VacationSelector
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower
The Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta
JakartaThe Istiqlal Mosque

Photos: Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License; Jakarta by Antonyus Bunjamin, Pexels License.

Colombo or Jakarta?

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

  • beaches
  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Jakarta for

  • nightlife
  • shopping
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Jakarta’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, Jakarta 28: Colombo leads by 27 points.
Food & drink. Colombo 66, Jakarta 78: Jakarta leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Colombo 45, Jakarta 48: Jakarta leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. Colombo 35, Jakarta 66: Jakarta leads by 31 points.
Nature & outdoors. Colombo 32, Jakarta 30: Colombo leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Colombo 50, Jakarta 45: Colombo leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Colombo 35, Jakarta 50: Jakarta leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Colombo 35, Jakarta 36: Jakarta leads by 1 points.
Shopping & style. Colombo 45, Jakarta 64: Jakarta leads by 19 points.
Affordability. Colombo 78, Jakarta 80: Jakarta leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Colombo 30, Jakarta 42: Jakarta leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Colombo 48, Jakarta 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 Jakarta.

Your match

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

Colombo
46match

Wins on beaches and day trips with your weighting.

Jakarta
Best match
51match

Wins on nightlife 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

Jakarta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
85 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ColomboJakarta

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre). Jakarta: 1991-2020 normals, Jakarta / Observatory (1.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureColomboJakarta
Official languageTamil, SinhalaIndonesian
CurrencySri Lanka Rupee (LKR)Rupiah (IDR)
SocketsGM230 V, 50 HzCF50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC+7
Emergency numberPolice 119, ambulance 110, fire 110112
Elevation1 m91 m
Main airportBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsSoekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK)20 km from centre89 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureColomboJakarta
City population647,55711,135,191
People per km²17,36116,821
Museums within 10 km1044
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 Jakarta 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. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.