VacationSelector
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Kathmandu or Scottsdale?

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
  • food and drink

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • families
  • wellness
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Scottsdale’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, Scottsdale 8: Scottsdale leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Kathmandu 55, Scottsdale 46: Kathmandu leads by 9 points.
Culture & sights. Kathmandu 82, Scottsdale 38: Kathmandu leads by 44 points.
Nightlife. Kathmandu 36, Scottsdale 52: Scottsdale leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu 70, Scottsdale 68: Kathmandu leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Kathmandu 56, Scottsdale 50: Kathmandu leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Kathmandu 20, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 40 points.
Getting around. Kathmandu 25, Scottsdale 20: Kathmandu leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Kathmandu 55, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Kathmandu 97, Scottsdale 32: Kathmandu leads by 65 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kathmandu 28, Scottsdale 40: Scottsdale leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu 45, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 27 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Kathmandu and Scottsdale.

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 prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Scottsdale
46match

Wins on families and wellness 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

Scottsdale in July

41 °Cdaytime high
29 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
KathmanduScottsdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduScottsdale
Official languageNepali-
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:45UTC-7
Emergency numberPolice 100, ambulance 102, fire 101911
Elevation1,300 m380 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-12 days

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduScottsdale
City population845,767241,361
People per km²17,121-
Museums within 10 km910
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 Scottsdale 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). 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.