Galle is a port city on Sri Lanka's southwest tip, about 120 km south of Colombo. Most of the things to do sit inside Galle Fort, a walled old town the Dutch built over a Portuguese original and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988. Walk the ramparts, look into the churches, the mosque and the museums, eat well, then head to the beaches east of town. Give it one full day, or two if you want a beach afternoon.

The fort is still a working neighbourhood, with families who have lived inside the walls for generations alongside boutique hotels, jewellers and cafés. A full loop of the ramparts takes about an hour and passes 14 bastions. Inside, see the Dutch Reformed Church (finished in 1755, with Dutch gravestones set into the floor), the white Meeran Jumma Mosque, the Galle Lighthouse on Point Utrecht Bastion and the National Maritime Museum in an old Dutch warehouse by the Old Gate. The Old Dutch Hospital on the sea wall is now shops and restaurants.

Just outside the walls, Galle International Stadium sits between the fort and the sea. Across the harbour, the Japanese Peace Pagoda on Rumassala hill looks back at the fort, and a steep path below it leads to Jungle Beach. Unawatuna's calmer bay is a short tuk-tuk ride east.