VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License.

Auckland 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 Auckland for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Colombo for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • wellness

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. Auckland 68, Colombo 55: Auckland leads by 13 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Colombo 66: Colombo leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Colombo 45: Colombo leads by 1 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Colombo 35: Auckland leads by 7 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Colombo 32: Auckland leads by 51 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Colombo 50: Auckland leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Colombo 35: Auckland leads by 35 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Colombo 35: Auckland leads by 7 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland and Colombo are level on 45.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Colombo 78: Colombo leads by 46 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Colombo 30: Auckland leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Colombo 48: Colombo leads by 3 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Colombo.

Your match

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

Auckland
Best match
53match

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.

Auckland in July

14 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
135 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 °Csea
10 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
AucklandColombo

Where the figures come from

Auckland's station stands 189 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Auckland: 1961-1990 normals, Auckland Aerodrome Aws (17 km from centre). Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandColombo
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriTamil, Sinhala
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzGM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC+5:30
Emergency number111Police 119, ambulance 110, fire 110
Elevation196 m1 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandColombo
City population1,470,100647,557
People per km²2,63017,361
Museums within 10 km1510
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Auckland 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). 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.