Colombo 3-Day Itinerary: Pettah, Bawa Architecture and Ocean Sunsets

This three-day route schedules outdoor walks in northern Colombo for the cooler mornings, saves shaded museums and courtyard lunches for the heat of midday, and finishes along the Indian Ocean coast as the late-afternoon sea breeze picks up. Read our practical briefing before setting out.

Day 1: Colombo Fort, Pettah Bazaar, the Red Mosque & Galle Face Green

• Morning: begin in Colombo Fort at the red-brick Cargills Building and the 1857 Lighthouse Clock Tower on Chatham Street, then walk ten minutes east down Main Street into the trade lanes of Pettah Bazaar.
• Late morning: photograph the red-and-white pomegranate brickwork of the Jami Ul-Alfar (Red) Mosque on Second Cross Street, follow the spice stalls of Fourth Cross Street, and climb the slight rise to the 1749 Dutch Reformed Wolvendaal Church.
• Midday: return to the restored 17th-century courtyards of the Old Dutch Hospital in Fort for a long lunch of garlic-chilli lagoon crab or rice and curry, followed by iced Ceylon tea.
• Late afternoon and sunset: stroll south along the oceanfront esplanade of Galle Face Green as kites fill the sky; stop at the red carts for hot prawn isso vade and watch sunset from the verandah terrace of the 1864 Galle Face Hotel before evening egg hoppers and kottu roti.

Day 2: Gangaramaya Temple, Seema Malaka, National Museum & Cinnamon Gardens

• Morning: dress with shoulders and knees covered to visit Gangaramaya Temple, then walk two minutes to cross the floating wooden bridges of Geoffrey Bawa's Seema Malaka shrine on Beira Lake.
• Late morning: cut through shaded Viharamahadevi Park into Cinnamon Gardens (Colombo 7) and spend two hours inside the 1877 Colombo National Museum examining the Kandyan royal throne, crown jewels and Polonnaruwa bronzes.
• Midday: lunch on Dutch Burgher lamprais baked in banana leaf or relax in a leafy Colombo 7 courtyard cafe, browsing local handloom cotton and ceramics boutiques.
• Late afternoon: walk the stone-pillared pavilion of Independence Memorial Hall and Independence Arcade, then ascend the Colombo Lotus Tower at dusk for panoramic views over the lake and harbour.

Day 3: Geoffrey Bawa's Number 11, Kelaniya or Coastal Train to Mount Lavinia

• Morning: join a pre-booked timed tour of architect Geoffrey Bawa's multi-level townhouse at Number 11 down 33rd Lane in Colombo 3, followed by coffee or an early lunch in the reflection-pool courtyards of Bawa's former studio at The Gallery Cafe.
• Afternoon: either take an app tuk-tuk north-east to the riverside murals of Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara, or board a coastal train from Colombo Fort Railway Station along the ocean rocks to Mount Lavinia Beach (or continue down the coast toward Galle).