The City
Mount Lavinia is attractive due to its relative distance away from the hustle and bustle of every day Colombo, with a nice and quiet environment and beautiful beach to always lift your mood. There are plenty of restaurants that one could visit to satisfy your hunger as well as pubs to quench your thirst.
Mount Lavinia does not boast any night-clubs for those who wish to go out dancing, but Colombo has its nightlife hot spots.. Pubs and restaurants are usually very soothing with a quiet ambiance and are open until 11pm.
best beach city near Colombo for accommodation and leisure is Mount Lavinia
It is an ideal location to begin your trip from or to end. It is a convenient transit location (to rest, refresh and get your plans up and running after a weary trip), or to just chill and relax for a couple of days and make it your command center to explore everything Colombo has to offer. Accommodation wise, it is more affordable as compared to places within Colombo.
Folklore
The city’s name is built up around the original residence of Sir Thomas Maitland, who was the Governor General of Ceylon from 1805–1811. At a welcoming party held in his honour, he saw Lovina, a beautiful local dancer of European and Sinhalese ancestry. It was love at first sight. Sir Thomas was smitten by her smile and charms and soon found himself infatuated by her, taking every measure possible to see more of her.
As it was unconventional for an unmarried British Officer to be seen associating with a local dancing girl, Sir Thomas and his lover met in secret. Legend says she was smuggled into his mansion through a secret tunnel that led from her father’s well into a wine cellar in the house.
Heartbreak
The love story of Lovina and the Govenor
In 1811, social convention and duty to his king led Sir Thomas Maitland to leave the country for Malta forcing him to abandon his zealous lover, Lovina. In Malta, he lived and died as a bachelor and the tunnel in the old house was eventually sealed in 1920 and the gypsy village that surrounded the Governor’s mansion developed into a modern bustling city that took its name from the beautiful Lovina.
Today the governor’s home is the Mount Lavinia Hotel, yet the history of the passionate affair has been preserved within the walls and high ceilings. The statue of ‘Lady’ Lavinia, as the girl later became known, is still found in the middle of a water fountain at the entrance of the Mount Lavinia Hotel.
