Colombo & Negombo
Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo is an exciting emerging city. Sprinkled with time warped colonial houses, art deco buildings and shiny new high rises that sit in amongst lush parks, meandering waterways and tree-lined avenues, Colombo is a city of contrasts home to a diverse multi-cultural population. High-end dining in cute cobbled precincts, shopping for locally produced designer wares and guided backstreet strolls through the city’s colonial avenues and bustling bazaars, and into religious buildings and art galleries, are some of the city’s highlights.
A mere 30-minutes north of Colombo is Negombo, a large coastal town close to Colombo’s International Airport with a well-developed stretch of sandy beach. Its predominantly Catholic residents have earned the town its nickname Little Rome, and there are some splendid Gothic churches to see. Negombo’s fish markets are extremely vibrant, and its vast lagoon and network of old Dutch canals are prime territory for fishermen and diverse birdlife. Negombo’s rural hinterland, dominated by vast coconut and pineapple plantations, and home to barely visited ancient temples, makes a very tranquil contrast from the buzz of the coast.
