Galle Dutch Fort - complete guide to what is inside and how to spend a full day there?

I am based in Galle and I guide inside the fort regularly, so I can give you the honest breakdown.

The fort is genuinely worth a full day but you need a structure or you will just wander and miss what matters.

Start at the Groote Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church, 1755) - the oldest Dutch church in Asia still in use. The interior has tombstones set into the floor and is cool and quiet. Opens from 9am.

The ramparts walk - do this between 6-8am before the heat or at 5pm for the light. The full circuit takes 45-60 minutes. The lighthouse section gives the best view south over the Indian Ocean. Early morning you will have it largely to yourself.

The Dutch period museum - modest but genuine, shows VOC-era artefacts and maps. LKR 500 entry, worth 30 minutes.

The All Saints' Anglican Church - less visited than the Groote Kerk, but the British colonial interior is atmospheric and the churchyard is full of 19th century tombstones worth reading.

The National Maritime Museum - the fort's old warehouse, now housing traditional boats and fishing equipment. Interesting if you have 20 minutes.

What you can skip: many of the boutique hotels and shops that occupy old Dutch buildings have beautiful facades but nothing inside unless you are shopping. The small "historical" displays in some private buildings are tourist traps.

Restaurants inside the fort: The Heritage Cafe on Church Street is genuinely good - proper Sri Lankan rice and curry in a colonial building, not expensive. Pedlar's Inn Cafe for breakfast. Avoid the rampart-view restaurants that charge tourist prices for mediocre food - you are paying for the Instagram angle, not the food.