A journey of 28 nights
A Month on the Coast
The winter in three homes: the fort, the ocean and the hills. Staff who learn how you like things, and no hurry at all.
- Nights
- 28
- Stays
- 3
- Arranged
- 9
- For
- Wellness, Culture
- Week 1
The fort
A heritage townhouse on Lighthouse Street. Learn the fort, the market and the cafés until they feel like your own.
- Weeks 2 and 3
The ocean
Ten nights on an oceanfront estate. Yoga each morning, whales off Mirissa, a dive course if you have always meant to.
- Weeks 3 and 4
The hills
Eleven nights at Firefly Hill. A two-week Ayurveda programme, the rock temple, white tea, and evenings on the verandah.
- Throughout
Arranged around you
One driver for the month, groceries and laundry taken care of, a fast connection for work, and a person in Galle on WhatsApp for anything.
Where you stay
Galle Fort, private villa
Seven Pillars
A heritage townhouse on Lighthouse Street.
Three bedrooms beneath a vaulted thirty-foot timber roof, in the heart of the 17th century Dutch fort. Pillared verandas, Dutch furnishings, and the ramparts 150 metres from the door.
- Bedrooms3
- Beach and ramparts150 m
- From the airport2 hrs
Talpe, private villa
Tanamera Estate
Three bedrooms, coconut palms, the whole horizon.
A Sri Lankan-style residence on a sprawling oceanfront estate. Doors stay open to the sea breeze, meals are served wherever you like, and the pool pavilion is yours from dawn to dusk.
- Bedrooms3
- Sleeps8
- Galle Fort20 min
Weligama, private villa
Halala Kanda
Firefly Hill, built in 1912 to win a bride.
A plantation house in the hills above Weligama, found in ruins in 2010 and restored by local craftsmen. Six suites under one roof, with high ceilings, French doors and complete privacy.
- Suites6
- Sleeps12
- From the airport2.5 hrs
Arranged along the way
- Galle Fort, on foot. The lighthouse, the clock tower, the Groote Kerk and the Old Dutch Hospital, walked with a guide inside the UNESCO-listed ramparts.
- Galle market and the fish auction. The morning catch sold on the beach by the fort, then the market for fruit and spices, with the villa chef choosing what you will eat that night.
- Cooking with the villa chef. Curries, sambols and hoppers made in the villa kitchen, from coconut scraped by hand to the tempering of the spices. Then you eat it all.
- Private yoga and meditation. A teacher who comes to you at sunrise or sunset, for one person or the whole party, and a monk who will teach meditation if you would like it.
- Ayurveda, properly. A consultation with an Ayurvedic doctor, then treatments and food shaped to you. For a few days, or as a programme of two weeks or more.
- Whales off Mirissa. Blue whales, sperm whales and spinner dolphins pass close to this coast between December and April.
- Diving the reefs and wrecks. Reefs off Unawatuna and wrecks along the coast, with a private dive master. Courses for beginners, or straight to the deep for the qualified.
- Mulkirigala rock temple. Cave temples cut into a rock that rises from the plain, reached by hundreds of steps. Reclining Buddhas, painted ceilings, and a view to the sea from the top.
- Handunugoda white tea. A tasting on the estate that makes virgin white tea, cut with golden scissors and untouched by hand.
- A car and driver throughout. From the arrivals hall to the last morning.