VacationSelector
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower
The Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig, Manila
ManilaThe Manila Central Post Office on the Pasig

Photos: Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License; Manila by Kenneth Surillo, Pexels License.

Colombo or Manila?

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
  • getting around
  • day trips

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

Choose Manila for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Manila’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, Manila 12: Colombo leads by 43 points.
Food & drink. Colombo 66, Manila 64: Colombo leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Colombo 45, Manila 54: Manila leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Colombo 35, Manila 64: Manila leads by 29 points.
Nature & outdoors. Colombo 32, Manila 40: Manila leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Colombo 50, Manila 42: Colombo leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Colombo 35, Manila 42: Manila leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Colombo 35, Manila 26: Colombo leads by 9 points.
Shopping & style. Colombo 45, Manila 60: Manila leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Colombo 78, Manila 77: Colombo leads by 1 points.
Live music & performing arts. Colombo 30, Manila 50: Manila leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Colombo 48, Manila 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 Manila.

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 getting around with your weighting.

Manila
48match

Wins on nightlife and live music and the arts 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

Manila in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
487 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600JFMAMJJASOND
ColomboManila

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre). Manila: 1991-2020 normals, Science Garden (6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureColomboManila
Official languageTamil, SinhalaEnglish, Filipino, Taglish
CurrencySri Lanka Rupee (LKR)Philippine Peso (PHP)
SocketsGM230 V, 50 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 119, ambulance 110, fire 110911
Elevation1 m9 m
Main airportBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsNinoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)11 km from centre90 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-18 days

By the numbers

MeasureColomboManila
City population647,5571,902,590
People per km²17,36176,104
Museums within 10 km1027
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
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 Manila 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.