So after five months in Vietnam, I packed up my (very overweight) suitcase and hopped on a plane to Sri Lanka. I'd heard SO much about this country, but when I was researching it, I wasn't seeing us represented. Like at all. So I figured, why not go check it out for myself and show y'all what it's actually like?
Colombo was my first stop, and I gave it three days before heading inland to Sigiriya. A lot of people treat Colombo like a layover city. You land, you sleep, you leave. And honestly? I get it. But I packed a LOT into my time here: my first look at the Indian Ocean, Pettah Market, a $3 haircut, the best rice and curry for like four dollars, a night at a five-star Taj, and a rainy street food crawl on Aluthkade where I let the locals decide what I ate.
This is my actual Colombo itinerary, day by day, with what everything cost me and what I'd do differently. If you're still figuring out where to sleep, start with my Where to Stay in Colombo guide, then come back here.
My Colombo Itinerary at a Glance
Day 1: Mount Lavinia beach, Pettah Market, the Red Mosque, a haircut, king coconut, rice and curry, then dinner and a night at the Taj Samudra.
Day 2: A slow, rainy day, then a street food night on Aluthkade.
Day 3: One last walk on the beach and a third-class train out of Colombo toward Sigiriya.
I based myself at Colombo Beach Hostel in Mount Lavinia, about 30 minutes south of the city center, and splurged on one night at the Taj Samudra on Galle Face. Honestly, that combo worked out perfectly. Budget most nights, luxury when it counts.
In a Rush? Here’s Where I’d Stay in Colombo
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Taj Samudra – Where I splurged – Click here for rates & availability
🏝️ Colombo Beach Hostel – Where I slept on a budget – Click here for rates & availability
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Shangri-La Colombo – Ocean-view pool – Click here for rates & availability
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Galle Face Hotel – Colonial icon – Click here for rates & availability
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Marino Beach Colombo – Rooftop ocean pool on a budget – Click here for rates & availability
Day 1: The Indian Ocean, Pettah Market & a Night at the Taj
Morning: Breakfast at the Hostel & the Indian Ocean
I woke up at Colombo Beach Hostel, which runs about $25 to $30 a night for a private room. You get air conditioning, a big bed and a mosquito net (USE IT, honey, it's an island and the bugs are not playing), plus a little pool and courtyard. It's not fancy. I gave the bed a 7.5 out of 10, which in Asia is actually a good score. Y'all know Asian beds.
Breakfast was right there at the hostel. I got Sri Lankan pancakes and a coffee, and I had never had these before. They're thin and rolled up with sweet coconut in the middle, and I loved them. If your hostel or guesthouse makes them, get them.
Then I walked down to the beach to see the Indian Ocean for the first time in my LIFE. To get there, you cross the coastal train tracks, and they are very active, so look both ways like your mama taught you. The beach in Mount Lavinia is pretty, with fishing boats sitting on the sand and palm trees everywhere. It honestly reminded me a little of Hawaii. Just know that Colombo isn't really a beach city. The real beaches are down south, and there's a lot of construction along this stretch.
Getting Around: ATM, Uber & My First Tuk-Tuk
Quick money lesson from your boy. I showed up with a stack of Vietnamese dong, thinking I could just exchange it in Sri Lanka. Nope. Nobody on this island wants dong. If you're coming from somewhere with a less common currency, change it to US dollars BEFORE you leave. I hit an ATM for Sri Lankan rupees and kept it moving.
A couple of people told me to use Uber or the PickMe app instead of hailing tuk-tuks on the street, because the street prices can be all over the place. That's good advice for getting across town. But you're not going to Sri Lanka and skipping the tuk-tuk, so I did both. Just agree on a price before you get in.
Midday: Pettah Market, the Red Mosque & a $3 Haircut
From Mount Lavinia I headed up to Pettah, which is Colombo's big, loud, crowded market district right next to Fort. It's hot, it's chaotic, and I loved every second of it. You've got streets of shops, piles of dried fish, fruit and veggie stalls, tuk-tuks everywhere and buses driving like they're in a movie.
Right in the middle of all that is the Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque, which everyone calls the Red Mosque. Look at it. It's red and white striped like a candy cane, and it's one of the most photographed buildings in the city. Pettah also has these colorful Hindu temples with towers covered in carved statues. Even if you only see them from the street, they're worth a stop.
The market itself is a whole sensory experience. Dried fish stacked in crates, purple and white eggplant, mangoes, sweet potatoes, and fruit stands on every corner. Don't come here looking cute. Come here hungry and ready to sweat.
