5 Popular Shore Excursions Colombo Sri Lanka
Ports of Colombo, Sri Lanka for History Buffs
The diversity of an Asian cruise means that you will be visiting a new destination almost every day, often in a new country, with the opportunity to learn about a new culture and tradition. From the great wall in the Chinese mainland to ancient seaport of Tarshish (modern Galle port), a cruise-led history lesson can span thousands of years. Colombo, the popular cruise port in southern Asia attracts a large number of cruise ships and Sri Lanka tour operators such as Seerendipity offers many Shore Excursions, Colombo Sri Lanka. Here is a list of 5 interesting Shore Excursions of Colombo Sri Lanka for your upcoming cruise tour.
What are the 5 most popular shore excursions of Colombo Sri Lanka?
- Excursion to Kandy
- Excursion to cultural triangle Sri Lanka
- Excursion to Kitulgala
- Sri Lanka shore excursion to Galle
- Exploring Colombo
When is the best time for Shore Excursions in Colombo Sri Lanka?
Sri Lanka’s high season of tourism industry begins in November and continues until April next year, the high season for cruises also occurs simultaneously and the ports of Sri Lanka draw a large number of cruise ships during this period.
Duration of Shore Excursions in Colombo
It is not being a long that upscale cruise lines and expedition ships ventured to Sri Lanka, but over the last few decades more and more large cruise ships that belong to prestigious cruise lines, started to call on Sri Lankan harbours, such as Royal Caribbean International and Princess Cruises. Almost every ship that reaches Sri Lanka docks in Colombo while some others make few additional stops in Galle and Trincomalee.
Shore Excursions to learn Sri Lanka’s rich historical past
For cruisers wants to learn about the history of Sri Lanka, there are many sites worth visiting on extended Sri Lanka beach excursion to learn the history of Sri Lanka. Sigiriya rock fortress, Dambulla cave temple, Kandy tooth relic temple, Galle fort are some of the obvious sites.
Over the last few years, many cruise ships that roam in the Indian ocean, have started to spend more time in Sri Lankan ports, allowing the passengers to undertake Sri Lanka overland tours or long day trips, as well as experience the nightlife. There are a few possibilities.
The best way to organize a Sri Lanka shore excursion
When it comes to doing an excursion in Sri Lanka such as doing tours your own, book tours through booking portals or book tours with local tour operators. However, in Sri Lankan case it is highly recommended to doing tours with local tour operators or book it through booking portals if you are on a cruise line. Thereby you can entrust an experienced group of people to organize your activity means that there is a very meagre chance of going things off the plan.
It is highly important to meet deadlines when you undertake a shore excursion during the cruise. Doing excursions on your own can be cheap in cities like Colombo, especially compared to the ship prices. But, if you have a time constraint, it makes sense to hire an experienced driver/guide through a local tour operator to guarantee that you return to the ship on time.
How to travel during your Shore Excursions Colombo Sri Lanka
Transport is a major concern for every tarvellers, who visit the island on a cruise ship because if you do not stick to the proper transport system, it may jeopardise your entire trip. Since you have limited time for the trip you have to have the best and most time-saving system to get around the island. Private taxi with a local guide is the far most practical method to travel with comfort, safety while saving time. A private taxi may cost you a little bit more than public transport, but it is still worth as it saves a lot of time.
If time is not an issue, below is 5 Sri Lanka shore excursions, going a bit of off the beaten track, that you can venture on your cruise to Sri Lanka.
Shore Excursions Colombo Sri Lanka: visiting Kandy
Known to local people as “Maha Nuwara” (great city), this beautiful city is a treasure trove for Sri Lanka history buffs. Kandy harbours many interesting tourist places related to Sri Lanka’s historical past, but one of the most interesting, tooth relic temple is at the middle of the city.
Kandy is not only popular as a destination for shore excursion but also a popular trip place for other Sri Lanka tours such as Sri Lanka 5 days tour and 7 days classical trip.
The temple of the tooth relic was built in 1706 under the reign of King Wimala Dharma Suriya, Which had been the residence of the Kandy king for many centuries until tooth relic brought to the temple. The temple for the tooth relic (the left eye tooth of Buddha) serves predominantly as the place to hide the tooth relic, which is the most sacred element for Sri Lankans and it is also coming under the veneration of Buddhists around the world. Sri Lankan Buddhist monks are using the tooth temple as the venue to carry out all the religious activities pertaining to the tooth relic.
The temple has 2 museums within its borders that can be reached on a short walk. One of the museums, the national museum is housed in a part of the royal palace, which served as the king’s harem.
Shore Excursions Colombo Sri Lanka: visiting Cultural triangle
Usually, most cruises that enter into the Sri Lankan waters are anchoring in Colombo harbour, which is the main harbour in Sri Lanka. Some of them are anchoring for a short break while some others are stopping at Colombo harbour for a few days, giving the passenger the opportunity to sample the important tourist places in Colombo.
