Let’s get started!

Colombo: The Essential Starting Point

With over 750,000 residents living in the city centre, and several million more residing in the greater metropolitan area, Colombo is the pulsing core of Sri Lanka and where the country actually functions.

The name of the city, on the opposite of what you might think, is not from European origins, but comes from the mango trees (in Sinhala “Kolon Thota”, meaning harbour with mango trees!) 😉

Having passed under several dominions since the 8th century (it was an Arab trading post, then a fort under the Portuguese, then Dutch, and finally British), the city has grown over the centuries into an enormous multi-cultural centre!

Today, it is possible to still explore those preserved layers of history mixed with one another: colonial-era buildings next to glass towers, Buddhist temples squeezed between banks and offices, mosques, Hindu kovils and quiet residential streets a few meters away from complete chaos!

Starting your trip in Colombo makes sense for practical reasons: flights, trains, buses, hotels… but more importantly, it’s the perfect place to adjust and get a feel of Sri Lanka before moving further inland 🙂

And bonus, don’t forget that here you can easily also surf! 😉

Must-Do Experiences:

1. You can’t visit Colombo,

without starting with a Food Tasting Tour!

We are talking about cultural experiences…wo why are we starting with a food tour? 🙂

Before exploring the city, you need to eat, as eating is an integral part of Sri Lankan culture!

Colombo’s culinary scene is rich and varied: here you can find many things that we’ve never seen!

Taking a food tour with a local guide will show you what to order, where to eat, and introduce you to all the food customs of the country (eating with the right hand, balancing spices, the importance of rice, the culture of sharing… There’s a world behind the surface!)

On your journey, you will explore street food, small local eateries, and hidden favorites, all while learning the stories behind each dish.

Experiences like those offered by Colombo Food Tours (the local company leader for this kind of tour) aim not only bring travelers to taste iconic dishes, street food, and local drinks, but also to understand how history, trade, colonial influence, and migration shaped Sri Lankan cuisine and culture.

You’ll hear the stories behind each dish, learn their names, and gain valuable insight into local food customs.

Starting your trip with a food tasting tour also helps you confidently navigate menus and flavors for the rest of your journey!

2. Discover a Traditional Local Market

in Colombo & get a Hands-On Cooking Class

After tasting Sri Lanka, it’s time to understand how those flavors are created (and the history behind Sri Lankan spices is huge!).

Taking a traditional local market tour is thus another experience we can definitely recommend to you: it is affordable, it is culturally interesting, and it takes you straight into Sri Lankan daily life!

In Sri Lanka, there is a huge production of fruit, and the stalls in local markets generally overflow with jackfruits, banana blossoms, king coconuts, and fragrant curry leaves.

Of course, you can also see fresh cinnamon bark, piles of dried chilies (which are not native, they came with the Portuguese!), and spices sold the same way they have been for generations (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, chilli…anything you can think of, sweet and sour! 🙂 ).

Pairing the market visit with a hands-on cooking experience is another idea to elevate the experience even further!

A Colombo cooking class with a traditional local market tour, such as those offered by Rustic Colombo Cooking Class, is an experience that brings you to shop with a local host, learn about ingredients, and then cook authentic Sri Lankan dishes in a relaxed, home-style setting.

A different, niche, alternative, cultural experience that is great both for meeting other travelers and for satiating your hunger for food discovery 😉

On the tour, you can ask questions and learn from someone who truly understands local culture and cuisine!

These market tours avoid the busy Pettah market (very touristy!) and instead take you to beautiful neighborhood markets and everyday local shops, authentic and non-touristy.

Along the way, you’ll learn about spices, tropical vegetables, culture, heritage, and Sri Lankan cuisine.

Fun Fact: did you know that Sri Lanka, for 2000 years, has been the only country in the world to produce cinnamon? In ancient Rome, to give you an idea, cinnamon was worth more than silver! 😉

Not “kind-of cinnamon”.
The real thing — softer, sweeter, and lighter than the cassia most of us eat today.

3. Visit the Colombo National Museum

to get a true Feel of Sri Lanka’s History!

To fully appreciate what you see on the streets of Sri Lanka, be sure to step into the Colombo National Museum: there is so much more than meets the eye!

In this central museum, located right in the city center just a few steps from Independence Square (another iconic place to see!), Sri Lanka’s layers of history unfold: ancient kingdoms, colonial rule, religious traditions, and artistic heritage… It’s all about history!

Here you can witness the Kandyan Royal regalia (crowns, ornaments, and the famous Lion Throne of the last Sri Lankan Kingdom), Buddhist relics, sculptures, masks, weaponry from the colonial era, Portuguese, Dutch, and British!) and centuries-old artifacts that provide essential context for the temples, traditions, and everyday life you’ll encounter later in your travels 🙂

Having a good tour guide helps explain what you’re seeing and offers a clear overview, as there is not much information written around the museum.

The entrance fee is ridiculously cheap (~$3.50–$5), it is open every day except for Mondays, and you can easily spend 2-3 cultural hours here 🙂

In our opinion, the museum is best to be visited in early mornings when the temperature is cooler, and there are not many crowds around 🙂

4. Take a complete Colombo City Tour and embrace the mix of tradition and modernity!

Last but not least, in this list, we could not miss a complete city tour!

Colombo is a huge, strange, curious city, where skyscrapers and ancient religious buildings (Christians, Muslim and Hindus!) co-exist and collide! 🙂

Getting around the city with a knowledgeable tour guide, is one of those experiences that can definitely help you to see not only present-day Colombo, but also all the details of its past and many historical layers shaped by trade, religion, and colonial rule.

Highlights not to miss are:

• The Gangaramaya Temple: a beautiful and calming space best experienced in the early morning or evening, when the atmosphere is peaceful and reflective. It’s half a temple, half a museum, filled with Buddhist relics, vintage cars (yes, cars!), and statues of all kinds 🙂

• The Beira Lake: a large lake in the middle of the city, an oasis of peace frequented by joggers and families, where you can enjoy nature with the skyscrapers as a frame

• Independence Square, a monument to the history of Sri Lanka, a square filled with statues and temples 🙂

• The busy Colombo port, a huge, humongous dock of containers, a living mega-project whose size will leave you speechless!

• The vibrant streets of Pettah: markets, chaos, spice smells, wires everywhere…the Colombo without filters xD

End your tour at Galle Face Green, where the city meets the ocean 😉

Take your time, learn, observe, and enjoy the city slowly to truly get the most from it!

Conclusion

And here we are at the end of this article!

In this article we’ve had a look into the capital city of Colombo and unveiled few of the best underrated tours you could join to get a feel of this multi-cultural city: from food tours, to cooking class, to the national museum and to all the places cool-to-see on a guided city tour! 🙂

Before rushing off to beaches or the hill country, believe me, it’s worth spending couple of days here! 🙂

Before going I’d like to ask you:

• Have you been to Colombo before?
• How was your experience?
• Do you have something more you would recommend seeing?

Do you have any other curiosity about Sri Lanka that you would like to share with other fellow travelers?

If yes, then let us know in the comments below! (we always like chatting and meeting new people!).

Thanks for reading, and I wish you a happy life!

See you in the next article 🙂

Discover More:

•  7 World-Class Museums You Never Heard Of
• Destinations of the World: Discover More Cool Destinations!
• Travel Italy: Discover the Most interesting, Curious, and Unknown Places in Italy!