VacationSelector
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose

Photos: Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0.

Kathmandu or San Jose, Costa Rica?

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 San Jose, Costa Rica for

  • families
  • live music and the arts
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose, Costa Rica’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, San Jose, Costa Rica 12: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Kathmandu 55, San Jose, Costa Rica 42: Kathmandu leads by 13 points.
Culture & sights. Kathmandu 82, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: Kathmandu leads by 44 points.
Nightlife. Kathmandu 36, San Jose, Costa Rica 40: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu 70, San Jose, Costa Rica 78: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Kathmandu 56, San Jose, Costa Rica 52: Kathmandu leads by 4 points.
Good for families. Kathmandu 20, San Jose, Costa Rica 44: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 24 points.
Getting around. Kathmandu 25, San Jose, Costa Rica 30: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Kathmandu 55, San Jose, Costa Rica 36: Kathmandu leads by 19 points.
Affordability. Kathmandu 97, San Jose, Costa Rica 54: Kathmandu leads by 43 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kathmandu 28, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu 45, San Jose, Costa Rica 28: Kathmandu leads by 17 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Kathmandu and San Jose, Costa Rica.

Your match

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

Kathmandu
Best match
48match

Wins on culture and sights and prices with your weighting.

San Jose, Costa Rica
41match

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

San Jose, Costa Rica in July

28 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
173 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
KathmanduSan Jose, Costa Rica

Where the figures come from

San Jose, Costa Rica's station stands 241 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduSan Jose, Costa Rica
Official languageNepaliSpanish
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)Costa Rican Colon (CRC)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:45UTC-6
Emergency numberPolice 100, ambulance 102, fire 101911
Elevation1,300 m1,161 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduSan Jose, Costa Rica
City population845,767335,007
People per km²17,1217,511
Museums within 10 km99
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 San Jose, Costa Rica 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). 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.