VacationSelector
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags
The Assembly Hall on Temple Square, Salt Lake City
Salt Lake CityThe Assembly Hall on Temple Square

Photos: Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Salt Lake City by hakkun, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Kathmandu or Salt Lake 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
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

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

Choose Salt Lake City for

  • families
  • live music and the arts
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Salt Lake 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, Salt Lake City 12: Salt Lake City leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Kathmandu 55, Salt Lake City 40: Kathmandu leads by 15 points.
Culture & sights. Kathmandu 82, Salt Lake City 42: Kathmandu leads by 40 points.
Nightlife. Kathmandu 36, Salt Lake City 30: Kathmandu leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu 70, Salt Lake City 90: Salt Lake City leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Kathmandu 56, Salt Lake City 34: Kathmandu leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Kathmandu 20, Salt Lake City 72: Salt Lake City leads by 52 points.
Getting around. Kathmandu 25, Salt Lake City 42: Salt Lake City leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Kathmandu 55, Salt Lake City 36: Kathmandu leads by 19 points.
Affordability. Kathmandu 97, Salt Lake City 40: Kathmandu leads by 57 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kathmandu 28, Salt Lake City 55: Salt Lake City leads by 27 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu 45, Salt Lake City 38: Kathmandu leads by 7 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Kathmandu and Salt Lake City.

Your match

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

Kathmandu
Best match
48match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Salt Lake City
44match

Wins on families and live music and the arts 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

Salt Lake City in July

34 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
KathmanduSalt Lake City

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). Salt Lake City: 1991-2020 normals, Salt Lake City International Airport (7.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduSalt Lake City
Official languageNepali-
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:45UTC-7, UTC-6 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 100, ambulance 102, fire 101911
Elevation1,300 m1,288 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsSalt Lake City International Airport (SLC)9 km from centre108 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-12 days

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduSalt Lake City
City population845,767199,723
People per km²17,121690
Museums within 10 km912
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Kathmandu or Salt Lake 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.