VacationSelector
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower
The cathedral and the Leaning Tower, Pisa
PisaThe cathedral and the Leaning Tower

Photos: Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License; Pisa by Bruno Kraler, Pexels License.

Colombo or Pisa?

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
  • food and drink
  • shopping

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

Choose Pisa for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Pisa’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, Pisa 58: Pisa leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Colombo 66, Pisa 55: Colombo leads by 11 points.
Culture & sights. Colombo 45, Pisa 68: Pisa leads by 23 points.
Nightlife. Colombo 35, Pisa 40: Pisa leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Colombo 32, Pisa 62: Pisa leads by 30 points.
Day trips. Colombo 50, Pisa 92: Pisa leads by 42 points.
Good for families. Colombo 35, Pisa 52: Pisa leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Colombo 35, Pisa 76: Pisa leads by 41 points.
Shopping & style. Colombo 45, Pisa 38: Colombo leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Colombo 78, Pisa 55: Colombo leads by 23 points.
Live music & performing arts. Colombo 30, Pisa 38: Pisa leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Colombo 48, Pisa 45: Colombo leads by 3 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Colombo and Pisa.

Your match

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

Colombo
46match

Wins on prices and food and drink with your weighting.

Pisa
Best match
57match

Wins on day trips and getting around 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

Pisa in July

30 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
32 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
24 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ColomboPisa

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

Before you go

MeasureColomboPisa
Official languageTamil, SinhalaItalian
CurrencySri Lanka Rupee (LKR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsGM230 V, 50 HzCFL230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 119, ambulance 110, fire 110112
Elevation1 m4 m
Main airportBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsPisa International Airport (PSA)4 km from centre82 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureColomboPisa
City population647,55788,737
People per km²17,361479
Museums within 10 km1027
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km03
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months4 months

Where else could you go?

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