Photos: Hong Kong by LN9267, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Mombasa by Rob Oo, CC BY 2.0, cropped.
Hong Kong or Mombasa?
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 Hong Kong for
- getting around
- shopping
- live music and the arts
What lies behind each score is written up on Hong Kong’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: Hong Kong and Mombasa.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on getting around and shopping with your weighting.
Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Hong Kong in July
Mombasa in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Mombasa 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. Hong Kong: 1991-2020 normals, King's Park (4.4 km from centre). Mombasa: 1991-2020 normals, Mombasa (5.8 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Hong Kong | Mombasa |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Standard Chinese | English, Swahili |
| Currency | Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) | Kenyan Shilling (KES) |
| Sockets | G220 V, 50 Hz | G240 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Left | Left |
| Time zone | UTC+8 | UTC+3 |
| Emergency number | 999 | Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999 |
| Elevation | 7 m | 50 m |
| Main airport | Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)25 km from centre148 non-stop destinations | Moi International Airport (MBA)8 km from centre22 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 17 days | 10 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Hong Kong | Mombasa |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 7,413,070 | 1,208,333 |
| People per km² | - | 4,100 |
| Museums within 10 km | 39 | 0 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 2 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 8 months | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Hong Kong or Mombasa somewhere new.