Food
Colombo street food walk
An evening on foot through Pettah and Galle Face eating kottu, hoppers, isso wade and short eats, with a guide who can explain what you are eating and order the things you would never find alone.
Good value
West Coast
Colombo
The island's loud, layered, rapidly changing front door
- West Coast
- Best Dec–Mar
- 1night suggested
Sri Lanka's commercial capital is a working port city rather than a resort, and it is far more interesting for it. Colonial arcades, Buddhist and Hindu temples, a Dutch hospital turned dining quarter and some of the best food on the island sit within a few square kilometres. Most visitors give it half a day; a full day is better rewarded.
Colombo is not a city that announces itself. Its pleasures are specific rather than monumental: the Pettah market's street-by-street specialisation, the Sea Street goldsmiths, the red-and-white striped Jami Ul-Alfar mosque, an evening on Galle Face Green with isso wade and a kite.
The old Dutch Hospital precinct in Fort has been restored into restaurants and shops and is the easiest entry point if your time is short. From there the Gangaramaya temple, the Independence Memorial and the National Museum form a comfortable half-day loop by tuk-tuk.
Eat well here. Colombo has the country's broadest range — hoppers and kottu from street stalls, Tamil and Muslim cooking in Pettah and Slave Island, and a serious modern Sri Lankan restaurant scene that has grown up in the last decade.
Practically, Colombo is a transit hub more than a base. The airport is 35 km north near Negombo, the Southern Expressway reaches Galle in about ninety minutes, and trains to Kandy and the hill country leave from Fort station early in the morning.
Highlights
- Pettah market and the Jami Ul-Alfar mosque
- The restored Dutch Hospital precinct in Fort
- Gangaramaya temple and Beira Lake
- Sunset and street food on Galle Face Green
- The National Museum for context before the Cultural Triangle
- West Coast
- Dec–Mar
- 1 night
Pleasant and dry from December to March. The south-west monsoon brings heavy afternoon rain from May, and October is the wettest month of the year.
Where it is
Colombo is in West Coast.
Experiences here
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