VacationSelector
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags
Santo Domingo church behind agaves, Oaxaca
OaxacaSanto Domingo church behind agaves

Photos: Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Oaxaca by Öskr Rck, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Kathmandu or Oaxaca?

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
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Oaxaca for

  • getting around
  • food and drink
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Oaxaca’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, Oaxaca 5: Oaxaca leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Kathmandu 55, Oaxaca 84: Oaxaca leads by 29 points.
Culture & sights. Kathmandu 82, Oaxaca 74: Kathmandu leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Kathmandu 36, Oaxaca 40: Oaxaca leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu 70, Oaxaca 62: Kathmandu leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Kathmandu 56, Oaxaca 65: Oaxaca leads by 9 points.
Good for families. Kathmandu 20, Oaxaca 40: Oaxaca leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Kathmandu 25, Oaxaca 55: Oaxaca leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Kathmandu 55, Oaxaca 62: Oaxaca leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Kathmandu 97, Oaxaca 77: Kathmandu leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kathmandu 28, Oaxaca 38: Oaxaca leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu 45, Oaxaca 50: Oaxaca leads by 5 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Kathmandu
48match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Oaxaca
Best match
54match

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.

Kathmandu in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
384 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Oaxaca in July

28 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
80 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
KathmanduOaxaca

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). Oaxaca: 1961-1990 normals, Oaxaca, Oax. (1.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduOaxaca
Official languageNepaliSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:45UTC-6
Emergency numberPolice 100, ambulance 102, fire 101911
Elevation1,300 m1,555 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsXoxocotlán International Airport (OAX)7 km from centre14 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-9 days

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduOaxaca
City population845,767258,913
People per km²17,1213,028
Museums within 10 km910
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Kathmandu or Oaxaca 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

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.