VacationSelector
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower
Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas, Maastricht
MaastrichtSint Servaasbrug over the Maas

Photos: Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License; Maastricht by Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Colombo or Maastricht?

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
  • prices
  • food and drink

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

Choose Maastricht for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Maastricht’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, Maastricht 8: Colombo leads by 47 points.
Food & drink. Colombo 66, Maastricht 58: Colombo leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Colombo 45, Maastricht 60: Maastricht leads by 15 points.
Nightlife. Colombo 35, Maastricht 42: Maastricht leads by 7 points.
Nature & outdoors. Colombo 32, Maastricht 58: Maastricht leads by 26 points.
Day trips. Colombo 50, Maastricht 77: Maastricht leads by 27 points.
Good for families. Colombo 35, Maastricht 55: Maastricht leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Colombo 35, Maastricht 74: Maastricht leads by 39 points.
Shopping & style. Colombo 45, Maastricht 60: Maastricht leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Colombo 78, Maastricht 38: Colombo leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Colombo 30, Maastricht 40: Maastricht leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Colombo 48, Maastricht 52: Maastricht leads by 4 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Colombo and Maastricht.

Your match

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

Colombo
46match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

Maastricht
Best match
52match

Wins on getting around and day trips 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

Maastricht in July

24 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
73 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ColomboMaastricht

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre). Maastricht: 1991-2020 normals, Maastricht Airport Zuid Limburg (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureColomboMaastricht
Official languageTamil, SinhalaDutch
CurrencySri Lanka Rupee (LKR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsGM230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 119, ambulance 110, fire 110112
Elevation1 m49 m
Main airportBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsMaastricht Aachen Airport (MST)9 km from centre5 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureColomboMaastricht
City population647,557120,227
People per km²17,3612,000
Museums within 10 km1021
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km05
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 Maastricht 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.