VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Chiang Mai 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 Chiang Mai for

  • wellness
  • families
  • food and drink

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

Choose Kathmandu for

  • culture and sights
  • day trips
  • prices

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. Chiang Mai 6, Kathmandu 4: Chiang Mai leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Kathmandu 55: Chiang Mai leads by 23 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Kathmandu 82: Kathmandu leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai 45, Kathmandu 36: Chiang Mai leads by 9 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Kathmandu 70: Chiang Mai leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Kathmandu 56: Kathmandu leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Kathmandu 20: Chiang Mai leads by 35 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Kathmandu 25: Chiang Mai leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai 62, Kathmandu 55: Chiang Mai leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Kathmandu 97: Kathmandu leads by 7 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Kathmandu 28: Chiang Mai leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Kathmandu 45: Chiang Mai leads by 37 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Kathmandu.

Your match

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

Chiang Mai
Best match
56match

Wins on wellness and families with your weighting.

Kathmandu
48match

Wins on culture and sights and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Chiang Mai in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
153 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Kathmandu in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
384 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Chiang MaiKathmandu

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiKathmandu
Official languageThaiNepali
CurrencyBaht (THB)Nepalese Rupee (NPR)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzCM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+5:45
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199Police 100, ambulance 102, fire 101
Elevation310 m1,300 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiKathmandu
City population1,198,000845,767
People per km²2,95817,121
Museums within 10 km69
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chiang Mai 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). 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.