Colombo is many people’s first impression of Sri Lanka. The Island’s commercial capital is the point of arrival for all visitors to the country and with a population of 750,000, is Sri Lanka’s largest and most bustling city. Despite this, Colombo seems to be a low priority for most people, with them only stopping for a night or two before heading out to explore more of what the teardrop island has to offer.
However, even giving the city just 24 hours can be surprisingly rewarding. Beneath the rather unassuming surface, this sprawling metropolis hides plenty of character, whether this is in the feeling of chaos and anarchy in the hectic market district of Pettah or the centuries of intriguing history to be found in the crumbling Dutch era buildings or the newly restored Fort district. Luckily, much of Colombo’s attractions are found smack-bang in the centre of town, meaning that in just one day, you will be able to see almost everything of note.
Getting to Colombo
Bandaranaike International Airport is located 35km north of Colombo on the edge of the beach-front town of Negombo. It is possible to hail an Uber and do the journey for around £10 for the 40-minute ride., A metred cab hailed from outside the terminal will set you back a little more. Buses leave the airport at a rate of approximately one every 15 or 20 minutes. The bus journey takes 1 hour.
Getting Around
When is the Best Time to Visit Colombo?
Due to its location just north of the equator, Sri Lanka is temperate all year round. However, it is affected by two separate monsoon seasons during the year. With southeast being hit from April until September and the northeast from November until March. Head to Colombo between December and March for the best chance of some sun.
Colombo One-Day Itinerary
Morning
Start your day in Colombo by heading to Gangaramaya Temple (61 Sri Jinarathana Rd; Open daily 6am – 10pm) – one of Sri Lanka’s most important and the focus of the city’s annual Navam Perahera festivities – before the crowds arrived. If you have travelled to Asia extensively, you may feel that you have seen every variation of Buddhist shrine and be tempted to skip this one, however, Gangaramaya is a little unique and unusual. The temple hosts quite an unusual array of objects, mostly things you wouldn’t normally expect to find in a Buddhist place of worship: display cases filled with vintage cameras, enormous taxidermied elephants, model dinosaurs, stamps, watches and even swords. In fact, parts of the temple – particularly the two-room museum – are more reminiscent of a thrift store than a shrine, stuffed with knick-knacks that were donated to the temple by prominent Buddhists and well-wishers. It also contains an eclectic mix of Buddha statues (including the world’s smallest), Hindu deities and sacred objects, one of which is claimed to be a hair from Buddha himself. The serene central courtyard hosts a beautiful bo tree and lovely wooden pavilion containing an old library while the surrounding rooms are occupied by a delightful array of statues and artwork.
From here it is just a 3-minute walk west along Sri Jinarathana Rd to the edge of Beira Lake. Here you will find the serene floating temple of Seema Malakaya. The temple contains 3 connected platforms containing beautiful wooden pavilions inspired by the design of Sri Lanka’s forest monasteries and roofed with vivid blue tiles. Designed by Geoffrey Bawa, Seema Malakaya is generally used for the inauguration of Buddhist monks but was actually funded by a prominent Muslim who, after falling out with fellow religious leader, spitefully paid for Seema Malaka to be built. In contrast to Gangaramaya, the temple is relatively quiet and a peaceful place to wander amongst the rows of Thai Buddhas while watching the pelicans and egrets that fish in the lake.
10.30am // Viharamahadevi Park
After visiting the temples, it’s time to explore the rest of the attractions in the city centre. Viharamahadevi Park is just a leisurely 15-minute walk from Seema Malakaya and as Colombo’s largest expanse of green space, its perfectly manicured lawns and palm-lined paths are a pleasant place to walk or picnic with locals as a way of escaping the city’s busy streets. Viharamahadevi Park was formerly known as Victoria Park in honour of the British monarch but patriotically renamed in the 1950s after the mother of King Dutugemunu.
Colombo’s town hall – a neoclassical structure reminiscent of the US Capitol that was built in 1927 – to the north of the park is worth a quick look, but I would recommend heading to Viharamahadevi’s southern edge and visiting Sri Lanka’s National Museum which contains a whole host of artefacts and objects that give an insight into the island’s storied history, from the prehistoric times all the way up to the colonial era and beyond.
12pm // Lunchtime
Hail a tuk tuk from Viharamahadevi Park and direct the driver to drop you off at the Old Dutch Hospital. Long before British Rule, the Dutch controlled Colombo for over 150 years, ousting the previous Portuguese occupiers in 1656 after a 7-month siege. It was the Dutch that really shaped the Colombo that you see today, reclaiming the land from the river delta, building canals and the city’s tree-lined streets.
The Old Dutch Hospital is the oldest remaining building from this period. Although there isn’t much to see here, It has been beautifully restored and now contains a number of restaurants and boutiques. For lunch, try Ministry of Crab, a restaurant run by one of Sri Lanka’s most popular chefs, Dharshan Munidasa’s. However, reservations are essential.
Afternoon
1pm // Pettah
For more insight into the Dutch history of Colombo, stop by the Dutch Period History Museum that occupies the old Dutch Town Hall, a slightly dishevelled colonial building from 1780. Here you will find a mix of Kandyan and Dutch artefacts and displays outlining what Ceylon was like during the Dutch colonial era, although, the main attraction is the atmospheric building itself.
