The Dutch colonial fishing town seven kilometres from Bandaranaike International Airport is consistently underestimated as a destination in its own right. The lagoon fish market at dawn, the working Dutch canal network and the Portuguese Catholic church architecture that lines the old town streets give Negombo a genuine cultural depth beyond its transit-stop reputation. It is the ideal place to start or end a Sri Lanka journey – close, easy, interesting, and full of the particular atmosphere of a working coastal community going about its morning.