The beautiful fort of Galle

The small city of Galle became for us a point of interest only during our journey to Mirissa. When the train brought us from Colombo to Galle, before continuing our trip with the bus towards Mirissa, we decided to make a quick coffee stop in Galle and that’s when it happened that we fell in love with the city.

We were looking for the nearest coffee shop, which, according to our map, was hiding behind the walls of the Fort. After visiting several forts before in Sri Lanka and being disappointed by the experiences, we did not expect much to happen here. But, when we passed the entrance gate, we realized this time the experience would be different. We found ourselves inside a well maintained and, as we found out later, also a quite touristic fort.

We stopped at a small coffee shop that looked good and had fair prices. The owner proudly spoke about the place as being the oldest coffee shop in Galle Fort, opening its doors in 1932. Despite its historic importance, the owner of National Tea Rooms continued offering to its clients an authentic experience at normal prices and preferred to preserve the traditional look instead of turning it into a fancy place, as it happened to many other places inside the Fort. The good breakfast and the refreshing coffee were just some of the ingredients that added to the positive feeling which we had towards the place and the friendliness of the owner convinced us to come back a second time, which we did at the end of our stay in Mirissa.

We understood that Galle Fort is a touristic destination for locals and foreigners. However, prices here are quite high compared to other places outside the old walls. Still, we weren’t disappointed with our decision to shorten our stay in Mirissa and spend a night in the hostel in Galle.

So, after our time at the beach in Mirissa, we came back one week later to this cute city. We arrived early to enjoy our time to the maximum. We went for a walk inside the big walls, observing the architecture influenced by the Dutch during colonial times.

Later we visited the museum, that was free of charge, followed by a walk to the “Dutch market”, which, honestly, felt more like a souvenir market where people sell overpriced clothes and spices.

Many locals recommend the place to tourists and even offer to bring them there, as they will earn a commission if the tourists purchase anything from the vendors. And, if the merchandise at the market does not present any interest, the helpful local will turn into a beggar with an emotional story, asking tourists for money. We’ve been approached by one of these people but kindly declined their offer and went first to the local fish market, right outside the fort, which did not impress us much either.

It is true what people say about Galle: it is very touristic and expensive, but we did not mind it so much. Traveling off-season has its advantages, as the number of tourists is always low. We really enjoyed our short escape into the modern colonial city.