Colombo Airport Layover: Explore the Vibrant Sri Lankan Capital
4.6
16 Ratings
Colombo
Make the most of your layover at Colombo International Airport with our exclusive private city tour. Explore the vibrant capital, indulge in local experiences, and savor the exotic flavors of Sri Lanka. Book your tour today!
Duration: 4 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Pettah - Chaotic Pettah Street Market

  • Dutch Hospital Shopping Precinct - Old dutch hospital

  • Gangaramaya (Vihara) Buddhist Temple - Buddhist temple in Colombo

  • Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque - The mosque is one of the oldest mosques in Colombo and a popular tourist attraction

  • St Lucia’s Cathedral - Landmark church in Colombo

  • New Kathiresan Kovil - Hindu Kovil in Colombo

  • Galle Face Green - Beach Park in Colombo

  • Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque - Also known as te red mosque

  • Old Kathiresan Temple - Hindu Kovil in Colombo

What's Included
  • Private transportation
  • On-board WiFi
  • Driver/guide
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
  • Airport pickup & drop off
What's Not Included
  • Tea and coffee
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner
Additional Information

Make your layover at Colombo International Airport unforgettable with our exclusive private city tour. Instead of spending dull hours waiting in the airport, experience the pulsating heart of Sri Lanka’s distinctive capital, Colombo. Our accredited tour guide will take you on a journey of discovery revealing hidden wonders, intriguing narrow streets, and genuine local experiences. Explore the city from the comfort of our luxurious air-conditioned car or minivan. Enjoy the unique tastes of Sri Lankan dishes, navigate through lively markets, and be amazed at the unforgettable landscapes of Colombo that sit away from the regular tourist trails. Regardless of the number of your visits, our city tour will offer you a unique insight into Sri Lanka. Grab this special chance to maximize your layover and reserve your private tour at this moment!

  • Children must be accompanied by an adult
  • Dress code is smart casual
  • The duration of transfers are approximate, the exact duration will depend on the time of day and traffic conditions
Location
Pettah
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(16 Ratings)
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Eastview02
Apr 12, 2024
A great transit tour - It is a great way to see the city while you are in transit. Of course Sri Lanka is a wonderful country and few hours would not do the justice but if you have limited amount of time, then this would the tour to have as you can see highlights in few hours.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Troysn1760ye
Feb 3, 2024
Amazing experience! - I had a long layover in Columbo and decided to book a day tour. I’m very glad I did- Ushan was an excellent host who made me feel very welcome in Sri Lanka and gave me a fabulous tour. I would fully recommend this, and this short layover has convinced me that next time I come to Sri Lanka, I’ll need to spend more time in such a fabulous place!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nimas843
Jan 6, 2024
Great evening in Colombo - Our driver and guide, Ushan, was great. We had a bit of an interesting situation and arrived late at night, and he was able to put together a great five hours for us to explore as much of Colombo as possible at that time of night. He was very friendly and personable, and genuinely a joy to talk to. He showed us everything he could, and took us by car to what he couldn’t. He even found us a great restaurant for us to end our evening at, overall I would highly recommend him and this company.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Adventure296160
Dec 5, 2023
Fantastic tour - Our Airport Layover Colombo City Tour was fantastic! Pradeep and Raj did a wonderful job helping my husband and I to navigate immigration at the airport in Sri Lanka. Our plane arrived over an hour late. Then, we found out that our outgoing connection was going to be delayed 7 hours. The airport staff was insufferable and the immigration officials denied our entry into Sri Lanka even though our visas were approved days earlier. Pradeep and Raj stayed in contact with us throughout the process to get us through immigration. Pradeep, our tour guide waited patiently for us for over 3 hours! Raj, the tour operator, called to make sure we were safely in the hands of our guide and that we were accommodated on our short stay. It was dark once we exited the airport, but Pradeep made sure we saw everything! He was passionate about his city and very knowkedgeable about the history and culture of Colombo. We visited the Lotus Tower, beautiful Buddhist and Hindu temples, government buildings and monuments. To top off the evening, Pradeep took my husband and I to a very good restsurant for dinner. Because our flight had been delayed overnight, Pradeep recomended a wonderful place for our overnight stay and made sure we had a ride to the airport in the morning. We throughly enjoyed our tour and our stay. Thank you, Pradeep for making our tour memorabe!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
516beckiew
Sep 3, 2023
Great Colombo Experience - My experience in Colombo was fantastic. I had a very short time due to changes in my travel time as there were complications with cancellations on my outward journey to Australia and I had had to change my flight on my way back to England. Everyone was so flexible in getting it all arranged for my and the changes I needed to make so I want to commend the company for this. On the day, my guide Tharaka was fantastic. He was so knowledgeable about everything and I learned so much about the history of Sri Lanka that I did not know. He took me on a tour of the things which are stated in the advert for the tour but also because of the talks and information we were sharing in the car together he would suggest other places which he felt I would like and then took me to them as well. He took an active interest in my own life to asking questions and learning from me and this meant we talked the whole time during the tour which made it easy and relaxed. We learned lots about each other as well as Colombo which is a beautiful city. I had loads of opportunities for beautiful photographs and I got to try a king coconut thanks to Tharaka which was delicious. I saw temple, beautiful colonial buildings and the beach which was breathtaking. Tharaka also gave me recommendations for the next time I am in Colombo and I will definitely be coming back and using the company and Tharaka for a tour in the future. Thank you for being a highlight to my holiday.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
111kirans
Aug 11, 2023
Excellent trip with the Srilanka by Car - Amazing team and an excellent trip. Excellent team and so professional able to help us with the complete tour
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dianetravel7777
Apr 29, 2023
Great city tour - Great 4 hours, got all of the city highlights. Our guide had excellent English & was very knowledgeable. Highly recommend, we only had a day in Colombo & this tour was perfect to get some history & learn about the culture
Review provided by Tripadvisor
João
Dec 1, 2019
Great tour in Sri Lanka - We had a great time with Shimaz and the "Sri Lanka by Car" tour. It was a wonderful experience and I would recommend them to anyone visiting the country.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jpeyco
Aug 10, 2019
Flexible customized private car tour of Colombo - With a 16-hour connection at Colombo airport, I wanted to do a day tour around Colombo and Sri Lanka by Car customized an excellent itinerary. Starting with airport pickup at 6 am, we stopped for a local breakfast before going to Negombo to see local fishermen returning from sea to sell their live seafood in local markets. We then drove along the beautiful coastline with nice beaches and ocean views. We continued onto Colombo city to see churches and temples, hopped on local trains at the train station, and went to the Galle Face hotel and sea walk where locals walk along the shore. The tour ended back up at the airport comfortably for an excellent tour. Overall the people were very kind and everywhere felt safe. Thank you very much to Kumar for customizing a perfect tour based on my preferences and his blue car was very clean and easy to get around!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gregoryk682
Mar 13, 2019
Confusion - The driver was late costing us a 45 minute delay by the time we found him. The restaurant stop became a fiasco when Mohammad, our guide, told us, after we were ordering, that he had paid almost the equivalent of $200 to book a table so that we needed to pay him in cash at the restaurant rather than using credit cards. This cost us at least 45 minutes more as not everybody had enough clean cash. We also spent 30 minutes driving around after the restaurant and then went back to the restaurant to pick up Mohammed. The delays resulted in a very brief stop at the local market. At the Buddhist temple, the driver kept standing next to whatever we wanted to photograph resulting in pictures of him taking photos of us. The boat trip was great, and the restaurant food very good.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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up to 6 guests
1 Adult
June 2024
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