VacationSelector
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Colombo or Philadelphia?

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
  • wellness
  • beaches

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • live music and the arts
  • families
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’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, Philadelphia 36: Colombo leads by 19 points.
Food & drink. Colombo 66, Philadelphia 62: Colombo leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Colombo 45, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 27 points.
Nightlife. Colombo 35, Philadelphia 55: Philadelphia leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Colombo 32, Philadelphia 52: Philadelphia leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Colombo 50, Philadelphia 80: Philadelphia leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Colombo 35, Philadelphia 68: Philadelphia leads by 33 points.
Getting around. Colombo 35, Philadelphia 66: Philadelphia leads by 31 points.
Shopping & style. Colombo 45, Philadelphia 57: Philadelphia leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Colombo 78, Philadelphia 40: Colombo leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Colombo 30, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 42 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Colombo 48, Philadelphia 26: Colombo leads by 22 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Colombo
46match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

Philadelphia
Best match
57match

Wins on live music and the arts and families 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

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ColomboPhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureColomboPhiladelphia
Official languageTamil, Sinhala-
CurrencySri Lanka Rupee (LKR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsGM230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 119, ambulance 110, fire 110911
Elevation1 m12 m
Main airportBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-12 days

By the numbers

MeasureColomboPhiladelphia
City population647,5571,603,797
People per km²17,3614,339
Museums within 10 km1054
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 Philadelphia 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.