VacationSelector
The Three Graces fountain, Place de la Bourse, Bordeaux
BordeauxThe Three Graces fountain, Place de la Bourse
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower

Photos: Bordeaux by Gzen92, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License.

Bordeaux 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 Bordeaux for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Bordeaux’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. Bordeaux 50, Colombo 55: Colombo leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Bordeaux 78, Colombo 66: Bordeaux leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Bordeaux 68, Colombo 45: Bordeaux leads by 23 points.
Nightlife. Bordeaux 50, Colombo 35: Bordeaux leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bordeaux 58, Colombo 32: Bordeaux leads by 26 points.
Day trips. Bordeaux 78, Colombo 50: Bordeaux leads by 28 points.
Good for families. Bordeaux 57, Colombo 35: Bordeaux leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Bordeaux 76, Colombo 35: Bordeaux leads by 41 points.
Shopping & style. Bordeaux 56, Colombo 45: Bordeaux leads by 11 points.
Affordability. Bordeaux 42, Colombo 78: Colombo leads by 36 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bordeaux 55, Colombo 30: Bordeaux leads by 25 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bordeaux 40, Colombo 48: Colombo leads by 8 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Bordeaux
Best match
59match

Wins on getting around and day trips 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.

Bordeaux in July

27 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
47 mmrain in the month
8 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
BordeauxColombo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bordeaux: 1991-2020 normals, Bordeaux / Merignac (9.5 km from centre). Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBordeauxColombo
Official languageFrenchTamil, Sinhala
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzGM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+5:30
Emergency number112Police 119, ambulance 110, fire 110
Elevation1 m1 m
Main airportBordeaux–Mérignac Airport (BOD)11 km from centre95 non-stop destinationsBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days-

By the numbers

MeasureBordeauxColombo
City population267,991647,557
People per km²5,42517,361
Museums within 10 km1810
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km40
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 Bordeaux 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.