Photos: Galle by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Panama City by Ayaita, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.
Galle or Panama City?
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 Panama City for
- nightlife
- live music and the arts
- shopping
What lies behind each score is written up on Panama City’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Galle and Panama City.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Too close to call, 2 points apart
Wins on wellness and beaches with your weighting.
Wins on nightlife and live music and the arts 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
Panama City in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
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.
Panama City has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
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. Panama City: 1991-2020 normals, Tocumen (20.4 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Galle | Panama City |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Tamil, Sinhala | Spanish |
| Currency | Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR) | Balboa (PAB) |
| Sockets | GM230 V, 50 Hz | AB110 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Left | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 | UTC-5 |
| Emergency number | Police 119, ambulance 110, fire 110 | 911 |
| Elevation | 0 m | 20 m |
| Main airport | Bandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)133 km from centre56 non-stop destinations | Tocumen International Airport (PTY)20 km from centre92 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | - | 14 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Galle | Panama City |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 93,118 | 1,540,000 |
| People per km² | - | 5,600 |
| Museums within 10 km | 2 | 10 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 2 | 2 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Galle or Panama City somewhere new.