VacationSelector
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags
The British Columbia Parliament Buildings, Victoria
VictoriaThe British Columbia Parliament Buildings

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

Kathmandu or Victoria?

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
  • shopping

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

Choose Victoria for

  • families
  • getting around
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Victoria’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, Victoria 28: Victoria leads by 24 points.
Food & drink. Kathmandu 55, Victoria 50: Kathmandu leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Kathmandu 82, Victoria 42: Kathmandu leads by 40 points.
Nightlife. Kathmandu 36, Victoria 30: Kathmandu leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu 70, Victoria 77: Victoria leads by 7 points.
Day trips. Kathmandu 56, Victoria 54: Kathmandu leads by 2 points.
Good for families. Kathmandu 20, Victoria 62: Victoria leads by 42 points.
Getting around. Kathmandu 25, Victoria 60: Victoria leads by 35 points.
Shopping & style. Kathmandu 55, Victoria 40: Kathmandu leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Kathmandu 97, Victoria 34: Kathmandu leads by 63 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kathmandu 28, Victoria 40: Victoria leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu 45, Victoria 48: Victoria leads by 3 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Kathmandu and Victoria.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Kathmandu
48match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Victoria
47match

Wins on families and getting around 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

Victoria in July

21 °Cdaytime high
12 °Cnight-time low
11 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
12 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
KathmanduVictoria

Where the figures come from

Victoria's sunshine is measured 87 km from the centre, at Vancouver International Airport.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). Victoria: 1991-2020 normals, Victoria Gonzales CS (3.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduVictoria
Official languageNepaliFrench, English
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
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 m23 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsVictoria International Airport (YYJ)25 km from centre16 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduVictoria
City population845,76791,867
People per km²17,1214,711
Museums within 10 km96
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
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 Victoria 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.