Photos: Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License; Key West by Dominik Gryzbon, Pexels License.
Colombo or Key West?
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
- day trips
- food and drink
What lies behind each score is written up on Colombo’s own page.
Choose Key West for
- nature and the outdoors
- nightlife
- getting around
What lies behind each score is written up on Key West’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Colombo and Key West.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Too close to call, 2 points apart
Wins on prices and day trips with your weighting.
Wins on nature and the outdoors and nightlife 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
Key West in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Key West's temperatures are measured 69 km from the centre, at Key West Airport.
Key West has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre). Key West: 1991-2020 normals, Key West Airport (69.1 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Colombo | Key West |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Tamil, Sinhala | - |
| Currency | Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR) | US Dollar (USD) |
| Sockets | GM230 V, 50 Hz | AB120 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Left | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 | UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer |
| Emergency number | Police 119, ambulance 110, fire 110 | 911 |
| Elevation | 1 m | 4 m |
| Main airport | Bandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinations | Key West International Airport (EYW)2 km from centre24 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | - | 11 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Colombo | Key West |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 647,557 | 26,444 |
| People per km² | 17,361 | 1,407 |
| Museums within 10 km | 10 | 7 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Colombo or Key West somewhere new.