Negombo & Colombo | Sri Lanka - Life of a Passion

When you’re going to Sri Lanka, you’ll land in Colombo. We decided to spend the night at Negombo, a town near Colombo but quieter. Here are my must do’s when in Negombo and Colombo.

Negombo

Negambo Beach

When walking towards Negambo Beach, we passed Porutota Road where you can find some shops and restaurants. Once we reached the beach, we were a bit dissapointed. The beach was just filled with filth and garbage. Everywhere you took a step, you’d find plastic bags, slippers, food, and more. This beach really was just sad. We couldn’t even swim in the water due to the strong current (in which there was more garbage).

Food tip: Try a cooking class. We got one at our guesthouse Suriyaarana, where we made rice and curry! Yummy!

Fish market

When driving around in Negombo, I personally thought it isn’t worth to stay longer than 1 day here. The only other thing to visit in Negombo is the fish market. As soon the doors of the van opened, that horrible smell of drying fish entered the van. I just got sick right there (can’t handle the smell). The fishermen bring in the fish in the early morning and sell it to the locals. Other kinds of fish are dried on the beach and washed in salt barrels.

Colombo

We didn’t have much time to see Colombo, so we did a city tour from our van with our driver. When entering the city you’ll immediately see the Colombo Lotus Flower and the World Trade Center buildings.

When you drive further to the old town of Colombo, you’ll pass the Dutch hospital, the Janadhipathi Medura (president’s house), the colonial clock tower, and the old Parliament.

Janadhipathi Medura in Colombo, Sri Lanka

After visiting the old town of Colombo, drive further to see the Town hall that resembles the white house in the USA. Make sure to also stop at the Independence memorial hall. This building is a copy of a temple where the independance of Sri Lanka was signed. The original building can be found in Kandy.