VacationSelector
The old harbour in Kaleiçi, Antalya
AntalyaThe old harbour in Kaleiçi
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower

Photos: Antalya by Furkan Tumer, Pexels License; Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License.

Antalya or Colombo?

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 Antalya for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families
  • day trips

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

Choose Colombo for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Colombo’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. Antalya 82, Colombo 55: Antalya leads by 27 points.
Food & drink. Antalya 57, Colombo 66: Colombo leads by 9 points.
Culture & sights. Antalya 55, Colombo 45: Antalya leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Antalya 48, Colombo 35: Antalya leads by 13 points.
Nature & outdoors. Antalya 83, Colombo 32: Antalya leads by 51 points.
Day trips. Antalya 78, Colombo 50: Antalya leads by 28 points.
Good for families. Antalya 74, Colombo 35: Antalya leads by 39 points.
Getting around. Antalya 50, Colombo 35: Antalya leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Antalya 44, Colombo 45: Colombo leads by 1 points.
Affordability. Antalya 62, Colombo 78: Colombo leads by 16 points.
Live music & performing arts. Antalya 40, Colombo 30: Antalya leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Antalya 62, Colombo 48: Antalya leads by 14 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Antalya and Colombo.

Your match

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

Antalya
Best match
61match

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

Colombo
46match

Wins on prices and food and drink with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Antalya in July

35 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
2 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
28 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Colombo in July

30 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
128 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
28 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
AntalyaColombo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Antalya: 1991-2020 normals, Antalya (23.4 km from centre). Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAntalyaColombo
Official languageTurkishTamil, Sinhala
CurrencyTurkish Lira (TRY)Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzGM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+5:30
Emergency number112Police 119, ambulance 110, fire 110
Elevation30 m1 m
Main airportAntalya International Airport (AYT)9 km from centre172 non-stop destinationsBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAntalyaColombo
City population2,426,356647,557
People per km²1,71217,361
Museums within 10 km510
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C7 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Antalya or Colombo 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.

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.