12 Best Things to Do in Colombo
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Colombo is a 1-2 day city, so this list is ranked for a short visit rather than padded to fill a week. Fort, Pettah, and Galle Face Green sit close enough to cover on foot in a single day; the rest are worth adding if you have a second.
1. Gangaramaya Temple
The city’s most eclectic Buddhist temple: a late-19th-century complex with Buddha statues in a dozen styles, a vintage-car collection, and a museum wing, all inside an active monastery. Open roughly 6am-10pm, with a donation-style entry fee around LKR 300. Cover shoulders and knees; shoes come off at the door.
2. Seema Malaka
Gangaramaya’s meditation pavilions appear to float on Beira Lake, right next door to the main temple. It’s a genuine Geoffrey Bawa work, but a 1976 rebuild after the original 19th-century structure sank, so don’t expect untouched heritage.
3. Galle Face Green
A roughly 5-hectare oceanfront lawn and promenade, not a swimming beach (the shore here is rocky). Come around 5-8pm, when it turns into an open-air street-food court: isso wade (prawn-studded lentil patties), grilled corn, and kite-flying are the real local ritual.
4. Colombo Fort and the Old Dutch Hospital
The colonial core of the city, anchored by the restored Old Dutch Hospital, a late-17th-century building now holding restaurants and boutiques (Ministry of Crab is here). Walk the old government quarter around it for a sense of the colonial-era layout.
5. Jami-Ul-Alfar (Red Mosque)
Pettah’s candy-striped red-and-white Indo-Islamic landmark, built in 1908-09, is one of the most photographed buildings in the city. Dress respectfully and avoid visiting during prayer times.
6. Pettah Market
The historic bazaar bordering Fort: Sea Street’s gold traders (a 22-carat market run by Tamil goldsmith families), the Old and New Kathiresan Kovils (Hindu temples that kick off the Vel festival), and 1749 Wolvendaal Church, the oldest active Protestant church in the city. The Pettah Floating Market on the canal is a fun add-on, but it’s a modern 2014 build, not an old bazaar in disguise.
7. National Museum of Colombo
The country’s largest museum, facing Viharamahadevi Park, holds the Kandyan royal regalia and ancient Buddhist sculpture. Open Tuesday-Sunday 9am-6pm (closed Monday), entry around LKR 1,200.
8. Independence Square and Arcade
The memorial hall and square commemorate independence on 4 February 1948, echoing the Kandyan kings’ Audience Hall design. Next door, the Arcade Independence Square mall sits inside a restored building that started life in 1889 as a lunatic asylum, a genuinely surprising fact for such a polished shopping precinct today.
9. Colombo Lotus Tower
At 351.5m, it’s the tallest self-supported structure in South Asia, with an observation deck around the 29th floor (about 244m up). Foreign adult entry runs about $20. It’s a pricey modern viewpoint, honestly worth doing once for the 360-degree sunset view rather than a must-repeat.
10. Viharamahadevi Park
The city’s oldest and largest park, facing the colonial-red Town Hall, renamed from “Victoria Park” in 1958. A calm break between the museum and a Pettah walk.
11. Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara
An important temple about 10km northeast of the center, easy as a half-day trip, said to have been visited by the Buddha himself and known for Solias Mendis’s murals. It’s also the starting point of the January Duruthu Perahera.
12. Mount Lavinia
The closest genuine swimming beach, about 10km south, anchored by the 1805 Mount Lavinia Hotel (once a governor’s residence, later a WWII hospital). It’s the honest answer if you want a swim without leaving the greater Colombo area.
Getting between them
There’s no Grab in Sri Lanka; use PickMe (dominant, including tuk-tuks) or Uber, and insist on the meter. At any temple on this list, never pose with your back to a Buddha statue, a rule that’s actively enforced with documented deportations, not a vague suggestion.
Read more: the main Colombo guide covers pacing for a short visit, and the 2-day itinerary turns this list into a schedule.