Then I got a haircut, because clearly I needed one. The first barbershop was closed, so I literally went with the next spot that had ONE review on Google. Listen. If it's bad, you just keep your hat on, right? It cost 900 rupees, which is about $3. The barber took my beard way lower than I'm used to and I was a little scared, but it came out fine. The lady there even asked if I was trying to sell my hair, which I could not stop laughing about, because baby, look at all these men with their long, flowy hair. I'm the one who needs to be buying.
After that, I had my first king coconut. They're those bright orange coconuts you'll see piled up everywhere, and the vendor will chop one open for you on the spot. I paid 200 rupees, so well under a dollar.
Lunch: Rice & Curry for About $4
For lunch I just walked into a random local restaurant and ordered fried chicken rice and curry. I truly had no idea what half of the plate was, and the whole restaurant was watching me eat it. But BABY. The fried chicken had this herby, Sri Lankan twist to it, there was a spicy lentil curry, okra, and a carrot curry that tasted phenomenal, and I don't even like carrots like that.
The bill was 1,380 rupees, about $4.16, for a lunch I'd give a 10 out of 10. Rice and curry is THE meal in Sri Lanka, so get it at a little local spot at least once.
And real talk: people stared. A lot. I don't think a lot of Black travelers come through these neighborhoods, and folks were curious more than anything. Everyone I talked to was friendly and smiling, and I never felt unsafe. But if you're a Black traveler, just know you'll probably get looked at, and that's mostly people being curious.
Night: A Room & Dinner at the Taj Samudra
For the evening, I switched gears completely and went to the luxury side of Colombo at the Taj Samudra, the big five-star right across from Galle Face Green. I wanted to see what about $100 a night gets you here, and what I got was a huge, comfortable room (the bed test was a 10 out of 10) and a peek at the ocean from the window, even at night. The lobby and bar are GORGEOUS too.
Dinner was at Navratna, the hotel's Indian restaurant, and it might be the best meal I've had in a long time. They started us with rasam, which is this hot, peppery, brothy little soup, then a whole spread of chutneys and sauces, cheese naan, okra, a fish that cut like butter, and biryani. I had never had biryani before in my life. Now I get it.
Dinner came out to over $100, which is a lot for Sri Lanka and a steal compared to what this meal would cost back home. Navratna serves dinner from 7:30 to 10:30 pm and the dress code is smart casual, so don't show up in your flip-flops. If you're going to splurge on one meal in Colombo, make it this one.
Get Travel Insurance Before You Go
Real quick before Day 2. In my first 48 hours in Sri Lanka, I'd crossed active train tracks, ridden in a tuk-tuk, gotten my face shaved by a stranger and eaten street food in the rain. Love that for me. But please don't do Sri Lanka without travel insurance.
Get Travel Insurance (Seriously, Don’t Skip This)
Look, I know insurance isn’t the sexy part of planning a trip. But I promise you do NOT want to be the person paying out of pocket for a hospital visit after a scooter accident, some bad street food, or a surprise trip to the ER in a country where you don’t speak the language. I use SafetyWing because it’s built for people like us who bounce from country to country, and you can sign up even after you’ve already left home.
Day 2: A Rainy Day & Street Food on Aluthkade
Daytime: Take It Slow
Day 2, it rained ALL day long. Like cats and dogs. I had breakfast at the hostel again and took it easy, which honestly you should build into any trip here. Colombo is hot and humid, and you'll be dripping sweat by noon. If you get a dry day, this is a good time to walk Galle Face Green or check out Gangaramaya Temple. If you get a wet one, nap and save your energy for the night.
Night: Aluthkade Street Food, Picked by the Locals
Once it got dark, I said forget the rain and went to Aluthkade, the street food district on the edge of Pettah and Fort. During the day it's a market area, but in the evening the food stalls take over and the whole street turns into one big, loud, smoky buffet. And instead of picking everything myself, I let the locals pick for me.
First stop was Nahila Soup Cafe for the beef bone soup, which is what they're known for. It looks crazy, but it's actually good. Very peppery, a LOT of fat and some good chunks of meat, and probably full of collagen. I called it Sri Lankan gumbo, and I stand by that.
Next, the locals sent me for tandoori chicken with roti and a little salad, and I ate it with my hands like everybody else. It needed a little salt, but for about $2, I'm not complaining. Then I stood and watched them cook up a chicken kottu fresh on the grill. It was so big there was no way I was finishing it, so it became my breakfast, lunch, AND my train snack the next day.
You'll see sub sandwiches, burgers, kebabs, biryani, giant fried chicken and spots like Masha Allah Hotel all along the street, with guys out front trying to hustle you inside. Don't take it personally. Walk the whole street first, THEN decide.
I ended the night at Coco Cafe with a tiramisu for 700 rupees, and it was divine. 100 out of 10. After all those years thinking America had the best food? Baby, we don't. The good food is in Asia and Mexico.
