VacationSelector
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower
The Grand Lisboa above the Macau skyline, Macau
MacauThe Grand Lisboa above the Macau skyline

Photos: Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License; Macau by tian Jin, Pexels License.

Colombo or Macau?

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
  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Macau for

  • getting around
  • culture and sights
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Macau’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, Macau 24: Colombo leads by 31 points.
Food & drink. Colombo 66, Macau 77: Macau leads by 11 points.
Culture & sights. Colombo 45, Macau 62: Macau leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Colombo 35, Macau 40: Macau leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Colombo 32, Macau 5: Colombo leads by 27 points.
Day trips. Colombo 50, Macau 52: Macau leads by 2 points.
Good for families. Colombo 35, Macau 48: Macau leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Colombo 35, Macau 60: Macau leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. Colombo 45, Macau 58: Macau leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Colombo 78, Macau 44: Colombo leads by 34 points.
Live music & performing arts. Colombo 30, Macau 36: Macau leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Colombo 48, Macau 40: Colombo leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Colombo and Macau.

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Colombo
46match

Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.

Macau
46match

Wins on getting around 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

Macau in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
281 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ColomboMacau

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre). Macau: 1991-2020 normals, Taipa (3.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureColomboMacau
Official languageTamil, SinhalaPortuguese, Cantonese, Standard Chinese
CurrencySri Lanka Rupee (LKR)Pataca (MOP)
SocketsGM230 V, 50 HzFGM220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 119, ambulance 110, fire 110999
Elevation1 m22 m
Main airportBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsMacau International Airport (MFM)7 km from centre41 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureColomboMacau
City population647,557682,100
People per km²17,3615,916
Museums within 10 km1028
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months8 months

Where else could you go?

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