VacationSelector
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower
The Hofburg and Heldenplatz, Vienna
ViennaThe Hofburg and Heldenplatz

Photos: Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License; Vienna by C.Stadler/Bwag, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT, cropped.

Colombo or Vienna?

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

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

Choose Vienna for

  • live music and the arts
  • getting around
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Vienna’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, Vienna 27: Colombo leads by 28 points.
Food & drink. Colombo 66, Vienna 68: Vienna leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Colombo 45, Vienna 89: Vienna leads by 44 points.
Nightlife. Colombo 35, Vienna 50: Vienna leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Colombo 32, Vienna 62: Vienna leads by 30 points.
Day trips. Colombo 50, Vienna 74: Vienna leads by 24 points.
Good for families. Colombo 35, Vienna 77: Vienna leads by 42 points.
Getting around. Colombo 35, Vienna 90: Vienna leads by 55 points.
Shopping & style. Colombo 45, Vienna 62: Vienna leads by 17 points.
Affordability. Colombo 78, Vienna 44: Colombo leads by 34 points.
Live music & performing arts. Colombo 30, Vienna 96: Vienna leads by 66 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Colombo 48, Vienna 58: Vienna leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Colombo and Vienna.

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.

Vienna
Best match
66match

Wins on live music and the arts 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

Vienna in July

27 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
78 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ColomboVienna

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre). Vienna: 1991-2020 normals, Wien / Hohe Warte (4.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureColomboVienna
Official languageTamil, SinhalaGerman, Austrian Sign Language
CurrencySri Lanka Rupee (LKR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsGM230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 119, ambulance 110, fire 110112
Elevation1 m151 m
Main airportBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsVienna International Airport (VIE)18 km from centre202 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-16 days

By the numbers

MeasureColomboVienna
City population647,5572,028,289
People per km²17,3614,890
Museums within 10 km10152
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km03
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 Vienna 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.