VacationSelector
The domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi
Abu DhabiThe domes and minarets of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags

Photos: Abu Dhabi by Jeffry Surianto, Pexels License; Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Abu Dhabi or Kathmandu?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Abu Dhabi for

  • beaches
  • families
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Abu Dhabi’s own page.

Choose Kathmandu for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Kathmandu’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Abu Dhabi 78, Kathmandu 4: Abu Dhabi leads by 74 points.
Food & drink. Abu Dhabi and Kathmandu are level on 55.
Culture & sights. Abu Dhabi 64, Kathmandu 82: Kathmandu leads by 18 points.
Nightlife. Abu Dhabi 34, Kathmandu 36: Kathmandu leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Abu Dhabi 28, Kathmandu 70: Kathmandu leads by 42 points.
Day trips. Abu Dhabi 45, Kathmandu 56: Kathmandu leads by 11 points.
Good for families. Abu Dhabi 82, Kathmandu 20: Abu Dhabi leads by 62 points.
Getting around. Abu Dhabi 24, Kathmandu 25: Kathmandu leads by 1 points.
Shopping & style. Abu Dhabi 50, Kathmandu 55: Kathmandu leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Abu Dhabi 38, Kathmandu 97: Kathmandu leads by 59 points.
Live music & performing arts. Abu Dhabi 32, Kathmandu 28: Abu Dhabi leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Abu Dhabi 46, Kathmandu 45: Abu Dhabi leads by 1 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Abu Dhabi and Kathmandu.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Abu Dhabi
48match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Kathmandu
48match

Wins on prices and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Abu Dhabi in July

43 °Cdaytime high
30 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
33 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Kathmandu in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
384 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Abu DhabiKathmandu

Where the figures come from

Abu Dhabi's temperatures are measured 26 km from the centre, at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Abu Dhabi has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Abu Dhabi: 1991-2020 normals, Abu Dhabi International Airport (25.7 km from centre). Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAbu DhabiKathmandu
Official languageArabicNepali
CurrencyUAE Dirham (AED)Nepalese Rupee (NPR)
SocketsCG220 V, 50 HzCM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+5:45
Emergency number112Police 100, ambulance 102, fire 101
Elevation14 m1,300 m
Main airportZayed International Airport (AUH)26 km from centre147 non-stop destinationsTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureAbu DhabiKathmandu
City population1,570,000845,767
People per km²1,61517,121
Museums within 10 km39
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C11 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Abu Dhabi or Kathmandu somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.