VacationSelector
The Dutch Reformed Church in Galle Fort, Galle
GalleThe Dutch Reformed Church in Galle Fort
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags

Photos: Galle by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Galle or Kathmandu?

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 Galle for

  • beaches
  • wellness
  • families

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

Choose Kathmandu for

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Kathmandu’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. Galle 80, Kathmandu 4: Galle leads by 76 points.
Food & drink. Galle 50, Kathmandu 55: Kathmandu leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Galle 55, Kathmandu 82: Kathmandu leads by 27 points.
Nightlife. Galle 18, Kathmandu 36: Kathmandu leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Galle 66, Kathmandu 70: Kathmandu leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Galle 50, Kathmandu 56: Kathmandu leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Galle 42, Kathmandu 20: Galle leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Galle 35, Kathmandu 25: Galle leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Galle 33, Kathmandu 55: Kathmandu leads by 22 points.
Affordability. Galle 72, Kathmandu 97: Kathmandu leads by 25 points.
Live music & performing arts. Galle 10, Kathmandu 28: Kathmandu leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Galle 70, Kathmandu 45: Galle leads by 25 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Galle and Kathmandu.

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

Galle
48match

Wins on beaches and wellness with your weighting.

Kathmandu
48match

Wins on culture and sights and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Galle in July

28 °Cdaytime high
27 °Cnight-time low
116 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
28 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Kathmandu in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
384 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
GalleKathmandu

Where the figures come from

Galle has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Galle: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGalleKathmandu
Official languageTamil, SinhalaNepali
CurrencySri Lanka Rupee (LKR)Nepalese Rupee (NPR)
SocketsGM230 V, 50 HzCM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC+5:45
Emergency numberPolice 119, ambulance 110, fire 110Police 100, ambulance 102, fire 101
Elevation0 m1,300 m
Main airportBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)133 km from centre56 non-stop destinationsTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureGalleKathmandu
City population93,118845,767
People per km²-17,121
Museums within 10 km29
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
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 Galle or Kathmandu somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. 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. Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.