VacationSelector
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags
The Big Buddha on the hill above Phuket, Phuket
PhuketThe Big Buddha on the hill above Phuket

Photos: Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Phuket by Mussi Katz, CC0.

Kathmandu or Phuket?

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

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • shopping

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

Choose Phuket for

  • beaches
  • families
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Phuket’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, Phuket 90: Phuket leads by 86 points.
Food & drink. Kathmandu 55, Phuket 66: Phuket leads by 11 points.
Culture & sights. Kathmandu 82, Phuket 35: Kathmandu leads by 47 points.
Nightlife. Kathmandu 36, Phuket 72: Phuket leads by 36 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu 70, Phuket 80: Phuket leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Kathmandu 56, Phuket 45: Kathmandu leads by 11 points.
Good for families. Kathmandu 20, Phuket 65: Phuket leads by 45 points.
Getting around. Kathmandu 25, Phuket 22: Kathmandu leads by 3 points.
Shopping & style. Kathmandu 55, Phuket 42: Kathmandu leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Kathmandu 97, Phuket 68: Kathmandu leads by 29 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kathmandu 28, Phuket 20: Kathmandu leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu 45, Phuket 82: Phuket leads by 37 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Kathmandu and Phuket.

Your match

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

Kathmandu
48match

Wins on culture and sights and prices with your weighting.

Phuket
Best match
57match

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

Phuket in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
287 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
30 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
KathmanduPhuket

Where the figures come from

Phuket's temperatures are measured 27 km from the centre, at Phuket Airport.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). Phuket: 1991-2020 (rainfall 1961-1990) normals, Phuket Airport (26.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduPhuket
Official languageNepaliThai
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)Baht (THB)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzABCF220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+5:45UTC+7
Emergency numberPolice 100, ambulance 102, fire 101Police 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199
Elevation1,300 m19 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsPhuket International Airport (HKT)27 km from centre85 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduPhuket
City population845,76777,610
People per km²17,1216,468
Museums within 10 km92
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 Phuket 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. Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national sources. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.