I visited Colombo for the second time in February 2026 after being here for almost a day exactly 10 years ago. I wasn’t totally impressed then, there was always someone trying to reach out to me, be it tuk-tuks or “usually nice helpful people” (with a strict request for money at the end). On my second visit, I had improved my impression, but I still don’t think Colombo is an interesting tourist destination and for me more of an overnight stop before my flight. This is despite the fact that I spent 10 days here last time. So I won’t do a list of 20 must-see things here, and will confront the practical needs of most – what to see and do during that one day.
- if you want to see one monument, it’s Seema Temple,
- Always order yourtuk-tuk through the app, cheaper and more practical than from the street,
- Colombo is a gateway to Sri Lanka, not a destination,
- Colombo is not the capital of Sri Lanka (although it is commonly referred to as such), that is SriJayawardanapura Kotte, in close proximity to Colombo to the southeast.
Where to stay in Colombo
For one night, the centre, the Kollupitiya district, definitely makes sense. That’s the part to the south just below the Colombo Port spur. It’s got restaurants, big hotels, it’s close to the main tourist destinations. The hotel I chose for one night here is the Granbell Hotel Colombo, nice to enjoy the comfort of a hotel with a big rooftop pool, gym, breakfast after spending time in Sri Lanka.
Towards the south is Bambalapitiya, a district that is further away but quieter, more suitable for a longer stay. For a longer stay I chose Colombo Court Hotel & Spa, which is on the border of these two districts, but I spent a lot of time in Bambalapitiya.
What to see and where to go in Colombo
In my opinion, Colombo is one of the least touristy metropolises in Southeast Asia. I don’t want to be mean to Colombo, but it’s a city where you don’t have to feel particularly guilty if you don’t even leave your hotel. There are no sights here that you can’t do without visiting.
But when you do venture out, Colombo is surprisingly quite a clean city and well suited to pedestrians. Not only are there sidewalks, but they’re often quite wide, with no holes or obstructions in the form of stalls every two metres. Just a normal city.
Seema Temple
If I had to single out one landmark, and I insist that’s enough in Colombo, it’s this little temple built on pontoons on the city’s artificial lake , Beira. It faces west, so the best time, if you want it nicely lit, including the town beyond the lake, is in the morning, well before 9. Or then at sunset, which will be behind the temple, over the town.
Around the square area there are golden statues of Buddha in different forms and with different gestures. On the upper meditation platform there are other stone statues and a white stupa.
There are floating gardens around the lake or whatever you want to call it, just rafts with plants moving around, it looks nice.
There’s also an island a short distance away (there’s a bridge leading to it that you can’t miss), Gangaramaya Park. But it was closed during my visit. However, I think it’s a place where you can even rent a boat and go out on the lake.
Gangaramaya Temple
Probably the most important temple of Colombo. Buddha statues, relics, elephant tusks, old clocks, gifts from all over the Buddhist world. Yes, it’s also a museum.
Not a particularly beautiful or interesting temple at all for me, if you’ve seen some temples before, they were probably nicer. Kandy, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa are definitely better in Sri Lanka.
However, it’s within walking distance of Seema Temple, so you can stop by while you’re there. By the way, Seema is part of the Gangaramaya complex and the same ticket applies for both places. It’s just Sri Lankan chaos and they won’t hesitate to sell you the ticket again at the other place at the entrance (or not to jinx them, they might not even think you already have a ticket from the other one). The ticket only costs 500 LKR, but even then, you don’t have to pay twice.
Pettah Market
Every guidebook will send you to the local Pettah Market, but you can skip that too. Don’t get me wrong, I love local markets and always go to them, I don’t even have anything against this one, I liked it. But unless you’re specifically in the area, there’s nothing so special that you have to come here.
It is a market mainly for fresh fruit, vegetables, spices and dried fish. It’s a market for a morning visit. Apart from maybe a few pieces of fruit to taste or spices as a souvenir, there’s not much to buy. No food, no juices.
