Colombo Travel Guide: Sri Lanka's Capital That Never Left

See & Do

Fort and Pettah, the two halves of one wall

Fort is what the Portuguese built in 1517 and what the Dutch took in 1656 after a siege that left 93 survivors. It is Colombo 1 now, the business district, with the presidential palace and most five-star hotels inside it. Pettah, the outer fort, starts where the ramparts were: the Dutch Hospital, the Central Market and the floating market.

Galle Face Green, and a city built offshore

Galle Face Green is a five hectare promenade on the Indian Ocean with the 19th century Galle Face Hotel at its southern end, and the city comes out at dusk. Beside it, Port City Colombo is rising on reclaimed land in a project once costed at USD 15 billion, reclamation finished in January 2019. The skyline you photograph stands on fill.

Gangaramaya and Beira Lake

Gangaramaya Temple mixes Sri Lankan, Thai, Indian and Chinese architecture in one compound, the clearest single statement of how many traders settled here. Beira Lake covers 65 hectares in the middle of the city and each colonial power used it to defend the place.

The Lotus Tower and Cinnamon Gardens

The Lotus Tower reaches 351.5 metres, the tallest self-supported structure in South Asia. Two kilometres inland, Independence Memorial Hall marks 4 February 1948, and Viharamahadevi Park beside it is the oldest and largest green space in the city.

Eat

Sri Lankan food is the reason not to treat Colombo as a transit city.

What a meal costs

Numbeo's 4 November snapshot puts a meal at an inexpensive restaurant at LKR 1,267, about USD 4, a three course dinner for two at LKR 8,250 (USD 25) and a McDonald's combo at LKR 2,500 (USD 8). A bottle of local beer is LKR 637.82 (USD 2) and a cappuccino LKR 832.43 (USD 3).

Rice and curry, hoppers, kottu

Rice and curry is the baseline: rice with several vegetable curries, dhal and something fried. Breakfast is hoppers, the bowl shaped fermented rice crepes, or string hoppers with coconut sambol. Late night is kottu, a godhamba roti chopped on a hotplate with egg and curry, and bakeries sell short eats by the piece for under a dollar.

Where the coffee is

Nomads.com names Coco Veranda for coffee, and the café side of the city runs through Colombo 3 and 7 rather than the old town.

Where to Stay

Hotels price for business travel and leases price by district.

What a bed costs

Nomads.com's medians are USD 36 a night for a hotel, or USD 777 across thirty nights, and USD 69 a night for an Airbnb, or USD 2,057 a month. Its central studio figure is USD 586.

Central or one ring out, a two times decision

Numbeo's 4 November rent for a one bedroom in the centre is LKR 191,079, about USD 575, against LKR 90,522 outside, about USD 272. The central range runs from 100,000 to 365,815 rupees, so district matters more than country. The cost breakdown has the rest of the month.

Logistics

Bandaranaike International Airport sits at Katunayake, about 35 km north, and the expressway run is the one journey worth pre-booking. PickMe is the local ride app and the one nomads.com recommends. A bus trip is LKR 52.50, about 16 cents, and a taxi starts at LKR 130.

Cash is still the assumption. Nomads.com's panel reports cash only in practice, especially for foreigners, so carry rupees even where cards are taken. Tap water is not drinkable, tipping is not expected, and 230V sockets take the British three pin plug.