VacationSelector
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags
The towers of Panama City reflected in the bay in golden light, Panama City
Panama CityThe towers of Panama City reflected in the bay in golden light

Photos: Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Panama City by Ayaita, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Kathmandu or Panama City?

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
  • wellness
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Panama City for

  • beaches
  • nightlife
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Panama City’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, Panama City 44: Panama City leads by 40 points.
Food & drink. Kathmandu 55, Panama City 57: Panama City leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Kathmandu 82, Panama City 62: Kathmandu leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Kathmandu 36, Panama City 62: Panama City leads by 26 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu 70, Panama City 74: Panama City leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Kathmandu 56, Panama City 50: Kathmandu leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Kathmandu 20, Panama City 45: Panama City leads by 25 points.
Getting around. Kathmandu 25, Panama City 40: Panama City leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Kathmandu 55, Panama City 52: Kathmandu leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Kathmandu 97, Panama City 55: Kathmandu leads by 42 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kathmandu 28, Panama City 34: Panama City leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu 45, Panama City 22: Kathmandu leads by 23 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Kathmandu and Panama City.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Kathmandu
48match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

Panama City
50match

Wins on beaches and nightlife 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

Panama City in July

31 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
161 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400500JFMAMJJASOND
KathmanduPanama City

Where the figures come from

Panama City 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. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). Panama City: 1991-2020 normals, Tocumen (20.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduPanama City
Official languageNepaliSpanish
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)Balboa (PAB)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:45UTC-5
Emergency numberPolice 100, ambulance 102, fire 101911
Elevation1,300 m20 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsTocumen International Airport (PTY)20 km from centre92 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-14 days

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduPanama City
City population845,7671,540,000
People per km²17,1215,600
Museums within 10 km910
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12
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 Panama City 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.