2.52/5
109 reviews
Photo by Lahiru Supunchandra via Unsplash

Galle

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great

coffee

work

scene

Galle and its nearby areas like Weligama offer a charming coastal experience with colonial architecture, great beaches within easy reach, and a generally friendly atmosphere. The food scene is solid, with options considered better than Colombo, although some users felt it became repetitive after about a week. Coffee options are limited and not ideal for people who depend on a strong café culture, especially for work purposes.

The internet speeds are decent at around 50 Mbps, but stability issues and frequent power outages can make remote work unreliable. Additionally, some coffee shops don't allow customers to work, limiting work-friendly locations. While there's plenty to explore and enjoy from a tourist perspective, it may not be best suited for long-term digital nomads looking for consistent productivity.

Overall, the area is more of a laid-back vacation spot than a digital nomad hub. It’s better suited for those prioritizing leisure and coastal living over work efficiency or café-hopping lifestyle.

AI-generated summary of reviews
4 months ago

Galle is a cute, small, Portuguese and Dutch colonial-style town with great food options - better than Colombo. Some coffee shops won't let you work, but great beaches are just a few minutes' drive away.

2 years ago

I didn't stay at Galle directly. I stayed in Weligama which is a beach city half an hour ride from Galle.

The internet speed is quite decent (50mbps) but it's very unstable. I also experienced lot of electricity outages. Overall, in terms of work productivity, not the best.

Food scene is quite good, but it gets boring after a week or so. Regarding the coffee scene, it's terrible.

There is lots of fun things to do and places to see. People here are very friendly, but for me, the place is more of a tourist destination than Nomad Hotspot.

2 years ago

✅ Friendly people

✅ Great food options

✅ Fun things to do

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ High quality of education

✅ Roads are pretty safe

✅ Democratic

✅ LGBTQ+ friendly

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ Not a lot of alcohol abuse

❌ Unstable internet

❌ Frequent power outages

❌ Poor coffee scene

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ Very sweaty and humid now

❌ Nomads.com members didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Difficult to do business

❌ Hospitals are bad

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not safe for women

❌ Not family friendly

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

32°C / 90°F hot

33°C / 91°F hot

32°C / 90°F hot

31°C / 88°F hot

33°C / 91°F hot

30°C / 86°F warm

33°C / 91°F hot

Real (median)

27°C / 81°F
warm

28°C / 82°F
very warm

27°C / 81°F
warm

27°C / 80°F
warm

28°C / 82°F
very warm

27°C / 80°F
warm

28°C / 82°F
very warm

Humidity

sweaty
88%

sweaty
84%

sweaty
83%

sweaty
82%

sweaty
86%

sweaty
87%

sweaty
88%

sweaty
89%

sweaty
87%

sweaty
85%

Most common

☔️ Rain

Rain

dry
37mm

rainy
72mm

rainy
75mm

rainy
157mm

rainy
290mm

rainy
280mm

rainy
227mm

rainy
219mm

rainy
251mm

rainy
273mm

rainy
259mm

rainy
157mm

Cloud

cloudy
50%

pockets
33%

pockets
44%

pockets
40%

cloudy
54%

pockets
49%

cloudy
55%

cloudy
56%

cloudy
52%

cloudy
55%

pockets
41%

Sun

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

Remote workers

325 people

525 people

343 people

367 people

0 people

200 people

440 people

200 people

229 people

300 people

433 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Based on Galle's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

Help pick the best photos for Galle and improve this page's look by tappingclicking on them and the site saves your feedback Vote photos

137pts

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10pts

8pts

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Weligama

Sri Lanka

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😝 Cheap

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

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🌦 Feels 37° 99° 30° 85° 🥵

🚕49min

$588 / mo

21 Mbps

Matara

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⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked great

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🌦 Feels 37° 99° 30° 85° 🥵

🚕1h

$1,005 / mo

15 Mbps

Colombo

Sri Lanka

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

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🌦 Feels 31° 88° 28° 83° AQI 71 😷

🚕3h

$1,328 / mo

9 Mbps

Kandy

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⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😝 Cheap

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

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🌦 Feels 34° 93° 29° 84° 🥵

✈️12min

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16 Mbps

Arugam Bay

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💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

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🌧 Feels 40° 104° 31° 87° 🥵

✈️16min

$1,388 / mo

9 Mbps

Thiruvananthapuram

India

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 34° 93° 29° 84°

✈️36min

$1,115 / mo

7 Mbps

Varkala

India

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 31° 88° 28° 83°

✈️39min

$1,175 / mo

9 Mbps

Madurai

India

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😝 Cheap

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

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🌥 Feels 37° 99° 31° 88° 🥵

✈️39min

$940 / mo

10 Mbps

Kollam

India

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😝 Cheap

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 31° 88° 28° 82°

✈️41min

$972 / mo

9 Mbps

Kochi

India

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😝 Cheap

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

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🌥 Feels 31° 88° 28° 82°

✈️49min

$766 / mo

10 Mbps

Tirupur

India

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😝 Cheap

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 31° 88° 28° 82°

✈️52min

$998 / mo

13 Mbps

Coimbatore

India

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 31° 88° 28° 82°

✈️53min

$1,108 / mo

10 Mbps

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 35° 95° 29° 85° 🥵 AQI 38

✈️3h

$1,583 / mo

24 Mbps

London

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 10° 50° 11° 53° AQI 59 😷

✈️12h

$5,720 / mo

23 Mbps

Amsterdam

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 10° 50° 11° 52° AQI 25

✈️11h

$5,562 / mo

20 Mbps

Berlin

Germany

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 13° 55° 13° 55° AQI 57 😷

✈️11h

$4,044 / mo

27 Mbps

Moscow

Russia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 7° 45° 7° 44° AQI 57 😷