The museum is situated in a region of the city known as Pettah. The streets of Pettah, with its busy markets, shops, and bazaars have been a trading outpost for centuries. Pettah literally means ‘outside the fort’, derived from the Tamil word pettai (or village), and this dizzying market district, with maze-like streets still configured in a traditional bazaar layout, feels unlike anywhere else in Colombo, yet, it is the beating heart of the city. It retains much of its Tamil flavour but is also the city’s main Muslim area, with Halal restaurants and beautiful mosques standing shoulder to shoulder with colonial churches and Hindu temples.
The area can be rather chaotic: fruit and vegetable stands piled high with produce and porters pushing through the crowds of shoppers and street food stalls with barrows loaded full of boxes. While the district probably isn’t the best place to go souvenir shopping, it is worth walking around here in order to catch a glimpse of local life in Colombo.
While you are in Pettah, make sure to stop at Jami Ul-Alfar Masjid mosque as it is rather eye-catching. Following its construction in 1908, the building’s brash red and white design – a mesmerising mix of checkerboard brickwork, candy stripes and swirling lines – was seen as a landmark for sailors approaching Colombo’s port.
3pm // Fort
Spend the remainder of your afternoon wandering around Fort, the historic heart of Colombo. The area was once the site of the city’s Portuguese defences but during British rule, it was the administrative centre of Ceylon, filled with lavish neoclassical architecture, banks and municipal buildings. Following independence, Fort remained the administrative hub of the city but unfortunately fell into disrepair during the country’s long and bloody civil war. Luckily, the regeneration project that began following the war’s end has resulted in Fort being returned to its former glory.
Sitting at the district’s centre is the beautifully refurbished clocktower lighthouse, constructed by Governor Henry ward in 1857. The (possibly apocryphal) story is that is wife was fed up with the lack of time-keeping standard in Ceylon so insisted that Ward constructed the clock. Soon after, a beacon was added to the tower’s summit in order to guide passing ships into port.
Just west of the tower is Fort’s most elegant address – formerly Queen Street, Janadhipathi Mawatha is home to the grandiose president’s house as well as the fancy colonial façade of the city’s general post office. Elsewhere you will find an abundance of grandiose buildings on Chatham Street and York Street, including the red frontage of Cargill’s department store. Now standing empty, it is one of the Fort’s most famous landmarks.
5pm // Galle Face Green
It is a half-hour walk along the seafront from the edge of Fort to Galle Face Green, one of the city’s most-loved open spaces. Built by Colombo’s former Governor Sri Henry Ward, the park and its seafront promenade are were locals come to hang out, picnic and play. Along the benches at the back of the park, you will find love-struck teenagers smooching under the cover of well-placed umbrellas while beside the waterfront street food vendors cook up fresh delights and salesmen peddle helium-filled balloons. It’s a pleasant place for a seaside stroll, where out to sea you can see container vessels and tankers queuing to enter the city’s port while behind you are the modern, high-rise hotels that makeup Colombo’s constantly shifting skyline. It is also a good opportunity to grab a street food snack if you can’t quite wait until dinner time.
7pm // Dinner
As the daylight begins to fade, make your way to the Kingsbury Hotel, situated nearby on the northern edge of Galle Face Green. It is one of the city’s most upmarket hotels and is home to 7 restaurants, ranging from Sri Lankan buffets to a steak bar. I am told that Yue Chuan, their Cantonese & Szechuan eatery, is the best (I can confirm that the food is great, although I didn’t try all of the Kingsbury’s restaurants).
However, I recommend taking the elevator all the way up to the hotel’s top floor to CÉ LA VI Restaurant and Lounge. Here you will find a menu of modern Asian cuisine but the real reason to visit is to sip elegant cocktails in the sky bar while enjoying sweeping sunset vistas of Colombo and the shimmering Indian ocean. The perfect way to end a busy day of sightseeing.
Where to Stay in Colombo
Bunkyard Hostel
This hostel, located in Cinnamon Gardens and just a short walk from Viharamahadevi Park, isn’t anything fancy – the dorm rooms are a little basic – but the private rooms are clean and modern, offering a very good budget alternative to some of the city’s more expensive hotels.
Cinnamon Red
Cool and chic, this modern, highrise hotel towers all the way up to the 25th floor of a skyscraper where you will find a stunning infinity pool that gives some of the best views in the city. Even if you’re not staying here, the rooftop bar is the perfect place to relax with a sundowner cocktail.
The Kingsbury
The Kingsbury is lavish, albeit in the style of old-world chic: think uniformed busboys, shimmering marble lobby and little touches of colonial charm. The pool area is fantastic and the hotel’s restaurant has the best Chinese-fusion food in the city.
Where to Visit Next...
Being Sri Lanka’s largest city and commercial capital, Colombo has good transport links to the rest of the country. Most visitors opt to catch the train to Kandy in the island’s interior in order to explore Sri Lanka’s cultural triangle where you will find ancient ruined cities and revered temples. Also to the north of Colombo is the coastal resort town of Negombo for those looking to engage in a little coastal nightlife. However, I would recommend heading to the southern coast where you will find more pristine beaches and Galle, Sri Lanka’s most beautifully preserved colonial town, enclosed in centuries-old ramparts. Galle is easily reached by both bus and train from Colombo.
