Photos: Galle by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped; San Sebastian by Guérin Nicolas, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.
Galle or San Sebastian?
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 San Sebastian for
- getting around
- food and drink
- live music and the arts
What lies behind each score is written up on San Sebastian’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 San Sebastian.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.
Wins on getting around and food and drink 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
San Sebastian 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.
San Sebastian's station stands 252 m above the city centre, so the centre is likely a little warmer than the figures say.
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. San Sebastian: 1991-2020 normals, San Sebastian / Igueldo (6.1 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Galle | San Sebastian |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Tamil, Sinhala | Spanish |
| Currency | Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR) | Euro (EUR) |
| Sockets | GM230 V, 50 Hz | CF230 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Left | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 | UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer |
| Emergency number | Police 119, ambulance 110, fire 110 | 112 |
| Elevation | 0 m | 6 m |
| Main airport | Bandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)133 km from centre56 non-stop destinations | San Sebastián Airport (EAS)16 km from centre11 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | - | 13 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Galle | San Sebastian |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 93,118 | 189,866 |
| People per km² | - | 3,118 |
| Museums within 10 km | 2 | 14 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 2 | 3 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | 2 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Galle or San Sebastian somewhere new.