Mount Lavinia

Mount Lavinia grew around the house Governor Thomas Maitland built on the headland in 1806, which became the governor's residence and is now a hotel, its white colonnades still on the point above the sand. The beach runs south from it and is the closest proper beach to Colombo, busy in the evenings with families and with the fish stalls that set up along it. The railway runs right along the shore.

What you actually see

• The colonial hotel - Maitland's 1806 residence on the headland, still in use.
• The beach - the nearest real beach to Colombo, running south from the point.
• The coastal railway - trains running along the sand at the top of the beach.
• The evening crowd - Colombo families and fish stalls filling the shore at sunset.

When to go

December to March is the driest and calmest. The southwest monsoon from May to September brings rough sea and erosion. Evenings are when the beach is liveliest.

Honest expectations

The sea here is rough for much of the year and swimming is unsafe in the monsoon. The beach is narrow and eroded in places, with litter. Touts along the sand are persistent.

Nearby

Colombo is north, and Kalutara is south.