VacationSelector
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags
The cathedral of Santa Marta, Santa Marta
Santa MartaThe cathedral of Santa Marta

Photos: Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Santa Marta by Oliver H, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Kathmandu or Santa Marta?

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
  • shopping
  • day trips

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

Choose Santa Marta for

  • beaches
  • families
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Marta’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, Santa Marta 70: Santa Marta leads by 66 points.
Food & drink. Kathmandu 55, Santa Marta 44: Kathmandu leads by 11 points.
Culture & sights. Kathmandu 82, Santa Marta 34: Kathmandu leads by 48 points.
Nightlife. Kathmandu 36, Santa Marta 50: Santa Marta leads by 14 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu 70, Santa Marta 84: Santa Marta leads by 14 points.
Day trips. Kathmandu 56, Santa Marta 38: Kathmandu leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Kathmandu 20, Santa Marta 40: Santa Marta leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Kathmandu 25, Santa Marta 38: Santa Marta leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. Kathmandu 55, Santa Marta 27: Kathmandu leads by 28 points.
Affordability. Kathmandu 97, Santa Marta 80: Kathmandu leads by 17 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kathmandu 28, Santa Marta 17: Kathmandu leads by 11 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu 45, Santa Marta 30: Kathmandu leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Kathmandu and Santa Marta.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Kathmandu
48match

Wins on culture and sights and shopping with your weighting.

Santa Marta
46match

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

Santa Marta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
59 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
28 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
KathmanduSanta Marta

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). Santa Marta: 1991-2020 normals, Santa Marta / Simon Bolivar (11.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduSanta Marta
Official languageNepaliSpanish
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)Colombian Peso (COP)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:45UTC-5
Emergency numberPolice 100, ambulance 102, fire 101123
Elevation1,300 m8 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsSimón Bolívar International Airport (SMR)13 km from centre6 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-19 days

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduSanta Marta
City population845,767505,915
People per km²17,1211,723
Museums within 10 km93
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 Santa Marta 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). 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.