An intriguing activity for history buffs in Sri Lanka is visiting the cultural triangle of Sri Lanka, which harbours hundreds of ancient monuments and some of them have been categorized under the UNESCO world heritage site.
The visit to the cultural triangle offers a historical view of Sri Lanka’s rich historical past, with temples, palaces, gardens and many other ancient constructions. The cultural triangle spreads over a large area of Sri Lankan and including many cities such as Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Kandy, therefore, exploring the entire cultural triangle is a 3 days affair.
Since you are on a cruise ship, you may not be able to dedicate 3 days for the cultural triangle trip, then what you can do is scratch a part of the cultural triangle and visit one or two cities. E.g. a Dambulla golden cave temple and Sigiriya rock fortress can be explored in a 1-day trip from Colombo.
Sri Lanka’s bridge on the River Kwai
For World War II buffs, Sri Lanka offers many important historical sites. Sri Lanka played an important role in the world-famous film The Bridge on the River Kwai and Sri Lanka was the home to notorious Death Railway. The site of the bridge was in Kitulgala amidst thick greet forest, even today reaching the site of the bridge is a daunting task as you should venture through the unpaved footpath.
Today the travellers cannot see anything of the bridge temporary wooden bridge. However, you will encounter a large number of tourists in Kitulgala every day. Today Kitulgala is the most popular adventure site in Sri Lanka and it is nicknamed as the adventure playground of Sri Lanka. The travellers can undertake a dozen of interesting activities in Kitulgala such as whitewater rafting, kayaking, hiking, trekking, rainforest exploration etc.
Tourist looking for an interesting experience with a twist of adventure Kitulgala is the perfect match, which is only 2 hours away from Colombo port. A trip to Kitulgala is only a one-day affair with many adrenaline-pumping activities. Kitulgala has a totally different contrast compared to Colombo, this remote laid-back village is surrounded by many mountain peaks, patches of forests. The rugged terrains of Kitulgala are full of huge boulders, waterfalls, rivers, streams and plantations. So, if you in search of a bit of green and like to spend a bit of time with nature look no further, Kitulgala is the best bet for you.
Since many cruise ships often spend a few days or overnight in Colombo, a large number of passengers usually have time for the Kitulgala trip.
Shore Excursions Colombo Sri Lanka: immerse in Colonial heritage
If your ship calls on to Galle harbour, you are just a stone’s throw of the Galle Fort. But if you are on a big ship, it may not enter Galle harbour due to its shallow entrance and it will be Colombo port, where the ship will be docked. However, don’t be disheartened, because you are still only 2 hours away from the iconic tourist attraction in Galle from your ships, thanks to the southern expressway. If you can dedicate about 8 hours for the trip you can even turn it into an interesting Sri Lanka day trip and add some more interesting activities like boating, visit pristine beaches and do some shopping in Galle city.
The Galle fort is known for its colonial heritage, which displayed in hundreds of building. Every building has interesting architecture and closely related to either British or Dutch, however, most of the constructions show the characteristics of Dutch architecture.
Taking a stroll on labyrinthine of cobbled streets laid out by Dutch administrators in early 16s is the best way of exploring the Dutch Fort. A large number of shops, hotels, restaurants, bars, cafes, galleries, museums and many other interesting places are tightly packed within the Fort and entire site is surrounded by a tall granite wall. The walled city had been the administrative capital of Dutch East India Company from 1656 to 1796.
Exploring Colombo by bike or on foot
Colombo is not as big as New York, but still, it offers many interesting places that worth your attention. What Colombo lacks in size is fulfilled with its rich historical past. The oldest temple in Colombo dates back to 6th century BC, and the temple is popularly known as Kelaniya temple. There are many historical places within the borders of Colombo and cruisers faced with limited time often opt for the bus tour overview. Exploring Colombo by bike or foot is also a viable option and you can enjoy the city tour while being outdoors and getting a workout.
Why you should choose seerendipity for your Shore Excursions Colombo Sri Lanka
Serendipity Tour is an entirely locally owned travel company with a head office in Colombo. The highly experienced local staff is a key strength of Serendipity Tours, and they can plan your dream holiday to Sri Lanka.
The best price guaranteed for your Sri Lanka trip
When you book a tour with Serendipity Tours, you directly book the tour with the local company, which means there are no middlemen and therefore you can guarantee the best price. Simply get in touch with us and let us know when you travel and what you like to see.
Plan your best Sri Lanka trip with-expert
Our staff makes a personalised program for you, which you can change until you find the best Sri Lanka trip package for you. Visit www.sirilaktours.com to browse our existing tour packages, which you can customise to meet all your expectations. Write to us at admin@seerendipitytours.com, tel. 0094-77-440977, WhatsApp 0094-77-4440977.
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