VacationSelector
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags
Painted colonial houses in the Pelourinho, Salvador
SalvadorPainted colonial houses in the Pelourinho

Photos: Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Salvador by Paul R. Burley, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Kathmandu or Salvador?

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
  • nature and the outdoors
  • shopping

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

Choose Salvador for

  • beaches
  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Salvador’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, Salvador 84: Salvador leads by 80 points.
Food & drink. Kathmandu 55, Salvador 66: Salvador leads by 11 points.
Culture & sights. Kathmandu 82, Salvador 74: Kathmandu leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Kathmandu 36, Salvador 70: Salvador leads by 34 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu 70, Salvador 52: Kathmandu leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Kathmandu and Salvador are level on 56.
Good for families. Kathmandu 20, Salvador 42: Salvador leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Kathmandu 25, Salvador 42: Salvador leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Kathmandu 55, Salvador 42: Kathmandu leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Kathmandu 97, Salvador 70: Kathmandu leads by 27 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kathmandu 28, Salvador 63: Salvador leads by 35 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu 45, Salvador 32: Kathmandu leads by 13 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Kathmandu and Salvador.

Your match

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

Kathmandu
48match

Wins on prices and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Salvador
Best match
58match

Wins on beaches 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
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Salvador in July

27 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
201 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
KathmanduSalvador

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). Salvador: 1991-2020 normals, Salvador (4.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduSalvador
Official languageNepaliPortuguese
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)Brazilian Real (BRL)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzCN60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:45UTC-3
Emergency numberPolice 100, ambulance 102, fire 101Police 190, ambulance 192, fire 193
Elevation1,300 m8 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsDeputado Luiz Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (SSA)20 km from centre31 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-14 days

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduSalvador
City population845,7672,417,678
People per km²17,1213,489
Museums within 10 km949
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Salvador 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). 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.