VacationSelector

Kathmandu or Lima?

Two destinations compared in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities. Weight what matters to you and the verdict follows.

Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
Kathmandu

Photo: Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped

The fountain on Plaza Mayor, Lima
Lima

Photo: James C., CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped

Your match

Kathmandu
48
match

Wins on prices and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Lima
✓ Best match
51
match

Wins on beaches and food and drink with your weighting.

What matters to you?

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders. The match scores above update as you do.

Scoreboard

Our verdict on each category, scored 0 to 100 against fixed benchmark cities.

KathmanduLima
Beaches & swimming. Lima leads by 38 points.38
Food & drink. Lima leads by 33 points.33
Culture & sights. Kathmandu leads by 16 points.16
Nightlife. Lima leads by 26 points.26
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu leads by 25 points.25
Day trips. Kathmandu leads by 22 points.22
Good for families. Lima leads by 22 points.22
Getting around. Lima leads by 10 points.10
Shopping & style. Kathmandu leads by 3 points.3
Affordability. Kathmandu leads by 27 points.27
Live music & performing arts. Lima leads by 25 points.25
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu leads by 20 points.20
0255075100

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

When should you go?

Pick the month you can travel and see both cities side by side. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Climate figures for July
JulyKathmanduLima
Daytime high29 °C19 °C
Night-time low20 °C16 °C
Rainfall in the month384 mm1 mm
Sunshine4 hours a day1 hours a day
Sea temperatureNo sea18 °C
Daylight14 hours a day12 hours a day

The whole year

Each row is shaded against that destination’s own year, so the deepest cell is its best month for that figure and the palest its weakest. Shades are not comparable between the two rows.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Daytime high, °C
Kathmandu
19
22
26
29
29
29
29
29
28
27
23
20
Lima
26
27
27
25
22
20
19
19
19
20
22
24
Sea temperature, °C
Kathmandu
No coastline within reach
Lima
21
22
21
20
19
18
18
17
17
17
18
19
Rainfall, mm
Kathmandu
16
23
37
57
113
260
384
317
211
48
7
10
Lima
1
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
Daylight, hours per day
Kathmandu
11
11
12
13
14
14
14
13
12
12
11
10
Lima
13
13
12
12
12
11
12
12
12
12
13
13
Sunshine, hours per day
Kathmandu
6
6
7
7
7
5
4
4
5
7
7
7
Lima
5
5
6
6
3
1
1
1
1
2
3
4

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). Lima: 1991-2020 normals, Lima-Callao / Aerop. Internacional Jorgechavez (10.9 km from centre).

WorseBetter

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduLima
Official languageNepaliSpanish, Aymara, Quechua
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)Sol (PEN)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:45UTC-5
Emergency numberPolice 100, ambulance 102, fire 101111 or 911
Elevation1,300 m154 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsJorge Chávez International Airport (LIM)9 km from centre61 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-14 days

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduLima
City population845,7679,943,800
People per km²17,1213,721
Museums within 10 km946
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12
Swim season, months above 21 °C-2 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Kathmandu or Lima somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Typical fares from Travelpayouts (Aviasales data). Route-level air passenger statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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 and flight figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-27. Typical prices can be up to 7 days old. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.