VacationSelector
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags
Victoria Falls and its gorge from a helicopter, Victoria Falls
Victoria FallsVictoria Falls and its gorge from a helicopter

Photos: Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Victoria Falls by Murray Foubister, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Kathmandu or Victoria Falls?

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 Victoria Falls for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Victoria Falls’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 Falls 7: Victoria Falls leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Kathmandu 55, Victoria Falls 24: Kathmandu leads by 31 points.
Culture & sights. Kathmandu 82, Victoria Falls 12: Kathmandu leads by 70 points.
Nightlife. Kathmandu 36, Victoria Falls 8: Kathmandu leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu 70, Victoria Falls 94: Victoria Falls leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Kathmandu 56, Victoria Falls 22: Kathmandu leads by 34 points.
Good for families. Kathmandu 20, Victoria Falls 38: Victoria Falls leads by 18 points.
Getting around. Kathmandu 25, Victoria Falls 45: Victoria Falls leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Kathmandu 55, Victoria Falls 18: Kathmandu leads by 37 points.
Affordability. Kathmandu 97, Victoria Falls 32: Kathmandu leads by 65 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kathmandu 28, Victoria Falls 10: Kathmandu leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu 45, Victoria Falls 34: Kathmandu leads by 11 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Kathmandu and Victoria Falls.

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.

Victoria Falls
29match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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
14 hdaylight a day

Victoria Falls in July

26 °Cdaytime high
8 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
KathmanduVictoria Falls

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). Victoria Falls: 1991-2020 normals, Livingstone (13.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduVictoria Falls
Official languageNepaliEnglish, Xhosa, Ndau, Venda, Chewa, Khoisan, Kalanga, Shona, Tonga, Tswana, Tsonga, Sesotho, Northern Ndebele, Nambya, Zimbabwe Sign Language, Barwe
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)Zimbabwe Gold (ZWG)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzG220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+5:45UTC+2
Emergency numberPolice 100, ambulance 102, fire 101999
Elevation1,300 m961 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsVictoria Falls International Airport (VFA)18 km from centre12 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduVictoria Falls
City population845,76733,060
People per km²17,121-
Museums within 10 km92
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 Victoria Falls 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.