Three Walking Routes Through Colombo

The Fort colonial heritage walk

Start at the restored 17th-century Old Dutch Hospital, pass the Grand Oriental Hotel and the 1857 clock tower on Chatham Street, admire the General Post Office’s colonial facade, and finish at the sea wall near the Presidential Secretariat. It’s about 2.5 km and works best in the early morning, 07:00 to 09:30, or the early evening, 16:30 to 18:30, before or after the day’s heat sets in. Search Colombo walking tours on GetYourGuide if you want a guide who can point out which buildings are still government offices and which are open to walk into.

The Pettah bazaar and street food trail

Starting from Fort Railway Station, walk down Main Street into Pettah, past the red-and-white Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque on 2nd Cross Street, then into the spice warehouses of 5th Cross Street for cinnamon and dried chilies sold loose by the kilo. Stop for thambili, chilled king coconut water, from a street cart along the way, usually LKR 150 to 200. It’s about 2 km and considerably more comfortable before 10:00, once the mid-morning market crowds build up.

The Cinnamon Gardens architectural stroll

This one starts at Independence Memorial Hall, built between 1949 and 1953, crosses the restored 1889 colonnades of Arcade Independence Square, cuts through the shade of Viharamahadevi Park past the colonial-era Town Hall, and ends at the National Museum on Albert Crescent. At roughly 3 km, it’s the longest of the three and the leafiest, since Cinnamon Gardens is the greenest of the numbered districts. Search Colombo history and architecture tours on Viator covers guided versions that add context to the buildings along the way.

Doing it self-guided

All three routes are free to walk on your own; a private local guide for any of them runs roughly $20 to 35 USD. None of the three needs a car or even a tuk-tuk between stops, since each is built around a single compact district.

Tips

  • Wear shoes you can walk 2 to 3 km in without a break; none of the three routes has much shade cover once you’re off Viharamahadevi Park’s paths.
  • Carry water; none of the three walks passes more than one or two shops selling cold drinks.
  • The Sri Lanka Tourism Board’s Colombo page lists current opening hours for the sites along each route, since a few change seasonally.
  • Fort Railway Station, the starting point for the Pettah route, also has current train timetables if you’re continuing on to Mount Lavinia or Galle afterward.

Read more: Colombo attraction tours guide for a closer look at the National Museum and Geoffrey Bawa’s Number 11, both mentioned along these routes.