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Photo by AKS.9955, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Best time to visit Colombo
Sri Lanka · South Asia
All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.
The year in Colombo
Tap a month for its page
- JanJColombo in January: ok, busy
- FebFColombo in February: sweet spot, busy
- MarMColombo in March: sweet spot
- AprAColombo in April: ok
- MayMColombo in May: avoid
- JunJColombo in June: avoid
- JulJColombo in July: ok
- AugAColombo in August: ok
- SepSColombo in September: avoid
- OctOColombo in October: avoid
- NovNColombo in November: avoid
- DecDColombo in December: ok
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
Dry season: Jan–Feb, 6 or fewer rainy days a month.
- Prices thereVery cheap, about 27% of the US
- MoneySri lankan rupee
- PlugsType D and G, 230 V
- DrivingOn the left
Book your trip to Colombo
Best in February 32°C · 3 rainy days busy February in Colombo ›
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Luxury
Things to do
Travel insurance
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Things to do in Colombo
- Lotus Tower Distinctive Colombo telecommunications tower that offers great views.
- Gangaramaya Temple One of the most important temples in Colombo.
- Jami-Ul-Alfar Mosque This historic mosque is a popular tourist site.
- Galle Face Green Promenade Visit at sundown for a spectacular view.
- Independence Memorial Hall Sri Lankan national monument
- The National Museum of Colombo Department of National Museums. Also known as the Sri Lanka National Museum, it is the largest museum in Colombo.
- Slave Island Suburb in Western Province, Sri Lanka
Tours and tickets in Colombo
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Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Colombo), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.
Colombo in pictures
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AKS.9955, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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A.Savin, Free Art License, via Wikimedia Commons
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A.Savin, Free Art License, via Wikimedia Commons
Month by month
| Month | Max °C | Rain days | Humidity | Sun h/day | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 30° | 6d | 77% | 10.1h | okbusy | busier than usual |
| Feb | 32° | 3d | 74% | 11.0h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
| Mar | 31° | 6d | 81% | 10.9h | sweet spot | 31C max, 6 rainy days |
| Apr | 31° | 10d | 84% | 10.4h | ok | 31C max, 10 rainy days |
| May | 30° | 19d | 85% | 8.8h | avoid | monsoon: 19 rainy days, 347mm |
| Jun | 29° | 19d | 85% | 10.0h | avoid | monsoon: 19 rainy days, 279mm |
| Jul | 29° | 12d | 84% | 10.1h | ok | 29C max, 12 rainy days |
| Aug | 29° | 12d | 84% | 9.9h | ok | 29C max, 12 rainy days |
| Sep | 29° | 17d | 85% | 9.2h | avoid | monsoon: 17 rainy days, 273mm |
| Oct | 29° | 20d | 87% | 8.2h | avoid | monsoon: 20 rainy days, 352mm |
| Nov | 29° | 20d | 88% | 7.9h | avoid | monsoon: 20 rainy days, 436mm |
| Dec | 30° | 10d | 83% | 9.2h | ok | 30C max, 10 rainy days |
Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.
Weather read at Bandaranaike airport, Katunayake, 28 km from the city centre: ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.
A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.
How busy it gets
Then and now
Colombo's July days now average 28.9°C, 0.5°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 2 of 12 months are clearly warmer.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–90 | 30.2° | 31.6° | 31.5° | 30.7° | 29.7° | 28.4° | 28.3° | 28.3° | 28.5° | 28.8° | 29.0° | 29.5° |
| 2017–26 | 30.4° | 31.7° | 31.1° | 30.8° | 29.8° | 29.0° | 28.9° | 28.6° | 28.7° | 28.6° | 28.9° | 29.6° |
| Change | +0.2° | +0.1° | -0.3° | +0.0° | +0.1° | +0.5° | +0.5° | +0.3° | +0.3° | -0.2° | -0.0° | +0.1° |
The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.
Busy and quiet times in Colombo
Colombo experiences a tropical climate, and the weather patterns indicated by the climate normals should guide your planning as it can be more humid and rainy during the monsoon period.
| Busiest |
mid Dec to late Mar — This period witnesses the highest influx of tourists due to favorable weather and holiday seasons.
|
|---|---|
| Quieter, still good |
early Apr to late May — The shoulder months before the wet season start to see fewer tourists and lower prices.
early Oct to late Nov — Post-peak season with more reasonable prices as the weather becomes more unpredictable.
|
| Wet or stormy |
early May to late Sep — monsoon, moderate
|
| Watch out for | haze |
Written by a language model from the climate figures above. The month-by-month table is measured — ten years of ERA5 readings and published holiday calendars — and where the two disagree, the table is the one to believe.
