2.53/5
105 reviews
Photo by Lahiru Supunchandra via Unsplash

Galle

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great

coffee

work

scene

Galle and the nearby town of Weligama offer a scenic and culturally rich environment with colonial architecture and attractive beaches within close reach. The food scene in Galle is generally well-liked and offers more variety than what's typically found in Colombo. However, the coffee offerings are underwhelming, and some cafes aren't remote-work friendly.

While the local community is described as warm and welcoming, the area feels more focused on tourism than on catering to digital nomads. Work productivity may be challenged due to frequent electricity outages and an unstable internet connection, even if speeds are reasonable on paper.

Galle and its surroundings are great for short stays or travel, but not ideal for longer-term remote work setups. The town is charming and visually appealing, with enough things to do in nearby areas. That said, nomads looking for consistent workspace conditions and reliable infrastructure may want to consider alternatives.

AI-generated summary of reviews

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.

1 year 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

✅ Good food scene

✅ Great beaches nearby

✅ 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

❌ Not ideal for remote work

❌ 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

400 people

200 people

233 people

300 people

367 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:

	Head of Growth @ AVA Foundation
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	Senior Data Analytics Engineer @ Fullscript
	Content Writer @ Blink UX
	Smart Contract Engineer @ Risk Labs
	Senior Front End Engineer @ Maxflow BV / CrazyGames
	Senior Software Engineer @ Nava
	Product Partnerships Manager @ Presto
	Backend Software Engineer @ Firework
	Principal Product Designer @ 15Five
	Software Engineer Android @ Ontic

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

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Weligama

Sri Lanka

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😝 Cheap

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 33° 91° 28° 83° 🥵

🚕49min

$629 / mo

21 Mbps

Matara

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📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

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🌧 Feels 33° 91° 28° 83° 🥵

🚕1h

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15 Mbps

Colombo

Sri Lanka

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💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

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$1,296 / mo

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Kandy

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📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

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$950 / mo

16 Mbps

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Thiruvananthapuram

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👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

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$892 / mo

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📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

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👮 Safety mediocre

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📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

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👮 Safety mediocre

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9 Mbps

Kochi

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📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

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👮 Safety good

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📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

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📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

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✈️53min

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Colombo

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⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 35° 95° 29° 84° 🥵 AQI 57 😷

🚕3h

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📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

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👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

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👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

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📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety great

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✈️4h

$4,231 / mo

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📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

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✈️5h

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Indonesia

⭐️ OverallAll

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📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

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🌧 Feels 32° 90° 28° 82° 🥵 AQI 50

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👮 Safety good

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🌧 Feels 32° 90° 27° 81° 🥵 AQI 50

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📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 16° 61° 16° 61° AQI 73 😷

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Berlin

Germany

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 18° 64° 18° 65° AQI 61 😷

✈️11h

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Amsterdam

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 16° 61° 16° 61° AQI 46

✈️11h

$6,000 / mo

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Barcelona

Spain

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 20° 68° 19° 67° AQI 39

✈️11h

$5,327 / mo

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Paris

France

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 22° 72° 22° 71° AQI 50

✈️11h

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London

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 19° 66° 19° 67° AQI 52 😷

✈️12h

$5,984 / mo

🌇 Also went here34 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	2.53/5 (Rank #400) 105 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍3 liked it 👎1 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,480 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 11Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Great
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Hot: 29°C83°F (feels 35°C95°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	🥵 Sweaty: 85%
👌 Safety	Good
🤮 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
👩 Female friendly	Bad
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Okay
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	Asia
🚩 Country	Sri Lanka
🗓️ Average trip length	9 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	11 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌧 29°C 83°F + 🥵 Sweaty (85%) = feels 35°C 95°F
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Pickme
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 1,000 LKR in USD	USD 3.35
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	LKR 100,000 = USD 335
💳 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	$1,480 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$722 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$1,074 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$307 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$1,086 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,511 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$432 / month
🏠 Median home price	$167,612
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$51 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$50 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$216 / month
🍛 Dinner	$3
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$1
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
👩‍🏫 International school	$1,341 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$1 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$1 / trip