VacationSelector
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower
The Colosseum, Rome
RomeThe Colosseum

Photos: Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License; Rome by Tournasol7, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Colombo or Rome?

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 Rome for

  • culture and sights
  • day trips
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Rome’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, Rome 50: Colombo leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Colombo 66, Rome 82: Rome leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Colombo 45, Rome 99: Rome leads by 54 points.
Nightlife. Colombo 35, Rome 58: Rome leads by 23 points.
Nature & outdoors. Colombo 32, Rome 58: Rome leads by 26 points.
Day trips. Colombo 50, Rome 92: Rome leads by 42 points.
Good for families. Colombo 35, Rome 50: Rome leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Colombo 35, Rome 60: Rome leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. Colombo 45, Rome 72: Rome leads by 27 points.
Affordability. Colombo 78, Rome 38: Colombo leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Colombo 30, Rome 68: Rome leads by 38 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Colombo 48, Rome 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 Rome.

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.

Rome
Best match
64match

Wins on culture and sights 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

Rome in July

31 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
21 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ColomboRome

Where the figures come from

Rome's sunshine is measured 31 km from the centre, at Vigna Di Valle.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre). Rome: 1991-2020 normals, Roma / Ciampino (15.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureColomboRome
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 m21 m
Main airportBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsRome–Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO)23 km from centre242 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureColomboRome
City population647,5572,748,109
People per km²17,3612,135
Museums within 10 km10178
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km07
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months5 months

Where else could you go?

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