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 Traveller's Tales: Shopping suggestions in Colombo, Sri Lanka
Get the best advice on shopping in Colombo, Sri Lanka. You may read about shopping malls, souvenir items and best buys in the area. Also, you might want to read our
Sri Lanka city guide.
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| J Ranasinghe |
21 May 2005 |
Stayed at Trans Asia - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
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take a tuk tuk ride!
In the city - Eat Lamprais! Don't overkill on rice and curry, you will end up with indigestion due to the excessive use of chilli powder. Take gaviscon/digene :-)
Don't change currency at the hotel, rate is very low.
Plenty of nice restuarant with great atmosphere to go to. Visit Galleria Paradise Road.
Gay scene at Kolu's! super!
Shoppping - Odel, Arena, House of Fashion, Paradise Road
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| K Hornbach |
16 February 2005 |
Stayed at Havelock Place Bungalow - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
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House of Fashions is a couple blocks away from Havelock Place. It's an outlet store for some of the garment manufacturers in Sri Lanka. We got brand-name items (Tommy Hilfigir, Nike, etc) for $2-$3 each.
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| M Kim-bee |
31 December 2004 |
Stayed at Ceylon Continental Hotel - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
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Galerie Cafe and Paradise Road definitely impressed me. The former is probably one of the best and certainly the chic-est restaurants in Colombo. The latter is an excellent shop full of stylish Sri Lankan made items and a great place to buy gifts as well as housewares. A good cafe too. Odel's is a great place to pick up some clothes especially if you've just all of yours in a tsunami. There are some western priced items but loads of attractive but very inexpensive buys to supplement your travelling wardrobe. Arena is also worth checking out for some smart well made fakes but also good original pieces too.
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| A Cable |
13 April 2004 |
Stayed at Galle Face Hotel - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
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Colombo isn't the best city for sightseeing but there are some great shops for souvenirs/clothes/jewellery: Barefoot, Paradise Road & Odel.
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| M Ellam |
10 April 2004 |
Stayed at Apa Colombo House - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
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We didn't spend long in Colombo but do visit the 19th century Galle Face Hotel on the seafront. The National Museum is recommended. Getting around the city is easy and cheap by tuk-tuk, but negotiate the price down before you get in. Paradise Road is a smart shop for interesting local nik-naks and souvenirs. But the cafe is overpriced.
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| A Lee |
10 November 2003 |
Stayed at Galle Face Hotel - Colombo, Sri Lanka.
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Tours: My visit was 2.5 days, so I only took one tour. For convenience and reliability, I arranged for a hotel car and driver to take the 3 hour drive up the mountain to Kandy, for a full day tour (55USD). My driver spent most of the time braking and honking to pass on the one lane roads, but drivers seem used to this system. Kandy is most noted for the large, colonial-built Buddhist temple (“Tooth Relic temple”). Other touristy stops include the Baby Elephant Orphanage (which I skipped); the Botanical Gardens (spice garden, nice selection of local and rare species); handicrafts shops; and of course, the ubiquitous jewelry shops. Fortunately, it was a holiday (every full moon), so most of the shops were closed, and I was able to stroll along without too many hawking shopkeepers. Non-locals are charged a small entrance fee for the Temple (200 LKR) and Botanical Gardens (300 LKR).
In front of the hotel and during my walks, the tuk-tuk drivers were persistent but not overly aggressive. Advice: carry lots of 50 and 100 LKRs, and bargain, and agree on the fare before entering the tuk-tuk otherwise you will be charged an outrageous price. The fare from the hotel to the downtown area should be only about 100-200 LKRs. Of course, gem and jewelry prices are very inflated for tourists, so bargain hard.
Touts: can be avoided with a friendly "no,thanks" but two, in particular, to watch for: 1) a friendly, elderly gentleman will start a conversation while you are walking down the road, he will tell you he is a teacher for a Blind and Deaf school and then will ask you for a donation, showing you a list signed by donors (all western names). 2) A friendly man will tell you about some special local event he is on his way to attend and invite you along. For example, that today is a special day at the Buddhist temple, when they are showing the bone relics. He will also try to show you the sacred elephant that carried the bone relics and take you to a jewelry factory with the “best, non-tourist,” prices. His tuk-tuk driver will try to charge you USD40 for the “tour.” If you are curious and go along, make sure the tuk-tuk cost is agreed in advance, for each leg of the “tour.”
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