VacationSelector
The Church of Saint Sava, Belgrade
BelgradeThe Church of Saint Sava
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower

Photos: Belgrade by Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License.

Belgrade 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 Belgrade for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • getting around

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

Choose Colombo for

  • wellness
  • beaches
  • prices

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. Belgrade 40, Colombo 55: Colombo leads by 15 points.
Food & drink. Belgrade 60, Colombo 66: Colombo leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Belgrade 52, Colombo 45: Belgrade leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Belgrade 80, Colombo 35: Belgrade leads by 45 points.
Nature & outdoors. Belgrade 50, Colombo 32: Belgrade leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Belgrade 60, Colombo 50: Belgrade leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Belgrade 45, Colombo 35: Belgrade leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Belgrade 55, Colombo 35: Belgrade leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Belgrade 42, Colombo 45: Colombo leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Belgrade 70, Colombo 78: Colombo leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Belgrade 55, Colombo 30: Belgrade leads by 25 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Belgrade 30, Colombo 48: Colombo leads by 18 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Belgrade
Best match
53match

Wins on nightlife and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Colombo
46match

Wins on wellness and beaches with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Belgrade in July

29 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
67 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 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
BelgradeColombo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Belgrade: 1991-2020 normals, Beograd (2.1 km from centre). Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBelgradeColombo
Official languageSerbianTamil, Sinhala
CurrencySerbian Dinar (RSD)Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzGM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+5:30
Emergency numberPolice 92/192, ambulance 94/194, fire 93/193Police 119, ambulance 110, fire 110
Elevation117 m1 m
Main airportBelgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (BEG)12 km from centre125 non-stop destinationsBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days-

By the numbers

MeasureBelgradeColombo
City population1,197,714647,557
People per km²3,32717,361
Museums within 10 km6510
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Belgrade 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.