VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Auckland 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 Auckland for

  • beaches
  • families
  • getting around

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

Choose Kathmandu for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • shopping

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. Auckland 68, Kathmandu 4: Auckland leads by 64 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Kathmandu 55: Auckland leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Kathmandu 82: Kathmandu leads by 38 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Kathmandu 36: Auckland leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Kathmandu 70: Auckland leads by 13 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Kathmandu 56: Kathmandu leads by 1 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Kathmandu 20: Auckland leads by 50 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Kathmandu 25: Auckland leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Kathmandu 55: Kathmandu leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Kathmandu 97: Kathmandu leads by 65 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Kathmandu 28: Auckland leads by 17 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland and Kathmandu are level on 45.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Kathmandu.

Your match

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

Auckland
Best match
53match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Kathmandu
48match

Wins on prices and culture and sights 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

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°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandKathmandu

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). Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandKathmandu
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriNepali
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Nepalese Rupee (NPR)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzCM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC+5:45
Emergency number111Police 100, ambulance 102, fire 101
Elevation196 m1,300 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandKathmandu
City population1,470,100845,767
People per km²2,63017,121
Museums within 10 km159
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month-

Where else could you go?

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