Galle Fort Walk with a Local

We really enjoyed our tour with Shirat, his history of Galle was concise and expert and delivered with humour. Starting at 6.30am before the heat really ramped up he showed us the main sites of the town, answered all our questions and gave us a clear idea of the 400+years of history of the citadel. His description of the Tsunami and it's effects on his town , made us realise the vulnerability of us all to nature. Also ironically that the ramparts, built by long dead dutchmen,( and intended by them to protect the town from invaders, but never used) , finally did protect those inhabitants lucky enough to be inside.

This was a great little tour. Shirat gave me a little history lesson along with answering all my questions about Unesco & how restorations were happening. He took me to places I might not have found on my own & he runs a pleasant liitle tea shop too. A true local.

Really lovely guy, we had a very enjoyable afternoon touring Galle and hearing all the history. We also took his recommendations for places to eat and shop all good

Really lovely guide. He didn’t speak though. He told me the fort was built in 1500s, but the signs said a different date. He made up for it by taking me to a gem shop. Lovely lovely man, but I’m not sure he knew much about Galle Fort.

We absolutely loved the tour! Our guide was amazing! He is a local his family has been living here for decades and he is so knowledgeable. We started the tour in a tea room his grand father created for the locals to drink tea when they did not have many places to have a good time when the English were occupying the country. He has insiders stored like when he told us about the tsunami and the situation of his parents etc. He is also super generous, we took more time because we were asking lots of questions and he proposed to extend for free for 30 minutes or more. He really does not look at the time, is in the present moment and enjoys the tour with us! He is passionate. We learned about the history of Sri Lanka, of Galle, about the religions, about the architecture, well so many things. He is really nice and sharp. We highly recommend! PS: we also asked if we could do the tour earlier because we had finished eating earlier and he accepted!

We were just visiting Galle for a single day so wanted to take a tour where we could learn a lot about the fort and also the history of the area and the architecture, this tour did not disappoint! Chirath, our guide, arrived on time with a colleague and they were both very knowledgeable and wanted to tell us as much as they could about the town. They always had answers to our questions and mixed up the explanations with some stories and myths that have been passed down through the years. This was a great tour and we would highly recommend! Thanks!

We were a group of 5 adults and we really enjoyed this tour. It is a medium walking tour so for those who suffer from severe leg problems or asthma - there are steps to climb etc. Further, it would be best to confirm with the contact given the day before to ensure the tour is taking place. We had no problems but decided to contact our guide and confirm the Bank of Ceylon on Lighthouse Street in Galle to meet with him. It is a good landmark for those who do not know the area well. Our guide, Chirath was on time and was incredibly knowledgeable. Throughout the tour, we asked him many questions and he was more than happy to answer about Sri Lankan life, the history behind Sri Lanka, its religious background etc. which were all central to the story of the Fort. He did his best and was very helpful in explaining every single detail. The tour is of the whole fort and he covered every important structure and brought us into certain buildings such as a church to show us the Dutch influence etc. As he spoke Sinhalese, he could converse with guards/custodians to confirm some questions we had. However, his English is excellent and should not be a worry for anyone because he is most definitely a native speaker if not an excellent learner! We went 30 minutes over time and he was incredibly patient with us. He even took photos of our group and was a very nice person to be around and to show us. He is a local and as such, we are very impressed with Sri Lankans! We invited him to dinner however he respectfully declined and if this does not tell you how much we enjoyed the tour, we are unsure what will!