Getting Around in Colombo, Sri Lanka

As independent travellers in Colombo we try and keep our transportation expenses to a minimum as taxis and private hire cars are not the cheapest form of transport by any means - Where we can walk, we do. When we can't walk we try to go by local bus or negotiate a good price in a tuk tuk / motor trishaw or use metered taxis as a last resort.

Colombo ~ A - Z Street Guide

We recommend purchasing 'Arjuna's ~ A - Z Street Guide of Colombo and Suburbs' - ISBN: 955-9276-14-4 - The guide includes other towns: Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Galle, Jaffna, Kandy, Negombo, Nuwara Eliya, Polonnaruwa and Trincomalee.

Available in many of Sri Lanka's better bookshops. We bought ours from: M.D.Gunasena / The Bookshop, 217 Olcott Mawatha, Colombo 11. (SLR 499.00 - about £2.50p in 2008)

This Colombo A to Z street guide is edited by Dr. T Somasekaran a retired Surveyor General of Sri Lanka and published by his Arjuna Consulting Co Ltd in Dehiwala.

You can find your way around Colombo and other Sri Lankan towns, without any hassle. The guide includes: A Sri Lanka Map of Trunk Roads, Railways and areas covered by the A - Z at a scale 1 : 2,23,000, Postal Zones in Colombo and indices of street names for each town covered.

Arjuna's is revised and reprinted every year (or so), giving multi-coloured maps with grid squares and alphabetical street index. The maps contain easily readable pictorial symbols, auto gas stations and tall buildings; a help when you are on foot and need a landmark!

Colombo's main area is at a scale of 1 : 10,000 and the suburbs at a scale of 2 : 20,000.

We apologise for the repetition of some place or proper names with different spellings, but there is no definitive spelling translation of these words.

We welcome reviews of any Sri Lanka resorts, hotels or visitor attractions. Please see our contributing writer's guidelines.

JeGraNet.com statement - 15 October 2008 - Quote from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office website: "There is a high threat from terrorism in Sri Lanka. Fatal attacks have become more frequent. They have occurred in Colombo and throughout Sri Lanka, including places frequented by expatriate and foreign travellers. Further attacks may occur at any time. There is an increasing risk of British nationals being caught up in an attack". As independent travellers we left Colombo after just 9 days into our planned 6 month stay as a result of a feeling of insecurity, however we are sure that 'package tour' travellers to tourist resorts will probably enjoy a worry free holiday.