Fort, the Old Dutch Hospital, Pettah Bazaar and Galle Face Green

The historic heart of Colombo sits on the northern peninsula beside the harbour, split down the middle by Lotus Road and Colombo Fort Railway Station. To the west lies Fort (Colombo 1), where Portuguese and Dutch ramparts once enclosed colonial trading houses above the ocean; to the east spreads Pettah (Colombo 11), the old market quarter outside the walls; and running south from Fort stretches the seafront promenade of Galle Face Green.

Colombo Fort: the Old Dutch Hospital, Clock Tower and Cargills

Although the stone walls of the Dutch fort were dismantled by the British in the 1870s to make way for commercial avenues, Fort retains remarkable colonial landmarks alongside modern towers. Start on York Street at the ruby-red brick facade of the 1906 Cargills Building and walk west to Chatham Street, where the 1857 Old Colombo Lighthouse Clock Tower stands at the crossroads. Around the corner on Hospital Street sits the Old Dutch Hospital, the oldest surviving building in Colombo Fort: constructed in the 17th century with metre-thick coral walls, high terracotta roofs and double courtyards to catch sea breezes for recovering sailors of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), it now houses courtyard seafood restaurants, spice boutiques and tea lounges. At the northern tip near the port gates, look for the 1875 Grand Oriental Hotel and St Peter's Church.

Pettah Bazaar, Jami Ul-Alfar Red Mosque and Wolvendaal Church

Walk ten minutes east down Main Street into Pettah, where each numbered cross street specialises in a single commodity: textiles and saris on Main Street, goldsmiths on Sea Street (alongside ornate Hindu kovils), electronics on First Cross Street, and sacks of dried chillies, cinnamon quills, cardamom and Maldive fish around Fourth and Fifth Cross Streets. At Second Cross Street rises the Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque (Red Mosque), commissioned by South Indian Muslim traders in 1908; its candy-striped red-and-white brickwork and pomegranate domes make it the signature landmark of Pettah. On the hill just north-east stands the 1749 Wolvendaal Church, floored with carved VOC governors' tombstones.

Sunset along Galle Face Green and the Galle Face Hotel

As afternoon heat fades, walk south from Fort onto Galle Face Green, laid out in 1859 as a seaside promenade. Framed at its southern end by the 1864 colonial wing of the Galle Face Hotel, the lawn fills with families flying kites over the surf and red lanterns illuminating street food carts.