Pettah, Sri Lanka
Pettah (Sinhala: පිටකොටුව, Tamil: புறக்கோட்டை is a neighbourhood in Colombo, Sri Lanka, located east of the city centre Fort, and behind the Colombo Port.
Pettah (Sinhala: පිටකොටුව, Tamil: புறக்கோட்டை is a neighbourhood in Colombo, Sri Lanka, located east of the city centre Fort, and behind the Colombo Port. The Pettah neighborhood is famous for the Pettah Market, a series of open air night pasars and markets. It is one of Sri Lanka's busiest commercial areas, where a huge number of wholesale and retail shops, buildings, commercial institutions and other organisations are located.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Pettah, Sri Lanka
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01National Museum of Colombo
The Colombo National Museum, also known as the Sri Lanka National Museum, is a museum in Colombo and the largest in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1877 and maintained by the Department of National Museums, it holds collections of significant importance to Sri Lanka, such as the regalia of the Kandyan monarchs, as well as many other exhibits relating the country's cultural and natural heritage.
3.2 km · Sri Lankan museum · Wikipedia - 02Lotus Tower
The Lotus Tower, also known as the Colombo Lotus Tower, stands at a height of 351.5 meters in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It has become a symbolic landmark for the country.
1.4 km · Telecommunications tower in Colombo, Sri Lanka · Wikipedia - 03R. Premadasa Stadium
The R. Premadasa Cricket Stadium (Sinhala: ආර්. ප්රේමදාස ක්රීඩාංගනය, Tamil: ஆர்.
2.5 km · Cricket stadium in Sri Lanka · Wikipedia - 04Beira Lake
Beira Lake; Tamil: பேரே ஏரி, romanized: Pērē ēri ) is a man-made lake in the centre of the city of Colombo in Sri Lanka. The lake is surrounded by many large businesses in the city.
900 m · lake · Wikipedia - 05Galle Face Green
Galle Face Green is a 5 ha ocean-side urban park, which stretches for 500 m along the coast, in the heart of Colombo, the financial and business capital of Sri Lanka. The promenade was initially laid out in 1859 by Governor Sir Henry George Ward, although the original Galle Face Green extended over a much larger area than is seen today.
1.3 km · urban park in Colombo, Sri Lanka · Wikipedia - 06St. Anthony's Shrine, Kochchikade
St. Anthony's Shrine is a Catholic church in the Archdiocese of Colombo in Sri Lanka.
1.3 km · church in Colombo, Sri Lanka · Wikipedia - 07Gangaramaya Temple
Gangaramaya Temple is one of the most important temples in Colombo, Sri Lanka, being a mix of modern architecture and cultural essence. Located on the Beira Lake, it was completed in the late 19th century.
2.4 km · Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka · Wikipedia - 08Viharamahadevi Park
Viharamahadevi Park is a 45 acre public park located in Cinnamon Gardens, in Colombo, situated in front of the colonial-era Town Hall in Sri Lanka. It was built by the British colonial administration and is the oldest and largest park of Colombo.
2.8 km · public park in Colombo, Sri Lanka · Wikipedia - 09Wolvendaal Church
Wolvendaal Church is located in Pettah, a neighbourhood of Colombo. It is one of the most important Dutch colonial-era buildings in Sri Lanka and is one of the oldest Protestant churches still in use in the country.
1.2 km · church building in Colombo District, Sri Lanka · Wikipedia - 10Colombo Cricket Club Ground
Colombo Cricket Club Ground is a multi-purpose stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is currently used mostly for domestic first-class cricket matches and for hosting warm up matches for touring teams.
3.7 km · cricket stadium in Sri Lanka · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Getting to Pettah, Sri Lanka
- Airports
- Colombo Ratmalana (RML), 13 km · Bandaranaike International Colombo (CMB), 27 km
- Stations
- Colombo Harbour, 1.9 km · Fort Railway Station, 400 m · Maradana Railway Station, 1.9 km
- Jaffna → Pettah, Sri Lanka305 km · quickest by air, 5h 10m · Rs17,590–27,290
- Thiruvananthapuram → Pettah, Sri Lanka364 km · quickest by air, 5h 45m · ₹11,320–17,550
- Tiruchirappalli → Pettah, Sri Lanka450 km · quickest by air, 6h 5m · ₹12,070–18,700
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Pettah, Sri Lanka
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Pettah, Sri Lanka. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inIt can also handle international charter flights.
- Get inYou can also take a tri-shaw aka tuk-tuk from the bus depot (get there by free airport shuttle bus), it takes a bit more than an hour and is Rs 2,500 (2024) from airport to Galle Road.
- Get inTake either the free airport shuttle to the bus station and then follow the road (Canada Friendship) to the Katunayaka South station (nearly 2 km, if you don't have luggage) otherwise just to take a tuk tuk right from the airport to the train station.
- Get aroundGetting around by Tri-shaw (Three wheeler, tuk-tuk) is most convenient.
- Get aroundBut it's best to hail a meter taxi (identified by the words "Meter Taxi" on its windshield) that is traveling in the direction that you need to go instead of hiring one from the parking area or the tuk-tuk stand.
From Wikivoyage: Colombo, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
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If you know how people move in Pettah, Sri Lanka – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Pettah, Sri Lanka
- Colombolargest city and de facto capital of Sri Lanka1.6 km
- Borellasuburb in Western Province, Sri Lanka3.9 km
- Cinnamon Gardensneighbourhood of Colombo, Sri Lanka3.7 km
- Slave Islandsuburb in Western Province, Sri Lanka1.1 km
- Dematagodasuburb in Western Province, Sri Lanka3.2 km
- Madampitiyasuburb in Western Province, Sri Lanka3.6 km