VacationSelector
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower
The Japanese Covered Bridge, Hoi An
Hoi AnThe Japanese Covered Bridge

Photos: Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License; Hoi An by François Guerraz, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Colombo or Hoi An?

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

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Hoi An for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Hoi An’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, Hoi An 72: Hoi An leads by 17 points.
Food & drink. Colombo 66, Hoi An 68: Hoi An leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Colombo 45, Hoi An 66: Hoi An leads by 21 points.
Nightlife. Colombo 35, Hoi An 28: Colombo leads by 7 points.
Nature & outdoors. Colombo 32, Hoi An 63: Hoi An leads by 31 points.
Day trips. Colombo and Hoi An are level on 50.
Good for families. Colombo 35, Hoi An 58: Hoi An leads by 23 points.
Getting around. Colombo 35, Hoi An 48: Hoi An leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. Colombo 45, Hoi An 57: Hoi An leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Colombo 78, Hoi An 88: Hoi An leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Colombo 30, Hoi An 24: Colombo leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Colombo 48, Hoi An 65: Hoi An leads by 17 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Colombo and Hoi An.

Your match

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

Colombo
46match

Wins on nightlife and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Hoi An
Best match
57match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and families 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

Hoi An in July

35 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
83 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600800JFMAMJJASOND
ColomboHoi An

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre). Hoi An: 1991-2020 normals, Da Nang (23.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureColomboHoi An
Official languageTamil, SinhalaVietnamese
CurrencySri Lanka Rupee (LKR)Dong (VND)
SocketsGM230 V, 50 HzACFG220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC+7
Emergency numberPolice 119, ambulance 110, fire 110Police 113, ambulance 115, fire 114
Elevation1 m13 m
Main airportBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsDa Nang International Airport (DAD)23 km from centre47 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureColomboHoi An
City population647,557121,716
People per km²17,361-
Museums within 10 km105
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02
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 Hoi An 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.