✈️9h

$2,390 / mo

15 Mbps

Singapore

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 32° 90° 29° 85°

✈️4h

$4,380 / mo

147 Mbps

Canggu, Bali

Indonesia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 32° 90° 28° 83° AQI 177 😷

✈️6h

$1,989 / mo

24 Mbps

Lisbon

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 20° 68° 19° 66° AQI 25

✈️13h

$3,821 / mo

34 Mbps

Reykjavik

Iceland

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 3° 37° 5° 41° AQI 36

✈️13h

$5,988 / mo

24 Mbps

Oslo

Norway

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 6° 43° 6° 42° AQI 24

✈️11h

$5,271 / mo

40 Mbps

Istanbul

Turkey

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 19° 66° 19° 67° AQI 139 😷

✈️9h

$1,728 / mo

10 Mbps

Arendal

Norway

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 6° 43° 8° 46°

✈️11h

$5,041 / mo

42 Mbps

Colombo

Sri Lanka

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 31° 88° 28° 83° AQI 71 😷

🚕3h

$1,328 / mo

🌇 Also went here48 people

Phuket

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 32° 90° 28° 82° 🥵

✈️3h

$2,288 / mo

🌇 Also went here34 people

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 35° 95° 29° 85° 🥵 AQI 38

✈️3h

$1,583 / mo

🌇 Also went here60 people

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 37° 99° 30° 86° 🥵 AQI 69 😷

✈️3h

$1,547 / mo

🌇 Also went here48 people

Chiang Mai

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 23° 73° 23° 73° AQI 31

✈️3h

$1,275 / mo

🌇 Also went here35 people

Singapore

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 32° 90° 29° 85°

✈️4h

$4,380 / mo

🌇 Also went here49 people

Dubai

United Arab Emirates

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 30° 86° 29° 84° AQI 89 😷

✈️5h

$4,024 / mo

🌇 Also went here36 people

Canggu, Bali

Indonesia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 32° 90° 28° 83° AQI 177 😷

✈️6h

$1,989 / mo

🌇 Also went here35 people

Ubud, Bali

Indonesia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 36° 97° 29° 85° 🥵 AQI 177 😷

✈️6h

$2,174 / mo

🌇 Also went here38 people

Istanbul

Turkey

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 19° 66° 19° 67° AQI 139 😷

✈️9h

$1,728 / mo

🌇 Also went here39 people

Berlin

Germany

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 13° 55° 13° 55° AQI 57 😷

✈️11h

$4,044 / mo

🌇 Also went here34 people

Amsterdam

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 10° 50° 11° 52° AQI 25

✈️11h

$5,562 / mo

🌇 Also went here40 people

Barcelona

Spain

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 20° 68° 19° 66° AQI 53 😷

✈️11h

$4,495 / mo

🌇 Also went here39 people

Paris

France

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 12° 54° 13° 55° AQI 33

✈️11h

$5,471 / mo

🌇 Also went here35 people

London

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 10° 50° 11° 53° AQI 59 😷

✈️12h

$5,720 / mo

🌇 Also went here37 people

Members here right now

No members are here right now. If you are, add it as a trip and you'll show up here!

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	2.52/5 (Rank #419) 109 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍3 liked it 👎1 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,333 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 10 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Great
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Hot: 29°C83°F (feels 33°C91°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	🥵 Sweaty: 75%
👌 Safety	Good
👩 Safe for women	Bad
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Okay
🤮 Food safety*	Okay
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Good
🤝 Lack of racism*	Bad
🎓 Education level*	High
⚡️ Power grid	Good
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Good
💰 Income level*	Very low: $326 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Okay
🚶 Walkability	Bad
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Good
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Okay
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	Asia
🚩 Country	Sri Lanka
🗓️ Average trip length	9 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	10 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌦 29°C 83°F + 🥵 Sweaty (75%) = feels 33°C 91°F
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Pickme
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 1,000 LKR in USD	USD 3.27
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	LKR 100,000 = USD 327
💳 Cashless	💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners)
☕️ Best coffee place	The Old Railway Cafe
☕️ Best alt. coffee place	Lemongrass Cafe
🏪 Best 24/7 coffee place	Nomad Trails Thalpe Station
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👎3% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	99,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$3,910 / year
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 74% 👱‍♀️ 26%
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
🏠 Apartment listings	Airbnb
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Sri Lankan Airlines
🏥 Best hospital	Teaching Hospital Mahamodara

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,333 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$692 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$1,049 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$300 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$784 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,423 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$407 / month
🏠 Median home price	$164,691
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$37 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$47 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$211 / month
🍛 Dinner	$3
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$1
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
👩‍🏫 International school	$1,309 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$0 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$1 / trip