As we’ve said, we enjoy spending time in places that are not must-see-attraction heavy. Colombo is one of those; most people only give it a day or two before heading to the hills or the coast. That said, there are still a good number of things to do. Here’s our list of the best sights of Colombo!
Galle Face Green
Who doesn’t love a giant mall? With a hotel! Especially one fronting the beach! Galle Face Green, and its mall, are prime Colombo real estate. The mall has Colombo’s highest-end stores, mostly international brands, with a movie theatre and restaurants. The Galle Face Hotel has a super-fancy bar and restaurant. And the Green itself comes alive in the late afternoon and evening. Hundreds of people patronize dozens of hawker stalls, and everybody walks around seeing and being seen. We recommend trying pretty much any food stall that’s got a line in front of it. (Nana’s is the very most famous.)
National Museum
We noticed some time ago that national museums tend to fall into one of a few categories. This one lies firmly in the ‘for-its-own-people’ camp. It provides an exhaustive history of Sri Lanka, from the earliest days of human occupation. Our favourite exhibits were the paintings from the Kandy period (featured image) and the theatrical masks. We also dug the bodhisattva sandals. But it was all pretty great!
There’s also a natural history museum which – the day we went – was packed full of school children. The museum complex is located in Vivara Mahadevi park (which used to call itself Victoria Park). On a not-so-hot day, it’s a lovely place to stroll around.
Fort
This is the historic core of the city, and it has some of the best sights of Colombo. First is the old Dutch Hospital, built in the seventeenth century as a refuge for sailors. With an interior courtyard, open to the salt breezes, it must have been a great place to convalesce. Now, however, it’s full of shopping. And of what might be Colombo’s most famous restaurant, the Ministry of Crab. (More on that soon.)
Fort also contains a famous clock tower, the Old Colombo Lighthouse. Emily Elizabeth Ward (wife of the then-governor) designed it and had it built in 1857. Dent, the British clockmakers responsible for Big Ben, made the clock. The lighthouse was at that point the tallest building in Colombo, but eventually other buildings blocked its view. (These days, neither lights nor clock work.)
There are a number of other old colonial buildings in Fort. Our favourite is the original Cargill’s store, housed in a spectacular building that used to be a private home.
Close by are the Grand Oriental Hotel, where you can have tea overlooking the busy harbour (that’s the view above). And St. Peter’s Church (COE, built 1821) is next door. This latter building was first a monastery, then the residence of the governor, and finally a church again. The president’s house is also right nearby, but there’s lots of security around it and you can’t get too close.
Fort is also home to Port City, a 600-acre land reclamation project financed by the Chinese. What you see above is all land reclaimed from the ocean by pumping massive amounts of sand to create a beach.
Pettah
This is the other oldest part of the city, and it too contains some of the best sights of Colombo. We think the very best are the Masjid Jami-Ul-Alfar and the Sri Kathiresan temple. The first is a mosque built in 1909 by Habibu Labbe Saibu Lebbe, who was not an architect. (Not bad for an amateur!). And the second is a temple to Murugan, the Hindu god of war. Or, really, three temples: the Old Kathiresan, the New Kathiresan, and the Sri Muthu Vinayagar Swamy Kovil. They’re all pretty amazing, chock-full of, well, war.
This neighbourhood is also home to the Dutch Period Museum, which is just what it sounds like, full of furniture, ceramics, coins, weapons, and exhibits on everyday life. There’s another clock tower (also not working), the Khan Tower. And – most importantly, perhaps – Pettah is home to a giant market, where fruits, vegetables, beans, fish, and other necessities display themselves to eager buyers. There are streets mostly full of particular goods, and a covered market that has a bit of everything.
Gangaramaya Temple
Last but not least on our list of best sights of Colombo is Gangaramaya temple, a Buddhist temple located partly on Lake Beira. It’s notable for its Thai, Indian, and Chinese influences, especially in its statuary. And also for the boatload of offerings, housed in a museum: gold watches, books, elephant tusks, a crocodile, and innumerable statues of the buddha. We visited this temple for Poya Day, and it was jam-packed with people!
Seema Malaka is the part of Gangaramaya temple located on the lake. Geoffrey Bawa, Sri Lanka’s most famous architect, designed it, and is typically a much quieter location.
So there are our picks for the five best sights of Colombo. We hope you get to visit them!
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