VacationSelector
The Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla, AlUla
AlUlaThe Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags

Photos: AlUla by Richard.hargas, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

AlUla 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 AlUla for

  • families
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Kathmandu for

  • prices
  • shopping
  • day trips

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. AlUla 3, Kathmandu 4: Kathmandu leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. AlUla 28, Kathmandu 55: Kathmandu leads by 27 points.
Culture & sights. AlUla 70, Kathmandu 82: Kathmandu leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. AlUla 5, Kathmandu 36: Kathmandu leads by 31 points.
Nature & outdoors. AlUla 72, Kathmandu 70: AlUla leads by 2 points.
Day trips. AlUla 20, Kathmandu 56: Kathmandu leads by 36 points.
Good for families. AlUla 35, Kathmandu 20: AlUla leads by 15 points.
Getting around. AlUla 15, Kathmandu 25: Kathmandu leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. AlUla 15, Kathmandu 55: Kathmandu leads by 40 points.
Affordability. AlUla 18, Kathmandu 97: Kathmandu leads by 79 points.
Live music & performing arts. AlUla and Kathmandu are level on 28.
Wellness & relaxation. AlUla and Kathmandu are level on 45.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: AlUla and Kathmandu.

Your match

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

AlUla
30match

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

Kathmandu
Best match
48match

Wins on prices and shopping with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

AlUla in July

43 °Cdaytime high
28 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Kathmandu in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
384 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
AlUlaKathmandu

Where the figures come from

AlUla 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. AlUla: 2010-2025 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Alula / Al ‘Ulá (23.7 km from centre). Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlUlaKathmandu
Official languageArabicNepali
CurrencySaudi Riyal (SAR)Nepalese Rupee (NPR)
SocketsG60 HzCM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+5:45
Emergency number112 or 911Police 100, ambulance 102, fire 101
Elevation692 m1,300 m
Main airportAl-Ula International Airport (ULH)24 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureAlUlaKathmandu
City population32,413845,767
People per km²-17,121
Museums within 10 km29
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow AlUla 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.