What Colombo is like
Colombo (Sinhala: කොළඹ, Tamil: கொழும்பு) is the largest city and commercial capital of Sri Lanka, and still perceived by many as the capital though the suburb of Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is now the official capital. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth seeing
- Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka, Lankamatha Road, Ragama suburb of Colombo (from Ragama Railway Station 2 km NE or bus to stop 'National Basilika Ave'). A Roman Catholic church with basilica status. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth doing
- Galle Face Green Promenade, Galle Road, Colombo 03. Visit at sundown for a spectacular view. More on Wikivoyage
- Getting in
- Air service to Colombo is provided by the national airline Sri Lankan Airlines and foreign airlines, mostly from India and Asia. More on Wikivoyage
- Staying safe
- Colombo is like most other South Asian capitals. Although it is not as dangerous as one would think, tourists should be very vigilant. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Colombo, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.
Getting there
How far Colombo is depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.
- from Kochi
- from Chennai
- from Bengaluru
- from Hyderabad
- from Mumbai
- from Ahmedabad
- from Kolkata
- from Lucknow
Open in Rome2rio for every way from to Colombo, flying or not.
Like a local in Colombo
On arrival
- Paying — Most hotels, restaurants and shopping centres take cards, but cash still dominates; carry rupees for buses and small shops. Many shops show LANKAQR codes, which LankaPay says tourists can pay with their own phone apps.
- UPI, for visitors from India — Works at participating shops, hotels and restaurants showing a LankaQR code: scan it with your UPI app.
- Tipping — Not expected but welcome; about 10% for good service, unless the bill already has a service charge.
Getting around Colombo
On Sri Lanka Railways' commuter trains you can buy an e-ticket on pravesha.lk with a Visa or Mastercard card and scan its QR code at the station and on the train; it is not valid on intercity trains.
- Apps — Rides: PickMe, Uber. Maps: Google Maps. Messages: WhatsApp. PickMe covers more of the island than Uber, and both book tuk-tuks as well as cars.
Getting around by Tri-shaw (Three wheeler, tuk-tuk) is most convenient. Some three-wheelers have built in meters or the drive uses a phone app that does the same. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Colombo, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Help
- Emergency — police 118 or 119 · ambulance 1990 · fire 110. The tourist police are on 011 2421052.
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.
Your embassy — : how to reach your embassy or consulate abroad. A guess from your city, : a city is not a passport.
Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 3 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.
Sources (18)
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/sri-lanka/getting-help
- travel.gc.ca/destinations/sri-lanka
- colombo.mc.gov.lk/fire-services.php
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Colombo
- uber.com/global/en/cities/colombo
- pickme.lk
- lonelyplanet.com/articles/things-to-know-before-traveling-to-sri-lanka
- srilanka.travel/travel-tips
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LankaQR
- lankapay.net/en/for-business/lanka-qr
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhatsApp
- developers.google.com/maps/coverage
- railway.gov.lk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=909&Itemid=242&lang=en
- pravesha.lk/en
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2286608
- lankapay.net/en/news/launch-of-phonepe
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2005218
Before you go
Type D and G plugs at 230 V. Drives on the left. The currency is the Sri lankan rupee. No UK Foreign Office advice against travel. Global Affairs Canada: Exercise a high degree of caution. US State Department: Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution. Entry rules for British travellers. Entry rules (Global Affairs Canada). Entry rules (US State Department). Everything for Sri Lanka: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.
A guide, not advice: entry rules change and depend on your passport and your trip, so check the official page before you book.
Around Colombo
Also in Sri Lanka
- Kandy best Feb, Jul, Sep
- Nuwara Eliya best Feb, Mar, Apr
- Sigiriya best Jan, Feb, Jun
- Trincomalee best Jan, Feb, Mar
Nearby
- Rameswaram India · 242 km
- Kanyakumari India · 277 km
- Thiruvananthapuram India · 347 km
- Madurai India · 361 km
Routes through here
Kind of place
Colombo is in Sri Lanka, South Asia. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.
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