VacationSelector
Yellow colonial houses in the walled city, Cartagena
CartagenaYellow colonial houses in the walled city
Tempio Voltiano on the lakeshore, Como
ComoTempio Voltiano on the lakeshore

Photos: Cartagena by Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Como by Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Cartagena or Como?

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 Cartagena for

  • nightlife
  • beaches
  • prices

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

Choose Como for

  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Como’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. Cartagena 70, Como 36: Cartagena leads by 34 points.
Food & drink. Cartagena 62, Como 45: Cartagena leads by 17 points.
Culture & sights. Cartagena 68, Como 52: Cartagena leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Cartagena 70, Como 22: Cartagena leads by 48 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cartagena 46, Como 82: Como leads by 36 points.
Day trips. Cartagena 33, Como 87: Como leads by 54 points.
Good for families. Cartagena 40, Como 47: Como leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Cartagena 54, Como 66: Como leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Cartagena 48, Como 42: Cartagena leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Cartagena 60, Como 30: Cartagena leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cartagena 40, Como 34: Cartagena leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cartagena 40, Como 44: Como leads by 4 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cartagena and Como.

Your match

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

Cartagena
Best match
53match

Wins on nightlife and beaches with your weighting.

Como
49match

Wins on day trips and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Cartagena in July

31 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
124 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
30 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Como in July

27 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
158 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
CartagenaComo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cartagena: 1991-2020 normals, Cartagena / Rafael Nunez (3.1 km from centre). Como: 1991-2020 normals, Lugano (23 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCartagenaComo
Official languageSpanishItalian
CurrencyColombian Peso (COP)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB110 V, 60 HzCFL230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number123112
Elevation2 m201 m
Main airportRafael Nuñez International Airport (CTG)2 km from centre26 non-stop destinationsMilan Malpensa International Airport (MXP)34 km from centre208 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year19 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureCartagenaComo
City population914,55283,184
People per km²1,5992,242
Museums within 10 km211
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km18
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cartagena or Como 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). 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.