Shopping in Sri Lanka
If you are looking for Western style shops the best bets are Liberty Plaza at Kollupitiya (Colombo 3) and Majestic City at Bambalapitiya. (Colombo 4). These modern shopping centres are packed with a large number of generally very small shops which sell only a limited range of goods. Often the goods sold by one shop will be available at a similar shop a short distance away.
A good range of saris is available in Maradana Road, Maradana with tailors available to make blouses and under dresses.
If you’re looking for souvenirs in Colombo you can’t go past the Government run Laksala in Fort or the smaller, more professional, privately run Lakmadura in Colombo 7. Both of these shops have an excellent rage of souvenirs and prices are fixed. Souvenirs are also available in a number of shops and stalls along Chatham Street, Fort on the opposite side to the Pagoda. Bargaining skills are essential.
If you are looking for baby goods the best place that we found after extensive searching was Sharaz, Galle Road Bambalapitiya, about one kilometre south of Majestic City on the ocean side. We found many baby shops throughout Colombo but they generally had only a very limited range of goods. Sharaz had almost everything you could ask for and also had a very good range of toys.
Keels at Liberty Plaza and Cargills at Majestic City both have a very good range of food and other useful things. Elephant House in Colombo 2 and Cargills and Saravodya in Fort also have a good range. The Cargills Fort store is an old fashioned department store and keeps a range of useful items including books, household hoods, pharmaceuticals and gift cards. Food items are also available from innumerable small stores and street-side markets all over the place.
A good range of books is available at the Lake House Book Shop on Sir C.A. Gardiner Mawatha, Colombo 2.
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