VacationSelector
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Colombo or Scottsdale?

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
  • prices
  • food and drink

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Scottsdale’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, Scottsdale 8: Colombo leads by 47 points.
Food & drink. Colombo 66, Scottsdale 46: Colombo leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Colombo 45, Scottsdale 38: Colombo leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Colombo 35, Scottsdale 52: Scottsdale leads by 17 points.
Nature & outdoors. Colombo 32, Scottsdale 68: Scottsdale leads by 36 points.
Day trips. Colombo and Scottsdale are level on 50.
Good for families. Colombo 35, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 25 points.
Getting around. Colombo 35, Scottsdale 20: Colombo leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Colombo 45, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Colombo 78, Scottsdale 32: Colombo leads by 46 points.
Live music & performing arts. Colombo 30, Scottsdale 40: Scottsdale leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Colombo 48, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 24 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Colombo and Scottsdale.

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 beaches and prices with your weighting.

Scottsdale
46match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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

Scottsdale in July

41 °Cdaytime high
29 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ColomboScottsdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureColomboScottsdale
Official languageTamil, Sinhala-
CurrencySri Lanka Rupee (LKR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsGM230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC-7
Emergency numberPolice 119, ambulance 110, fire 110911
Elevation1 m380 m
Main airportBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-12 days

By the numbers

MeasureColomboScottsdale
City population647,557241,361
People per km²17,361-
Museums within 10 km1010
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 Scottsdale 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.