VacationSelector
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower
Gastown, Vancouver
VancouverGastown

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

Colombo or Vancouver?

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
  • beaches
  • day trips

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

Choose Vancouver for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Vancouver’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, Vancouver 42: Colombo leads by 13 points.
Food & drink. Colombo 66, Vancouver 72: Vancouver leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Colombo 45, Vancouver 42: Colombo leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. Colombo 35, Vancouver 42: Vancouver leads by 7 points.
Nature & outdoors. Colombo 32, Vancouver 97: Vancouver leads by 65 points.
Day trips. Colombo 50, Vancouver 45: Colombo leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Colombo 35, Vancouver 72: Vancouver leads by 37 points.
Getting around. Colombo 35, Vancouver 73: Vancouver leads by 38 points.
Shopping & style. Colombo 45, Vancouver 55: Vancouver leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Colombo 78, Vancouver 27: Colombo leads by 51 points.
Live music & performing arts. Colombo 30, Vancouver 52: Vancouver leads by 22 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Colombo 48, Vancouver 50: Vancouver leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Colombo and Vancouver.

Your match

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

Colombo
46match

Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.

Vancouver
Best match
56match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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

Vancouver in July

23 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
42 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
16 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ColomboVancouver

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre). Vancouver: 1991-2020 normals, Vancouver Harbour CS (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureColomboVancouver
Official languageTamil, SinhalaFrench, English
CurrencySri Lanka Rupee (LKR)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsGM230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 119, ambulance 110, fire 110911
Elevation1 m2 m
Main airportBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsVancouver International Airport (YVR)9 km from centre109 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureColomboVancouver
City population647,557662,248
People per km²17,3615,759
Museums within 10 km1026
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

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