VacationSelector
The Guggenheim Museum on the river, Bilbao
BilbaoThe Guggenheim Museum on the river
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower

Photos: Bilbao by José Ligero Loarte, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License.

Bilbao 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 Bilbao for

  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors
  • day trips

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

Choose Colombo for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • beaches

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. Bilbao 45, Colombo 55: Colombo leads by 10 points.
Food & drink. Bilbao 81, Colombo 66: Bilbao leads by 15 points.
Culture & sights. Bilbao 62, Colombo 45: Bilbao leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Bilbao 54, Colombo 35: Bilbao leads by 19 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bilbao 75, Colombo 32: Bilbao leads by 43 points.
Day trips. Bilbao 78, Colombo 50: Bilbao leads by 28 points.
Good for families. Bilbao 55, Colombo 35: Bilbao leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Bilbao 79, Colombo 35: Bilbao leads by 44 points.
Shopping & style. Bilbao 47, Colombo 45: Bilbao leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Bilbao 44, Colombo 78: Colombo leads by 34 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bilbao 53, Colombo 30: Bilbao leads by 23 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bilbao 33, Colombo 48: Colombo leads by 15 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Bilbao
Best match
59match

Wins on getting around and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Colombo
46match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Bilbao in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
54 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
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
BilbaoColombo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bilbao: 1991-2020 normals, Bilbao / Sondica (4.1 km from centre). Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBilbaoColombo
Official languageSpanishTamil, Sinhala
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzGM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+5:30
Emergency number112Police 119, ambulance 110, fire 110
Elevation19 m1 m
Main airportBilbao Airport (BIO)5 km from centre73 non-stop destinationsBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days-

By the numbers

MeasureBilbaoColombo
City population351,124647,557
People per km²8,44017,361
Museums within 10 km1710
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20
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 Bilbao 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). 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.