VacationSelector
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags
The Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica
Santa MonicaThe Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier

Photos: Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Santa Monica by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Kathmandu or Santa Monica?

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

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

Choose Santa Monica for

  • beaches
  • families
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Monica’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 Monica 66: Santa Monica leads by 62 points.
Food & drink. Kathmandu 55, Santa Monica 60: Santa Monica leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Kathmandu 82, Santa Monica 35: Kathmandu leads by 47 points.
Nightlife. Kathmandu 36, Santa Monica 38: Santa Monica leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu 70, Santa Monica 72: Santa Monica leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Kathmandu 56, Santa Monica 64: Santa Monica leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Kathmandu 20, Santa Monica 70: Santa Monica leads by 50 points.
Getting around. Kathmandu 25, Santa Monica 52: Santa Monica leads by 27 points.
Shopping & style. Kathmandu 55, Santa Monica 56: Santa Monica leads by 1 points.
Affordability. Kathmandu 97, Santa Monica 14: Kathmandu leads by 83 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kathmandu 28, Santa Monica 38: Santa Monica leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu and Santa Monica are level on 45.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Kathmandu and Santa Monica.

Your match

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

Kathmandu
48match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Santa Monica
Best match
51match

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 Monica in July

24 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
20 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
KathmanduSanta Monica

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). Santa Monica: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (13.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduSanta Monica
Official languageNepali-
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:45UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 100, ambulance 102, fire 101911
Elevation1,300 m32 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsLos Angeles International Airport (LAX)11 km from centre177 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduSanta Monica
City population845,76793,076
People per km²17,1214,270
Museums within 10 km919
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Kathmandu or Santa Monica 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.