Crabs, cocktails and coastlines: Experiencing Sri Lanka like a local

If there’s one destination that’s stealing the limelight right now, it’s Sri Lanka. Media reports say that the Pearl of the Indian Ocean welcomed over 1.5 million tourists in the first seven months of 2025, with India being one of the top contributors to this. 

After numerous geopolitical issues, Sri Lanka has quietly moved up the global traveller charts, and for good reasons—it is compact yet brimming with culture and character, and it offers the perfect mix of luxury, local flavours, history, mythology and coastal calm. 

In Sri Lanka, you don’t really tick boxes off a must-visit checklist; you soak in the experiences. And the best way to do so is by taking it slow—moving gradually from Colombo’s buzz, to the cultural richness of Kandy; slipping into the wilderness, and finally letting the southern beaches work their magic on you. 

City lights and flavourful plates

Start in Colombo, where the city’s most coveted address is Shangri-La. It’s a hotel that gives you the kind of views of the Indian Ocean that make you want to stay all day, tucked in with your favourite book and a plate of the freshest pineapples and rambutan. However, the temptation of its spa, poolside calm, and direct lobby access to a mall might eventually nudge you out of bed. 

By evening, the energy shifts. You could be at Capital Bar & Grill, listening to live jazz while sipping on the famous smoky Napoleon Whiskey Sour—the classic cocktail with citrus flavours, mandarin syrup and orange bitters, smoked with maple wood chips—a drink that made me a whiskey convert. But if you wish to be impressed by local flavours, head to the Tiki Bar, which features 50 variations of arrack. Or head to Uncle’s Bar in the city, which gives a taste of Colombo’s local drinking culture with fresh toddy on tap. 

But Colombo is best experienced through its food. Starting with the iconic Upali’s by Nawaloka, a popular local restaurant known for its traditional dishes and homely atmosphere. Diner favourites include the prawn or crab jaffna curry, hoppers, kottu roti, and sizzler-plate pepper chicken. While you wait for your order to arrive, take a walk around the restaurant and browse through the many signed plates by prominent guests at the restaurant—from Virat Kohli to Kapil Dev and Shankar Mahadevan, among others.

Another Asia’s 50Best Discovery find—Paradise Road The Gallery Cafe is the place for relaxing breakfast, evening coffee, or a quiet prawn curry-rice lunch followed by indulgent desserts from the 30-item strong dessert menu. Once the office of famous architect Geoffrey Bawa, the cafe exudes the same air of the erudite class. The 30-item strong dessert menu is the highlight of the cafe and is wittily displayed on what was once Bawa’s old desk. 

It is almost sinful to depart from Colombo without making one’s way to the iconic Ministry of Crab—a crab heaven created by Chef Darshan Munidasa, in partnership with Sri Lankan cricketers Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara, that made it to Asia’s 50Best Restaurants from 2016 to 2022. Here, the crabs and prawns come in all sizes and sauces, and are paired beautifully with wood-fired in-house bread or sticky Japanese rice.

Between soulful meals, Colombo also offers pockets of peace. The famous Gangaramaya Temple is worth visiting in the evening for the Buddha Vandana, while the floating temple at Simamalaka, its reflection shimmering on the Beira Lake at dusk, feels like a pause button in the middle of the city.

Pristine ocean and crashing waves

Soon enough, the lure of the southern coast will pull you out of Colombo, and this is where Sri Lanka slows down. 

Galle might be famous for its cricket stadium, but its old Dutch town is where the charm lies. Walking through the cobbled streets is like travelling back in time. Dotted with cafes, local boutiques, gems and jewellery stores and heritage hotels, the fort area transports you to a European village in a Southeast-Asian country. Stop by the Barefoot Store to pick up handcrafted souvenirs, sustainable dresses, Ceylon bath and body products or edibles. Dumplings Cafe offers succulent shrimp dimsums, and Isle of Gelato comes as a respite after a walk in the afternoon sun. 

After that, a drive along the scenic coastal road will take you to the other dreamy villages of Sri Lanka. 

While Ahangama might seem like a sleepy village from the outside, narrow, steep steps lead to hidden cafes overlooking a sea so blue and pristine that you’d want to linger here. Opened earlier this year, Kai Cafe particularly stands out, not just for its unbeatable views but also its crispy chicken burger and smoothies. 

A little further along lies Sri Lanka’s surfing paradise—Mirissa. Whether you’re a beginner or just looking to add another skill to your travel list, Mirrisa’s waves invite you to try the sport. 

A little further along, Hiriketiya promises cocktails at Smoke and Bitters—one of Asia’s 50 Best Bars, made better by the fact that you’ll probably catch one of the most dramatic sunsets of your life while sipping them. 

A saw and a trumpet

For those who crave a brush with the wild, Sri Lanka doesn’t disappoint either. National parks are scattered across the country, each teeming with life. 

The largest of them, Wilpattu National Park, is worth it if you wish to be impressed by the landscape. The park is known for its villus or natural lakes that collect rainwater. But if you want to spot the elusive leopard, the country’s apex predator, head to the Yala National Park. 

Despite spotting its paw prints, we missed the shy predator by seconds. But even then, the park offered other spectacles—an elephant with its calf, unbothered dotted deer, and the lazy mugger crocodiles basking in the sun. Peacocks are spotted around Yala and the southern belt of Sri Lanka as casually as pigeons are in India.  

A visit to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is unlike any other experience in Sri Lanka. Located near Kandy, this sanctuary is home to rescued and orphaned elephants, offering a rare chance to see these gentle giants up close during their daily bath at the Ma Oya River. The sight is magical, with sometimes as many as 20 elephants splashing, playing and lazing in the water. 

What else

And then, there’s Kandy. 

Even if you skip the misty tea gardens of Nuwara Eliya, or the crowded Nine Arch Bridge in Ella (which, thanks to Instagram reels, is far from being the ‘hidden gem’ it claims to be, and must be visited early in the morning, if you must), Kandy is not to be missed.

Sri Lanka’s cultural capital is anchored by the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, which legend says houses one of Buddha’s teeth. The temple is spotless, serene, and almost guaranteed to leave you calmer than when you walked in. 

Stick around in the evening for the cultural show—a performance that combines rhythm, history, and storytelling, while you sip on a chilled Lion Lager. End the trip with cocktails and global plates at the Hideout Lounge. 

What makes Sri Lanka unforgettable is that it doesn’t demand you rush.

One day you’re at a luxury hotel sipping arrack and moving to jazz, the next day you’re trying a hand at hoppers. One afternoon, you’re staring at elephants in their natural habitat, and the next day, you’re meditating at a temple. It’s a country best experienced at one’s own pace—savouring the flavours, walking down the city lanes, watching sunsets, conversing with the locals, and letting the culture sink in. 

(The author was in Sri Lanka on the invitation of Shangri La Colombo.)

Feature image by Nihar Apte