Galle Full-Day Tour

A really great day trip out to Galle from Colombo. The highlight of the day was definitely seeing the turtle hatchery and seeing the Dutch colonial town of Galle.

Picked up promptly from airport. Spent a great day visiting all of the highlights of the Galle area. Absolutely loved the turtle hatchery, and stilt fishermen! Lunch was incredible! Our guide, Nimal was friendly and informative. Vehicle was clean and very comfortable.

An early start to this tour, having just managed to get some breakfast in the hotel, saw us being driven in a comfortable people carrier through and very busy and slightly crazy Colombo. Zig zagging through Tuk-tuks is clearly a skill which was admirably displayed by our driver. For some weird reason I felt safe in his hands. Unfortunately I cannot remember the drivers name. Having cleared Colombo and having left most tuk-tuks behind we headed down towards Galle. 2 hours later we arrived and went straight through to get to the stick sitting fishermen. All set-up for tourist but has to be seen as this is about the only place left where they sort of do it. Now I am old and fat so the next part of the tour was a nightmare and to be honest if I had missed it I would have had one heart attach less in my life. A lengthy clamber down a rock strewn path saw us at a not very impressive beach. Vast quantities of rubbish lying around reminds everyone about how we are destroying the oceans. After viewing the rubbish we started the climb out. Pure hell and as we were lead the wrong way and had to do almost double the climb I was surprised to find myself alive at the top. Very surprised. From this point on the tour became very good and very interesting. Seeing round the Dutch Fort a Galle was amazing and our driver was very knowledgeable about it. We then headed off for lunch which was included and given at a nice wee beach restaurant on a beach 100 x time better that the one at the bottom of Mount Everest. This area had been devastated by the 2004 Tsunami when 60,000 were killed. It has still not fully recovered. On the way home we stopped off at a turtle sanctuary where a totally dedicated guy showed us around. very interesting. A further stop at a mask workshop (waste of time) before heading back up the road to Colombo. I would recommend this trip to anyone who has naval interests as the Dutch fort was magnificent. The little turtles weren't bad either.

Fabulous day and fantastic guide in Subash. Especially the conservation turtles and tsunami museum- be prepared it's quite upsetting. Great lunch. The walk to Jungle Beach is a little tricky so wear good footwear. The Fort area is fabulous and well worth a visit.

This was a really excellent and well-rounded tour of Galle and surrounding areas. The variety of activities was excellent and we felt there was plenty of time spent at each place. We got a variety of curries for the included lunch which were so delicious. Our driver was very friendly and accommodating, encouraging us to let him know if we wanted to stop anywhere else for photos

Picked up promptly at 8am at our Airbnb. As we drove to Galle, our driver was excellent telling us about out the history and sights along the 2.5 hour drive. Our first stop were the Stilt Fisherman, they were neat, but it felt a little touristy. The guys were resting in the shade and when we pulled up they scrambled out to the stilts. They did open a coconut for us to drink and also we ate the inside of it. A tip is appreciated.Our next stop was Jungle Beach. It's not hard to get down the beach, (maybe a 10-12 meter trek down an embankment) but if you don't have the right footwear, it'll be a struggle. Great views once down there of Galle, people swimming, glass boats, etc. There are small shop to buy trinkets and have a drink if you want. Next up was Galle Fort. See the guys cliff diving and take pics. Tips are appreciated. Stop at any of the shops or street vendors and browse if you'd like. Once you get by the oldest working Clock Tower, get a picture with the monkeys or watch guys charm snakes(tips appreciated). The views are tough to beat from that area.Next stop was lunch. This was by far the best food we had in Sri Lanka. We drive out of Galle Fort and our driver takes to a little spot off the beach. We secured a beach side table, ordered food, 2 beers, sat and enjoyed the views and the breeze. Our next stop was the Tsunami Museum, it was actually a small house ravaged by the Tsunami that had tons of pictures, child missing notices, death toll, etc...its not for the faint of heart, but its definitely a must see. Donations are appreciated.We left the museum and headed to the Herb Garden. They gave us a small tour of all the local plants, herbs and the medicines they make out of them. I was quite surprised at this stop as I was just expecting some lame plants, trees and flowers. They ended up giving us a small foot massage and you could buy any of the medicines they make. The guys don't take a salary, so most proceeds go to them and the upkeep of the garden. Needless to say, donations are appreciated. Next stop was the Mask Museum, quite an odd short tour and donations are appreciated. The best part about this stop was the retail shop. Tons of quality handmade items to buy. Cash only though.Last stop was the Turtle Hatchery and Conservation. Great little stop where we shown turtles at all stages of growth, even 1 day old! There is a big shop to buy items, but a bit overpriced. A tip is appreciated for turtle guide.Anyhow, bring money.

Very enjoyable. We really enjoyed the peace temple. The lunch was delicious.

Great tour, excellent service!. we visited Galle in mid November. Amazing guide, knew everything there is to know about each site we visited and took the time to explain everything so that we could learn as much as possible about the places we are visiting. Driver also great, very polite, comfortable car, provided free water during entire journey. We felt treated like family! Great job guys! Thank you again!

This tour is a must if you are visiting Colombo. Our guide Deshan was great! He could speak English very well, kept us informed of the day's events and generally attended to our every need all day. Bottled water is provided and the air conditioned car was excellent on the hot day. Deshan was a wealth of information and answered all our questions. The highlights for the day included the Tsunami museum, Galle Fort, Herbal Spice garden and Turtle hatchery. In future I will make a note of Viator Top Rated tours when choosing as this was definitely one of the best ones to do. Thank you Deshan for making our Gall day trip so memorable. Colletta and Glenn Ward. Australia

This tour delivers what it promises. The company, Sanota Walkers, organized it to perfection. The driver/guide was very friendly and competent. So yes, highly recommended.