VacationSelector
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower
The Burj Al Arab, Dubai
DubaiThe Burj Al Arab

Photos: Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License; Dubai by Aleksandar Pasaric, Pexels License.

Colombo or Dubai?

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 Colombo for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Dubai for

  • families
  • shopping
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Dubai’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. Colombo 55, Dubai 80: Dubai leads by 25 points.
Food & drink. Colombo 66, Dubai 76: Dubai leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Colombo 45, Dubai 40: Colombo leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Colombo 35, Dubai 62: Dubai leads by 27 points.
Nature & outdoors. Colombo 32, Dubai 25: Colombo leads by 7 points.
Day trips. Colombo 50, Dubai 45: Colombo leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Colombo 35, Dubai 82: Dubai leads by 47 points.
Getting around. Colombo 35, Dubai 42: Dubai leads by 7 points.
Shopping & style. Colombo 45, Dubai 82: Dubai leads by 37 points.
Affordability. Colombo 78, Dubai 32: Colombo leads by 46 points.
Live music & performing arts. Colombo 30, Dubai 40: Dubai leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Colombo 48, Dubai 46: Colombo leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Colombo and Dubai.

Your match

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

Colombo
46match

Wins on prices and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Dubai
Best match
54match

Wins on families and shopping with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

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

Dubai in July

42 °Cdaytime high
33 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
33 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ColomboDubai

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre). Dubai: 1991-2020 normals, Dubai International Airport (3.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureColomboDubai
Official languageTamil, SinhalaArabic
CurrencySri Lanka Rupee (LKR)UAE Dirham (AED)
SocketsGM230 V, 50 HzCG220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC+4
Emergency numberPolice 119, ambulance 110, fire 110112
Elevation1 m0 m
Main airportBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsDubai International Airport (DXB)7 km from centre294 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureColomboDubai
City population647,5573,944,751
People per km²17,361-
Museums within 10 km1014
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Colombo or Dubai 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). 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.