Aluthkade tips: go after dark, when the food stalls are set up. Bring cash in small bills, expect it to be busy and loud, and bring mosquito spray. If you want to try a lot, share plates or do takeaway like I did, because the portions are HUGE.
Where to Stay in Colombo
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Taj Samudra – Across from Galle Face Green – Click here for rates & availability
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Cinnamon Life – The new flex – Click here for rates & availability
🏝️ Colombo Beach Hostel – Mount Lavinia, steps from the beach – Click here for rates & availability
Day 3: Leaving Colombo by Train for Sigiriya
On my last morning, I took one more walk on Mount Lavinia beach. The one thing that made me sad was all the plastic washing up from the ocean. It's not people littering on the beach, it's coming in from the water. Then I grabbed snacks and toilet paper (trust me), and headed to the train station.
Sigiriya doesn't have its own train station, so you take the train to Habarana and then a tuk-tuk the rest of the way. The only ticket left for my train was third class, so that's what I rode for about four and a half hours. No AC, just ceiling fans, tiny seats and my giant 66-pound suitcase taking up way too much room. There was a toilet on board, and it was honestly better than I expected.
But the views? Insane. Green countryside, rock formations and a sunset that had me standing there with my mouth open. People on the train were so friendly, too. They wanted to know where I was from and what I thought of their country, and one guy even helped me with my bag.
By the time we got to Habarana, it was pitch black. I grabbed some food, squeezed into a tuk-tuk with my luggage, and rode through dark country roads with dogs in the street, thinking "where are we GOING?" But we made it to my hostel, the Elegant Elephant in Sigiriya, which is family-owned and greeted me with a little welcome drink. That's a story for the next post.
What I’d Do Differently
I'd book the train out of Colombo earlier, so I could get a reserved seat in a better class. Third class was fine for a few hours, but on a long ride with big luggage, you'll want more room. I'd also pack lighter, because dragging a 66-pound suitcase through Sri Lanka is not it.
And I'd give myself one more dry day in the city for Galle Face Green at sunset and Gangaramaya Temple. The rain had other plans for me, but that's what I'd add next time.
Final Thoughts
I came to Colombo thinking it'd be a quick stop, and I left kind of obsessed. The food is ridiculous, the people are warm, and you can do budget and luxury in the same 24 hours without going broke. Three days was perfect for me: one day for the city, one for the food and one to get out of town.
If you're planning your trip, check out my Colombo hotel guide to pick your area, and subscribe on YouTube for the rest of my Sri Lanka series. Have you been to Colombo? Tell me what I should've eaten.
FAQ: Colombo Itinerary
How many days do you need in Colombo?
Two to three days is enough for most people. That's enough time for Pettah Market, the Red Mosque, a rice and curry lunch, Galle Face Green and a night of street food on Aluthkade before you head out to Sigiriya, Kandy, Ella or the beaches down south.
How do you get from Colombo to Sigiriya?
The most popular ways are the train or a private driver. Sigiriya doesn't have a train station, so you take the train from Colombo Fort to Habarana, then a tuk-tuk or taxi for the last stretch, which is about 15 km. Buses and private cars are also options, and a private driver is the fastest door-to-door choice.
How long is the train from Colombo to Habarana?
Plan for roughly four and a half to five hours, depending on the train. Book a reserved seat ahead of time if you can, because third class and unreserved seats can get crowded, especially if you're traveling with big luggage.
Is the train in Sri Lanka worth it?
Yes, for the views alone. It's cheap, the countryside is beautiful and people are friendly. It's not the most comfortable ride, so book a better class if you can and bring snacks, water and toilet paper.
Where is Aluthkade and when should you go?
Aluthkade is a street food area on the edge of Pettah and Fort in central Colombo. It's a busy market area during the day, and the food stalls come out in the evening, so go after dark for the full experience.
Is Colombo expensive?
Not really. My haircut was about $3, my rice and curry lunch was about $4 and street food was a couple of dollars a plate. A private hostel room in Mount Lavinia was around $25 to $30 a night. You can also splurge at five-star hotels like the Taj Samudra for a fraction of what you'd pay in most capital cities.
Where should I stay in Colombo?
For a first trip, Galle Face is great for ocean sunsets and the big luxury hotels, Kollupitiya is great for restaurants and bars, and Mount Lavinia is the budget beach option south of the city. I break it all down in my Where to Stay in Colombo guide.
Is Colombo safe for tourists?
I felt safe the whole time. Use normal big-city common sense, agree on tuk-tuk prices before you get in (or use Uber or PickMe), and watch your stuff in crowded areas like Pettah. As a Black traveler I got a lot of curious looks, but people were friendly.