VacationSelector
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower
Durban

Photos: Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License.

Colombo or Durban?

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

  • wellness
  • getting around
  • day trips

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

Choose Durban for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Durban’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, Durban 80: Durban leads by 25 points.
Food & drink. Colombo 66, Durban 60: Colombo leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Colombo 45, Durban 38: Colombo leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Colombo 35, Durban 40: Durban leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Colombo 32, Durban 68: Durban leads by 36 points.
Day trips. Colombo 50, Durban 38: Colombo leads by 12 points.
Good for families. Colombo 35, Durban 60: Durban leads by 25 points.
Getting around. Colombo 35, Durban 20: Colombo leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Colombo 45, Durban 42: Colombo leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Colombo 78, Durban 72: Colombo leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Colombo 30, Durban 40: Durban leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Colombo 48, Durban 30: Colombo leads by 18 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Colombo and Durban.

Your match

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

Colombo
46match

Wins on wellness and getting around with your weighting.

Durban
Best match
49match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and beaches 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

Durban in July

23 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
44 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
22 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ColomboDurban

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre). Durban: 1991-2020 normals, Durban, Durban International Airport (14.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureColomboDurban
Official languageTamil, SinhalaEnglish, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Venda, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Sesotho, Southern Ndebele, South African Sign Language
CurrencySri Lanka Rupee (LKR)Rand (ZAR)
SocketsGM230 V, 50 HzCMN230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC+2
Emergency numberPolice 119, ambulance 110, fire 110112
Elevation1 m22 m
Main airportBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsKing Shaka International Airport (DUR)29 km from centre13 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureColomboDurban
City population647,557595,061
People per km²17,3612,634
Museums within 10 km101
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
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 Durban 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.