Colombo & the West

The city is a vibrant mix of old and new, with a central cluster of high-rise office blocks and hotels overshadowing red-tiled colonial-era buildings and sprawling street markets overflowing with high-piled fruit and vegetables, colourful silks and cottons, and deliciously fragrant spices. On its crowded streets, stand places of worship, symbolic of Sri Lanka‘s multi-ethnic heritage: graceful Buddhist viharas (temples), for instance, stand close to extravagant temples encrusted with Hindu statuary, along with Muslim mosques with minarets scattered along Colombo’s streets. During the day you can easily explore on foot the Colombo’s colourful street markets, colonial-era buildings, museums and galleries, churches, mosques and temples, and the lovely Viharamahadevi Park with it beautiful trees.
There are reminders of the British period, including the neo-Classical old parliament building, the Victorian-era President’s House (still often called ‘Queen’s House’), and the grandly brick facade of Cargill’s, a splendid 19th-century department store that has changed little since the 19th century heyday of Sri Lanka‘s British tea planters.