Inside the walls of Galle Fort the streets are narrow, the houses have deep verandas and the stone holds the heat of the afternoon long after the sun has moved on. A day here passes through three places at once: a UNESCO-listed colonial town, a coastline of small bays running east towards Unawatuna and Koggala, and the Buddhist temples that sit between them.

The town was fortified by the Portuguese in the late sixteenth century and rebuilt in stone by the Dutch from 1663; the ramparts they left still enclose the old quarter on three sides of the sea. Church Street, Pedlar Street and Leyn Baan Street are walked slowly, in the shade of arcades, between galleries, cafés and the Dutch Reformed Church. This is a town for long sleeves rolled once, for shirts that sit loose at the back and for trousers that do not cling when the humidity rises.

The south-west coast has its dry season from December to April, when the sea is calm enough for swimming and the afternoons are bright. The air remains heavy even then, and a shirt is judged by how it feels at four o’clock, not at nine. Linen has an open weave and a dry hand, which is why the PP linen shirts sit well here. A Laos Short Sleeve Linen Shirt in Light Blue suits a morning on the ramparts; the Bliss Linen Shirt in Grey, long-sleeved, carries the same walk into dinner. There is more on dressing for this kind of air in our note on linen in humid weather.

The temples ask for something different. At the Japanese Peace Pagoda on Rumassala and at the smaller temples along the coast road, visitors are expected to cover shoulders and knees and to leave shoes at the entrance. For men, the PP Casual Linen Trousers in Sapphire Blue answer the knee question without changing the rhythm of the day. For women, the PP linen blouse in Sky Blue with trousers to the ankle works in the temple and at lunch afterwards; the Amelia linen dress shirt in Oyster is kept for the fort in the evening and for the hotel terrace, where the knee is not a question.

Beyond the walls the rhythm changes again. Unawatuna and Thalpe are beach towns with a few quiet villa hotels; at Koggala and Ahangama the stilt fishermen still perch on poles above the reef in the early morning. On the sand and in the water, PP natural swim shorts in Oatmeal are worn in the sea, with a Cuba Linen Shirt in Blue for the walk back up the beach to a late lunch of rice and curry.

Evenings inside the fort begin on the ramparts near the lighthouse, where the town gathers to watch the sea darken, and move on to dinner in one of the old merchant houses. The tone is relaxed and quietly dressed. A Bliss Linen Shirt in Pink with the PP Trousers 100% Cotton in White is enough for any table in the old town; for women, the Amelia linen dress shirt in Dubarry carries the same ease. Galle is close enough to Colombo to be a first or last stop on a longer journey, which is covered in what to wear in Sri Lanka.

Read more: The Best Linen Brand for Galle  ·  What to Wear in Colombo