VacationSelector
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags

Photos: Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License; Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Colombo 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 Colombo for

  • beaches
  • families
  • food and drink

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

Choose Kathmandu for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • culture and sights
  • 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. Colombo 55, Kathmandu 4: Colombo leads by 51 points.
Food & drink. Colombo 66, Kathmandu 55: Colombo leads by 11 points.
Culture & sights. Colombo 45, Kathmandu 82: Kathmandu leads by 37 points.
Nightlife. Colombo 35, Kathmandu 36: Kathmandu leads by 1 points.
Nature & outdoors. Colombo 32, Kathmandu 70: Kathmandu leads by 38 points.
Day trips. Colombo 50, Kathmandu 56: Kathmandu leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Colombo 35, Kathmandu 20: Colombo leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Colombo 35, Kathmandu 25: Colombo leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Colombo 45, Kathmandu 55: Kathmandu leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Colombo 78, Kathmandu 97: Kathmandu leads by 19 points.
Live music & performing arts. Colombo 30, Kathmandu 28: Colombo leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Colombo 48, Kathmandu 45: Colombo leads by 3 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Colombo and Kathmandu.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Colombo
46match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Kathmandu
48match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and culture and sights 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

Kathmandu in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
384 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ColomboKathmandu

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre). Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureColomboKathmandu
Official languageTamil, SinhalaNepali
CurrencySri Lanka Rupee (LKR)Nepalese Rupee (NPR)
SocketsGM230 V, 50 HzCM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC+5:45
Emergency numberPolice 119, ambulance 110, fire 110Police 100, ambulance 102, fire 101
Elevation1 m1,300 m
Main airportBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureColomboKathmandu
City population647,557845,767
People per km²17,36117,121
Museums within 10 km109
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months-

Where else could you go?

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