Colombo Attractions

National Museum
Housed in a fine colonial-era building on Albert Crescent, just south of Viharamahadevi Park, the museum has a good collection of ancient royal regalia, Sinhalese artwork (carvings, sculptures and so on) antique furniture and china, and ola manuscripts. There are fascinating reproductions of English painting of Ceylon from 1848 to 1850, and an excellent collection of antique demon masks. Its open daily, except Friday, 9 am to 5 pm. Telephone - 2694366
Next to the National Museum is the National History Museum. Open 9 am to 5 pm daily except Friday. Telephone - 2691399
Viharamahadevi Park
The focus of the area is Colombo's biggest park, originally called Victoria Park but renamed in the 1950s, after the mother of the early Sinhalese leader, King Dutugamunu. It's notable for its superb flowering trees in March, April and early May. Cutting across the middle of the park is broad avenue Ananda Kumaraswamy Mawatha (Green Path). Colombo's big white-domed Town Hall overlooks the park from the north-east. Working elephants sometimes spend the night in the park, happily chomping on palm branches.
Galle Face Green
Immediately south of the Colombo Fort is Galle Face Green. In recent years Galle Face Green has been merely a brown expanse of bare earth awaiting returfing. But now it has been fully converted to the meaning of its name. Traditionally a popular rendezvous, Galle Face Green is still quite lively on Saturday and especially Sunday evenings, when dozens of food vendors gather here. Facing each other at opposite ends of the 'green' are the delightful old Galle Face Hotel and the contemporary Ceylon Intercontinental.
Dehiwala Zoo
By Asian standards the zoo at Dehiwala, 10km south of Colombo Fort, treats it animals well. The major attraction is the 5.15 pm elephant show - they troop on stage in true trunk-to-tail fashion and perform a series of feats of elephantine agility. While very impressive, the show is, of course, far from natural behaviour for the elephants. You may want to consider whether you really want to support it.
The zoo has a wide collection of other creatures, including a fine range of birds and an aquarium. Its open daily 8.30 am to 6 pm.