VacationSelector
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags
The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Muscat
MuscatThe Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

Photos: Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Muscat by Alli Khalil, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Kathmandu or Muscat?

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 Kathmandu for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • nightlife

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

Choose Muscat for

  • beaches
  • families
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Muscat’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. Kathmandu 4, Muscat 72: Muscat leads by 68 points.
Food & drink. Kathmandu 55, Muscat 44: Kathmandu leads by 11 points.
Culture & sights. Kathmandu 82, Muscat 55: Kathmandu leads by 27 points.
Nightlife. Kathmandu 36, Muscat 14: Kathmandu leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu and Muscat are level on 70.
Day trips. Kathmandu 56, Muscat 62: Muscat leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Kathmandu 20, Muscat 52: Muscat leads by 32 points.
Getting around. Kathmandu 25, Muscat 20: Kathmandu leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Kathmandu 55, Muscat 42: Kathmandu leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Kathmandu 97, Muscat 45: Kathmandu leads by 52 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kathmandu 28, Muscat 40: Muscat leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu 45, Muscat 55: Muscat leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Kathmandu and Muscat.

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

Kathmandu
48match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Muscat
48match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

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

Muscat in July

33 °Cdaytime high
30 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
31 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
KathmanduMuscat

Where the figures come from

Muscat's sunshine is measured 32 km from the centre, at Seeb, International Airport.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). Muscat: 1991-2020 normals, Qaboos Port (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduMuscat
Official languageNepaliArabic
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)Rial Omani (OMR)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzCG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:45UTC+4
Emergency numberPolice 100, ambulance 102, fire 101968
Elevation1,300 m69 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsMuscat International Airport (MCT)31 km from centre83 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduMuscat
City population845,7671,421,409
People per km²17,121406
Museums within 10 km910
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

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

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. 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. 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. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.