online booking system for tours around the world! We almost always book our tours using Viator for a couple of reasons:
- Free cancellation on most tours – Most of the tours on Viator allow you to cancel and get a full refund up to 24 hours in advance. This is handy in case plans change, or if booking an outdoor activity, the weather forecast is looking grim.
- Reserve now and pay later – You can secure your spot on some of the most popular tours well in advance and not pay until closer to the day of the tour.
- Lowest price guarantee – If you happen to find the same tour at a lower price elsewhere, Viator will refund you the price difference.
- Pay in your chosen currency – Avoid costly international transaction fees by choosing to pay in your home currency.
- Peace of mind – When booking with tour operators you find in person on the street or in small booking offices, you are often promised one thing and given another. This online platform holds tour operators accountable with a written description of inclusions as well as the opportunity for customers to leave reviews.
Check out the Viator website here! Or, for more info, read our detailed review about Viator here.
4. Small-Group Cooking Class and Market Tour
- Price: $70 USD per person
- Duration: 5 hours
- Time: 9:15 am or 3:30 pm
- Highlights: Tour a local market in Colombo and learn about the different ingredients used in Sri Lankan food, cook and enjoy a homemade lunch or dinner at a local home outside of the city
- Inclusions: English-speaking guide, 1 beer or soft drink, water, all ingredients for making various food dishes
- Pickup from: Colombo pickup location changes depending on the date, contact the provider for more details
- Rating: 5 Stars (Read the 120+ reviews here)
- Free cancellation: Yes
It’s a well-kept secret that Sri Lankan food is some of the best in Asia and I love this cooking tour because you get to take the best recipes back home with you. Get ready to wow your friends and family when you make them some seriously tasty dishes you learned how to make on this tour!
We took the lunchtime cooking class, but I can’t wait to go back and do the dinner time one because each has unique meals. Foodies will get a lot out of the first part of this tour (I know I did!) when you go to a local market with your guide and learn all about the ingredients used in Sri Lankan food. Plus, markets are just so much fun to explore! This is a great tour to book if you love culture and history as much as you do food.
After a lovely drive out to our host’s house, we were greeted by nature and a kitchen ready for us to get cooking. What makes Sri Lankan food unique is that the techniques used to make it aren’t readily accessible online or in books. That means the only way to learn how to do it is hands-on! Coconut roti, coconut sambal, and my favorite, chicken curry, were all on the menu that day.
If your mouth is watering, do yourself a favor and book this tour during your visit to Colombo!
5. Private Colombo Food Tour by Tuk-Tuk
- Price: $40 USD per person
- Duration: 3 to 4 hours
- Time: 4:30 pm, 5:30 pm, 6:30 pm, 7 pm
- Highlights: Take a tuk-tuk through Colombo to try local street food such as crab curry, coconut sambal, red banana, appam, and ice cream,
- Inclusions: English-speaking guide, round-trip transportation, all food and snacks
- Pickup from: Any hotel in Colombo
- Rating: 5 Stars (Read the 100+ reviews here)
- Free cancellation: Yes
I absolutely love Sri Lankan food and this food tour takes you to all of the best-kept street food secret spots in Colombo. If you’re a foodie who wants to experience authentic Sri Lankan flavors, don’t hesitate and book this tour immediately!
Right off the bat, I love that you get picked up from your hotel in a stylish tuk-tuk to be taken through the city to eat at various locations, it’s such a fun way to get around! And there are plenty of places to eat so come hungry. If you don’t like spicy food or have dietary restrictions, let your driver know at the beginning so they can help you order.
If you’re like me and love spice, then Sri Lankan food will blow your tastebuds away – in a good way! India gets a lot of recognition for flavorful food, but I honestly think Sri Lankan food is better. Eating crab curry with fluffy appam bread off of a banana leaf with my hands was such a fun experience. And don’t forget to try a samosa, a street food legend!
And besides mouth-watering flavors at every stop, this tour is a great way to learn about Sri Lankan culture and hang out with locals. Our guide had us talking, laughing, and trading stories with other local patrons at each stop and it was so enriching. Everyone is so friendly!
Without a doubt, this is the best food tour in Colombo.
Do yourself a flavor favor and book this tour today!
Related Read: After you’ve explored the city, check out our list of the best day trips from Colombo!
Avoid these tours
1. Tours to National Parks
Don’t get me wrong, we love the national parks in Sri Lanka, they’re some of the best in the world. But if you’re visiting a national park from Colombo, you’re in for a really, really long day. I don’t know about you but 7 to 8 hours in a car is not my idea of a good time.
However, if Colombo is your only stop and you’re not visiting anywhere else in Sri Lanka, then taking the time to visit a national park might be worth it for you! I totally get it, who doesn’t want to see wild elephants up close? Just mentally prepare yourself for a long day.
We actually did this tour to Udawalawe National Park from Colombo because we wanted to visit two national parks on our first go-round through Sri Lanka. The tour says it’s a 10 to 12-hour day, and it was closer to 12 for us. That being said, we did see lots of elephants and if that’s a bucket list item for you, Udawalawe National Park is the place to go. It’s the number one spot to see wild elephants in all of Sri Lanka!
While there was nothing wrong with the tour, we regretted spending a whole day getting out to the park and back. If you’re coming to Sri Lanka for national parks, I recommend taking the time to go to the city closest to the park you want to visit. It makes the whole thing more enjoyable and memorable in the long run.