Everything is nicely put together, fresh, clean (although there is a decent smell of dried fish in places). For lovers of markets and admirers of fruits and vegetables less known to us Europeans, great. But you can run through it in 10 minutes and there’s not much else around. About a 10 min walk away is Fort Railway Station, the main railway station.
The area around the market – Pettah – is the poorest and most chaotic area of Colombo, here, as I said, Colombo is a clean city does not exactly apply twice. If you’re into that kind of exploring, there are plenty of shops and street stalls around Pettah market that are already interesting from that perspective.
Galle Face Green
The more touristy market is Galle Face Green. Here, on the other hand, you have to come in the evening. It’s a classic streetfood market and it’s on the nice and clean waterfront at Galle Face Beach, right in the centre. It’s alive in the evening.
More things to see in Colombo
If that’s not enough, some other sights:
- Viharamahadevi Park – the biggest park in the city, this one is fine if you want to take a break and walk around, but just a park.
- Colombo National Museum – a quick overview of Sri Lanka’s history, without the kitsch.
- Independence Memorial Hall – a symbol of modern Sri Lanka, but simply “just a building”.
- Dutch Hospital Shopping Precinct – colonial building, bars and restaurants.
- Old Parliament Building – British colonial architecture just off the harbour.
- Colombo Lotus Tower – the tallest building in the country, but otherwise nothing interesting.
Transport around the city and tuk-tuks
Every day I look at the unfortunate tourists who wave at the tuk-tuks, then make complicated arrangements with them where they want to drop them and I don’t want to see what it looks like when paying. Probably expensive. The same way it works in Prague, a taxi from the street is simply at best multiply expensive, at worst it’s an outrageous stretch.
Use an app to take you there, where you know the price in advance, enter the location by name or map and pay with a card (even a tuk-tuk), you don’t have to deal with nonsense like the tuk-tuk driver doesn’t have change (yes, these little things happen all the time). You can either use a local PickMe or Uber, which you probably already have on your phone.
PickMe may have more drivers, I’ve used Uber because it’s just easier and I know how it works. On my routes, usually around 2 km, the tuk-tuk usually arrived within a minute, I paid mostly 15 to 20 CZK per ride. You can recognize your driver by the license plate number, but in Sri Lanka you also need to confirm your PIN (it shows up in the app, you dictate to the driver and it links the ride that you are sitting in the right seat).
By the way, Uber is commonly used here for intercity as well, it has an InterCity option for that directly. It’s much faster and more convenient than the train, and usually much cheaper than the transfer they offer you. To the south of the island it takes maybe around 2,5h and costs, depending on load and exact distance, say around 1200-1600 CZK.
Where to go in Colombo for food, coffee and tea
Definitely on Street Food at Galle Face Green, no question. I’ve been exploring the local cafes quite a bit on my longer stay (but the modern, specialty coffee ones, no cafe tourism). For work, I loved KIKU Colombo, with a big shared table which is fine for work. For breakfast , Cafe Kumbuk, which I mean, it was often full in the morning, but they make a great breakfast. As does the Seed Cafe.
More centrally, right by Lake Beira is a nice big modern cafe overlooking the green Barista Nawam Mawatha.
For tea I went to t-lounge by Dilmah (Dilmah is a brand of Sri Lankan tea). They have very nice branches (I’ve been to 2), painted walls. The food was average and as for the tea I can’t really tell, but I reckon it was all good. As an experience it’s definitely fine, tea is served classically with an hourglass to let it steep properly for a long time.
Where is Colombo
Colombo lies on the west coast of Sri Lanka, outside the main mountainous region of Sri Lanka, it is a flat coastal city.
How to get to Colombo and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is the closest country to Southeast Asia from Europe, so the flight is relatively short.
Connections are offered by Emirates (via Dubai), Qatar Airways (via Doha), Turkish Airlines (via Istanbul) and Etihad (via Abu Dhabi).
