Gateway to the pearl of the Indian Ocean. Here is when to go, what a day costs on site and what to see, then Okela composes your itinerary hour by hour.

Compose my trip to ColomboSee Colombo in Okela

When to visit Colombo

Best months: January, February, March and December.

What to see in Colombo

1. Galle Face Green
   This long stretch of lawn beside the Indian Ocean is Colombo's open-air living room, where families, couples and kite flyers gather every day.
2. Temple Gangaramaya
   This Buddhist temple in central Colombo blends Sri Lankan, Thai, Indian and Chinese styles in a crowded, cheerful mix of statues, gifts and prayer halls.
3. Pettah (marché)
   Pettah is Colombo's densest and noisiest market district, a maze of lanes where each street has its own trade.
4. Musée national de Colombo
   It is the country's largest museum, and a place where a few rooms give you the story of the island, from the old kingdoms to the colonial era.
5. Independence Memorial Hall
   This columned pavilion draws on the royal audience halls of Kandy and marks the moment the country regained its own government.
6. Fort de Colombo & Dutch Hospital
   The Fort is the historic heart of Colombo, a district of Portuguese, Dutch and British-era buildings where three centuries of maritime trade are still visible.
7. Mount Lavinia Beach
   This is where Colombo slows down at the end of the day, with a wide stretch of sand, families strolling and warm orange light over the Indian Ocean.
8. Ministry of Crab
   Set inside the old Dutch hospital in Colombo Fort, this restaurant is devoted to Sri Lankan lagoon crab, eaten with your hands in a big hall of stone and brick.

A sample itinerary for Colombo, three days

Composed by Okela from the places in its database, with times. Yours takes your dates, pace and group into account.

Budget

Expect about €56 per person per day on site (accommodation, meals, transport and visits), depending on the comfort you choose. Okela shows the price of every step of your itinerary.

My Colombo itinerary, hour by hour

Road trips through Colombo

More destinations: Sri Lanka

Photo: T Chamika, CC0, Wikimedia Commons.