2. Private driver “tours”
These can be easy to book by accident if you don’t know what you’re looking for and I know that because we’ve done it!
Private driver “tours” are essentially just a taxi service that takes you to several places throughout the day. The drivers, while perfectly friendly, don’t usually have great English and don’t come with you at any of the stops to explain what you’re seeing. This is especially frustrating when you come to Sri Lanka to learn about its rich history.
It also doesn’t help that these tours are usually the same price as guided ones, lame! Fortunately for you, none of the tours we listed above are private driver tours so you can book any of those safely. If you don’t book one of the ones above, take the time to read the reviews, check the details, and make sure it has a “yes” for the Viator refund policy. That way you can get your money back prior to the tour if you find something better.
Where to Stay in Colombo
Shangri-La Colombo – $$$
There is no such thing as a bad view at the Shangri-La Colombo, you’ll either be facing the Indian Ocean, Beira Lake, or get a sweeping city view! Its onsite restaurant is one of the top in the city, and you’ll also find a rooftop pool facing the ocean and a spa. The hotel is upscale and modern, with rooms that exceed expectations in comfort, style, and amenities.
This luxury stay is located in the Colombo 2 neighborhood, which is the business and entertainment district. You can book the Shangri-La Colombo on Booking.com.
Marino Beach Colombo – $$
You don’t have to spend a fortune to get a high-quality stay! The Marino Beach Colombo is one of the highly-rated mid-range options and prices cap off at $155 USD per night for a sea view room. You can also find rooms for around $75 USD per night. The hotel is upscale, from the rooftop pool that overlooks the ocean to the three gourmet restaurants.
I can’t forget to rave about the rooms ranging from twin rooms to king suites, which are all very modern. Marino Beach Hotel is located in the Colombo 4 neighborhood, which is where a lot of the top city sights are located. You can check availability and reserve this stay on Booking.com.
Drop Inn Hostels – $
Even for a budget stay, the Drop Inn Hostel is an excellent option! This hostel offers private rooms with attached bathrooms for around $40 USD or a dorm stay for around $10 USD per person. I love that the dorms only go up to 8 people, so it’s still a pretty relaxed stay.
The decor of this hostel is bohemian and quite trendy. All the rooms have air conditioning and you can use the kitchen, patio, and balcony areas. It is located in Colombo 5, which is a very central area! Book your room on Booking.com or on Hostelworld.com.
Getting Around Sri Lanka
To visit all of the best places in Sri Lanka, you’re going to need a mode of transport. You have a few choices when it comes to getting around Sri Lanka:
Rent a Tuk-tuk
Easily the most popular (and most fun) way to travel around Sri Lanka. We actually rented a tuk-tuk on our trip and absolutely loved it! Tuk-tuks are easy to drive, cheap to rent, and the freedom that comes with your own wheels is unmatched.
If you do decide to rent a tuk-tuk in Sri Lanka, be sure to go with a reputable company that provides quality tuk-tuks, such as Tuktuk Rental (who we rented from.) These guys not only offer an amazing service, but their tuk-tuks are actually rented from local families, providing income for the local community.
If you decide to rent from Tuktuk Rental, be sure to use the coupon code ‘DEST‘ for 5% off!
For more info, read our blog: The Truth about Renting a Tuk-tuk in Sri Lanka.
Hire a Driver
If you’re only planning on going to a couple of destinations, then a private driver is not a bad idea. In the comfort of an air-conditioned vehicle, your driver can take you to your next destination. All you have to do is sit back and relax!
You can hire highly-rated drivers in advance to pick you up right from the airport when you arrive in Sri Lanka. This driver will take you to your hotel in Mirissa, Galle, Bentota, or Unawatuna. Whereas this driver will take you to Kandy.
Of course, every time you want to change destinations you will have to arrange for another driver (unless you book this driver who will drive you around for an entire week). Car transfer can easily be organized through your hotel.
Take Public Transport
This is a choice I only recommend for those on a very tight budget and with plenty of time. Public transport is everywhere in Sri Lanka in the form of public buses and trains. It is also very cheap, costing less than a couple of dollars per journey.
However, it isn’t the most comfortable way to travel. The buses don’t have air conditioning and neither do many train services. They can also be slow-moving, stopping every couple of minutes to pick up more passengers.
With that said, public transport is popular with budget backpackers, and it is mostly safe. This is one way to travel for those who want to get around as the locals do!
Don’t Forget Travel Insurance!
If you’re looking to save money on travel insurance, we currently use and recommend SafetyWing. We’ve been using their coverage since 2018 and they’ve had our backs when we needed emergency flights and got sick overseas.
SafetyWing is one of the cheapest providers out there and covers everything from medical costs to lost luggage, travel delays, and emergency flights. A huge difference we’ve found between them and other companies is that they let you take out a policy AFTER leaving your home country. We’ve also found it handy that it’s a monthly payment rather than a lump sum, and you can get a refund for unused time.
SafetyWing has helped us out in some scary situations before and their affordable coverage has given us peace of mind. You can read our honest review of SafetyWing for all the pros and cons.
Thanks for reading!
I’m so excited for you to explore Colombo! These tours helped us discover Colombo with local guides and chefs as we toured and tasted our way around the city. Hopefully, you found the perfect tour for your time here!
If this blog was helpful, make sure to check out all our blogs about Sri Lanka for more travel inspiration, tips, and advice. Here are a few related blogs I think you might find helpful:
25 Unforgettable Things to do in Sri Lanka – The Ultimate Bucket-List!