Book A Tour

To book a tour revealing the secrets and unique spots around Galle Fort or Colombo city, call the author Juliet Coombe on +94 (0) 776838659 or go to 60 Leyn Baan Street and book a tour with Juliet direct.

Walking Tours can be taken daily for an hour and a half early morning or late afternoon.

Cost:
One Hour - $20 US
Half Day - $75 US
Full Day - $150 US
(all prices are per person)

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Walking Tours of Galle Fort and Colombo

Hang up your corporate shoes and get those walking boots on!


Galle Fort Walks

Expect the unexpected on one of Juliet Coombe’s or Daisy Perry’s eccentric Galle Fort walking tours which take you into a maze of hidden backstreets, revealing secret unknown spots, extravagant 18th century merchant houses complete with ostentatious gold bedrooms, lavish pools and characters akin to Hemmingway. The girls will encourage you to try the local merchant brew of spicy ginger tea, Fort hoppers and tantalizing thambili (king coconut) drinks laced with lime and honey. They are the authors of the book Around the Fort in 80 Lives, a work that documents the lives of the people that make up this fascinating citadel, which they now call home. The tailor-made walks will give you an unforgettable insight into the best-preserved living colonial Fort in Asia.

1. Meet the characters
Based on the book Around the Fort in 80 Lives.

2. Architecture and its diversity
Going inside key buildings and showing how the Fort has changed over 407 years from a Portuguese garret to a Dutch defensive fort, a British centre of trade and now, a cosmopolitan city made up of people from all over the world.

3. Gardens of the Fort
For those interested in flora and fauna.

4. Wildlife
A pre-dawn walk: Expect to see bats, monkeys, turtles, monitor lizards, 25 different types of birds, horses, cows, goats and the famous Fort rats.

5. Historical Fort
Includes going into many places that are not normally open to the public.

6. Meet the artisans, artistes and antique dealers.
This includes showing people everything from temple painting, to mask making, lace costume designing (they also have a chance to have a go at it themselves at Shoba Girls), jewellery casting using the age old fish moulding method, column designing and interior re-furbs done by the great architect Channa Daswatte.

7. Children’s Fort
Great stuff for kids to do whilst in the Fort and fun for the whole family, who will be taken to secret gardens, hidden side streets and inside exciting spots such as the gunpowder houses. This also includes seeing the world-famous jumpers.

8. Food tour
Take a culinary trip around the Fort to sample the best of Sri Lankan street food and home cooking.