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Travel guide
Galle
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: December to April
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Welcome
Galle, in a few days
Three kilometres of ramparts, begun by the Dutch in 1649, enclose Galle Fort on its peninsula on Sri Lanka's south coast. Its streets of low houses, colonnaded warehouses and a 1939 lighthouse are five minutes by road from the beaches.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 3 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
3 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Galle Fort ramparts free · about 1 h 30Coral and granite walls built by the Dutch East India Company from 1649 over a Portuguese fort, with fourteen bastions and wide walkways on top.
- Afternoon · Dutch Reformed Church free · about 30 minThe Groote Kerk, built 1752 to 1755, one of the oldest Protestant churches in use in South Asia, its floor paved with 18th-century Dutch tombstones.
- Late afternoon · Galle National Maritime Museum · about 1 hA 1671 Dutch warehouse against the ramparts, showing finds from wrecks in the bay, including the Avondster, sunk in 1659: cannons, pottery and navigation instruments.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Closenberg Hotel ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€70 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Galle Lighthouse free · about 30 minA white 26.5-metre tower on Utrecht Bastion, at the fort's southern tip, built by the British in 1939 to replace one lost to fire.
- Afternoon · Rumassala Hill and Jungle Beach free · about 2 hA wooded headland closing Unawatuna bay, said in the Ramayana to be a piece of Himalaya dropped by Hanuman, topped by a Japanese Peace Pagoda.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Closenberg Hotel ↗€70 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Unawatuna beach free · half a dayA crescent bay east of the fort, sheltered by a reef, rebuilt after the 2004 tsunami with a narrower beach and seafront restaurants.
- Late afternoon · Koggala stilt fishermen · about 30 minBetween Koggala and Ahangama, fishermen perch on crossbars tied to poles in the shallows, a technique that appeared during the Second World War.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Closenberg Hotel ↗€70 a night
D4
Day 4
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Whale watching from Mirissa · half a dayOff Dondra Head the continental shelf drops away close to shore, bringing blue whales within reach between November and April; boats leave early morning.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Rice and curry: half a dozen curries around a mound of rice, all at once.
- Hoppers: a bowl-shaped pancake of fermented rice flour, often with an egg in it.
- Kottu: roti chopped and fried on a griddle, to a rhythm you hear down the street.
- Dhal: lentils cooked slowly in coconut milk, on every table.
- Ceylon tea, drunk where it grows, in the hills of the interior.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Bare feet and covered shoulders in temples. Hats off too.
- Never turn your back on a Buddha image for a photograph. It is an offence here, and people have been deported for it.
- Agree the tuk-tuk fare before you get in, or use the PickMe app.
- Bottled water only. The monsoon hits the two coasts at opposite times of year, so check which one you are on.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ Sinhala
| English | Sinhala |
|---|---|
| Hello | ආයුබෝවන් (ayubowan) |
| Thank you | ස්තූතියි (sthoothiyi) |
| Please | කරුණාකර (karunakara) |
| Yes | ඔව් (ow) |
| No | නැහැ (naha) |
| Excuse me | සමාවෙන්න (samavenna) |
| Goodbye | ආයුබෝවන් (ayubowan) |
| Do you speak English? | ඉංග්රීසි කතා කරනවාද? (english katha karanavada?) |
| I don't understand | මට තේරෙන්නේ නැහැ (mata therenne naha) |
| How much is it? | මේක කීයද? (meka kiyada?) |
| Where are the toilets? | වැසිකිළිය කොහෙද? (wasikiliya koheda?) |
| The bill, please | බිල ගේන්න (bila genna) |
| Help! | උදව් කරන්න! (udaw karanna!) |
| Cheers! | චියර්ස්! (cheers!) |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencySri Lankan rupee (LKR)
BudgetAbout €75 a day, mid-range
Best seasonDecember to April
PlugD/G/M · 230V
Tap waterBottled only
TippingAppreciated, around 10%
Emergency119 / 1990
EntryAn ETA is required and must be applied for online before you travel, with a passport, for EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian citizens.
HealthHepatitis A and typhoid are recommended. Malaria risk is low and confined to rural areas; dengue is the one to guard against, so use repellent at dawn and dusk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/galle
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.