The frenetic old bazaar district next to Fort — a chaotic, colourful warren of market streets, each specialising in a trade, dotted with mosques, Hindu temples and colonial churches. Loud, cheap and full of life, central and well-connected; the base (more for atmosphere than comfort) for travellers who want the sensory thrill of the markets and the city's most vivid street life.
A look around
What you’ll be living next to. Swipe through.
€25–50
typical per night in Sri Lanka
Easy on the wallet
Among the cheapest areas to sleep in Colombo.
Where it sits
The circle is Pettah and roughly a 10-minute walk around it.
How far is everything?
From the middle of this area to the city's headline sights — pick your own on the city page and these become your list.
- The Fort district13 min walk1.1 km
- The Lotus Tower20 min walk1.7 km
- Galle Face Green23 min walk1.9 km
- Viharamahadevi Park9 min taxi2.9 km
- The National Museum10 min taxi3.2 km
- Sri Lankan street food12 min taxi3.9 km
- A rooftop bar at sunset12 min taxi3.9 km
- Mount Lavinia (beach)33 min taxi11.1 km
- Mount Lavinia beach33 min taxi11.1 km
On your doorstep
What you’re living next to if you stay here.
- 2.Gangaramaya Temple — Colombo's most important and eclectic Buddhist temple — a fascinating jumble of shrine halls, a museum crammed with donated treasures (from carvings to vintage cars), a library and a sacred bodhi tree, plus the serene Seema Malaka meditation pavilions floating on the nearby Beira Lake. Colourful, atmospheric and endlessly curious; wander the halls, and visit the lakeside pavilions at dusk. A vivid heart of the city's spiritual life.
- 3.Pettah Market — A gloriously chaotic old bazaar district next to Fort, where a maze of streets each sells its own trade — textiles, electronics, gold, spices, fruit — in a heaving, honking, sensory overload. A thrilling plunge into working Colombo; wander the lanes, haggle, and soak up the noise and colour, with the beautiful red-and-white Jami Ul-Alfar mosque and old colonial churches hidden among the stalls. The vivid, beating heart of the old city.
- 7.Jami Ul-Alfar (Red Mosque) — A striking and beloved landmark in the heart of Pettah — a candy-striped red-and-white mosque of hypnotic patterns and quirky pomegranate-shaped domes, built in 1909 and unlike anything else in the city. Dazzlingly photogenic amid the market chaos; visitors are usually welcome outside prayer times (dress modestly). A joyful splash of architecture and one of Colombo's most distinctive and cheerful sights.
When are you staying?
Booking.com & Airbnb open searched to Pettah; flights via Google Flights.