West coast
Negombo
The fishing town ten minutes from the airport — the sane place to start or end a Sri Lankan trip.
Negombo exists on most itineraries for a practical reason: it is twenty minutes from Bandaranaike airport rather than an hour of Colombo traffic. It repays the stop anyway. The lagoon fills at dawn with outrigger canoes, the Dutch-era canal still runs through the middle of town, and the fish market on the beach is the least staged thing you will see all week.
Things to do
