Colombo Bus Tours: Your Questions Answered
Colombo’s single sightseeing bus is a double-decker with an open top deck, a guide on board and two departures a day. The questions below are the ones first-time visitors tend to have about it, and about the ordinary buses that do the city’s real work.
Is there a sightseeing bus at all?
Yes, one. The Colombo City Tour is an open-deck double-decker operated by Ebert Silva Holidays. Departures are at 09:00 and 16:00 from near the Galle Face Hotel and the Kingsbury, the loop lasts 2.5 to 3.5 hours, traffic permitting, and costs about LKR 2,500 a seat. Times and seats are on colombocitytours.com , which is the operator’s own site.
Can I get off and rejoin later?
No. It is a scheduled guided excursion that you ride from start to finish. Some resellers list a Colombo hop-on hop-off pass, and that product does not match how this bus runs, so read the description carefully before buying from a third party.
Morning or afternoon?
Take the 16:00. It brings you back towards the Galle Face Hotel around the time the kites go up and the isso wade carts start frying on Galle Face Green next door, so the tour runs straight into Colombo’s best evening hour. The 09:00 run suits anyone with an afternoon train to catch. Either way, the upper deck is fully exposed: bring a hat, water and sunscreen.
The verdict: the 16:00 open-deck tour followed by sunset on the green is the best LKR 2,500 a first-time visitor can spend on the first evening.
Can I see the city from an ordinary bus?
You can, cheaply. The city runs on buses from the state SLTB fleet and private companies, and a ride costs about LKR 30 to 100, handed over in cash to the conductor. A ride south along Galle Road passes through Kollupitiya (Colombo 3), Bambalapitiya (Colombo 4) and Wellawatte (Colombo 6), a good street-level look at the coastal districts. Go outside rush hour, keep a bag in front of you and say your stop to the conductor when you board.
Is there a metro or tram?
No. Colombo has no subway, metro or light rail. Buses, trains, tuk-tuks and cars are the whole system, and for door-to-door trips the PickMe app gives you a metered tuk-tuk, starting at about LKR 100 to 120 and adding LKR 90 to 110 a km.
How do I get in from the airport?
Bandaranaike International Airport is 32 km north. The air-conditioned 187 expressway bus runs daily from about 05:30 to 21:30 to Colombo Fort station for around LKR 300. A car takes 40 to 50 minutes and costs about LKR 3,500 to 5,000.
Is there a better “tour” on rails?
For the sea, yes. The Coastal Line out of Colombo Fort runs right beside the surf on its way south to Mount Lavinia and Galle, with unreserved tickets from about LKR 100. It is a commuter train, not a tour, so there is no commentary, but for scenery it outdoes the bus. Timetables are with Sri Lanka Railways .
What about a bus tour out of town?
Expressway coaches reach Galle in about 1.5 hours. For Kandy, plan on roughly 3.5 hours by road, since the railway into Kandy is still under repair. For a guided day out, a small-group or private vehicle is the simpler choice; search Colombo sightseeing tours or compare half-day tours on Viator to see what each one includes. The Sri Lanka Tourism site covers the destinations themselves.
Read more: sightseeing in Colombo for the stops worth returning to after the loop, and the 2-day Colombo itinerary for where the bus fits.
If your 16:00 tour falls on a Poya full-moon day, plan a dinner without drinks: alcohol sales stop island-wide and some restaurants close.