VacationSelector
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan

Photos: Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License.

Kathmandu or Samarkand?

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

  • nature and the outdoors
  • nightlife
  • prices

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

Choose Samarkand for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Samarkand’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 and Samarkand are level on 4.
Food & drink. Kathmandu 55, Samarkand 54: Kathmandu leads by 1 points.
Culture & sights. Kathmandu 82, Samarkand 84: Samarkand leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Kathmandu 36, Samarkand 14: Kathmandu leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu 70, Samarkand 40: Kathmandu leads by 30 points.
Day trips. Kathmandu 56, Samarkand 72: Samarkand leads by 16 points.
Good for families. Kathmandu 20, Samarkand 30: Samarkand leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Kathmandu 25, Samarkand 58: Samarkand leads by 33 points.
Shopping & style. Kathmandu 55, Samarkand 42: Kathmandu leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Kathmandu 97, Samarkand 80: Kathmandu leads by 17 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kathmandu 28, Samarkand 24: Kathmandu leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu 45, Samarkand 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 Samarkand.

Your match

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

Kathmandu
Best match
48match

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

Samarkand
45match

Wins on getting around and day trips 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

Samarkand in July

34 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
2 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
KathmanduSamarkand

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduSamarkand
Official languageNepaliUzbek
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)Uzbekistan Sum (UZS)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzCFI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:45UTC+5
Emergency numberPolice 100, ambulance 102, fire 101112
Elevation1,300 m702 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinations

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduSamarkand
City population845,767546,303
People per km²17,1215,058
Museums within 10 km911
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Kathmandu or Samarkand 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. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.