Colombo

Sri Lanka's commercial capital and the city most flights land near (Bandaranaike airport is 33 km north, at Katunayake). Galle Face Green on the sea, the Pettah bazaars and the red-and-white Jami Ul-Alfar mosque, Gangaramaya temple on Beira Lake, the National Museum and the old Dutch Hospital make a good day or two. Indian and vegetarian food is easy: Wellawatte and Bambalapitiya, the Tamil neighbourhoods on Galle Road, have pure-vegetarian South Indian restaurants.

Highlights

• Sunset and street food on Galle Face Green
• Pettah bazaar walk
• Red-and-white Jami Ul-Alfar mosque
• Gangaramaya temple and Seema Malaka on Beira Lake
• National Museum
• Dutch Hospital shopping arcade
• Kelaniya temple
• Ministry of Crab
• South Indian vegetarian meals in Wellawatte

Things to do

• Pettah market and Jami Ul-Alfar mosque walkMorning · 2h 30m
• Gangaramaya temple and Seema MalakaMorning · 1h 30m
• National Museum of ColomboAfternoon · 2h
• Galle Face Green at sunset with isso vadaiEvening · 1h 30m
• Dutch Hospital and the colonial Fort districtAfternoon · 1h 30m
• Kelaniya Raja Maha ViharaMorning · 1h 30m
• Sri Ponnambalavaneswaram Kovil, the stone Shiva temple of KotahenaMorning · 1h
• Viharamahadevi Park and the Town HallMorning · 1h
• Independence Memorial Hall and the Arcade Independence SquareAfternoon · 1h 30m
• South Indian vegetarian lunch in WellawatteAfternoon · 1h 30m
• Lotus Tower observation deck after darkEvening · 1h 30m
• Mount Lavinia beach at sunsetEvening · 2h

Tours & tickets

When to go

Best time: December – March

• Vesak — The full moon of the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and passing: towns hang paper lanterns and lit pandals (thoran) telling Jataka stories, and roadside dansal stalls give free food and drinks to everyone. Colombo's lights round Beira Lake and Gangaramaya are the most elaborate. Alcohol sales stop and slaughterhouses close for the Vesak week; it also ends the Adam's Peak pilgrimage season.
• Sinhala and Tamil New Year (Aluth Avurudu / Puthandu) — The national new year, at the auspicious times astrologers set: families go home, many shops, restaurants and buses stop for two or three days around 13-14 April, and trains and buses before and after are packed. Nuwara Eliya has its season of races and shows round it.
• Duruthu Perahera at Kelaniya — On the January full moon the Kelaniya temple on Colombo's edge holds its procession of elephants, drummers and dancers, celebrating the Buddha's first visit to the island. A smaller, easier taste of the Kandy Perahera.
• Thai Pongal — The Tamil harvest festival on 14 or 15 January: pots of milk rice boiled over at dawn in front of homes and temples, kolam patterns at doorways. Biggest in Jaffna and the Tamil east.
• Deepavali — A public holiday in Sri Lanka, celebrated by Tamil Hindus in Jaffna, Colombo's Wellawatte, Trincomalee and the tea-estate towns of the hills with lamps, temple pujas and sweets.
• Christmas and New Year peak — The south coast's busiest and dearest fortnight: beach hotels set minimum stays and gala dinners on 24 and 31 December, the Ella train and Yala jeeps sell out, and Indian holiday-makers add to the European winter crowds. Book rooms and reserved train seats by October.

Part of a longer route

Colombo is a stop on a curated circuit through Sri Lanka.