VacationSelector
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags
The red cable car above Wellington, Wellington
WellingtonThe red cable car above Wellington

Photos: Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Wellington by lumoplank, CC0.

Kathmandu or Wellington?

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
  • day trips

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

Choose Wellington for

  • getting around
  • families
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Wellington’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, Wellington 33: Wellington leads by 29 points.
Food & drink. Kathmandu 55, Wellington 62: Wellington leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Kathmandu 82, Wellington 44: Kathmandu leads by 38 points.
Nightlife. Kathmandu 36, Wellington 45: Wellington leads by 9 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu 70, Wellington 78: Wellington leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Kathmandu 56, Wellington 40: Kathmandu leads by 16 points.
Good for families. Kathmandu 20, Wellington 62: Wellington leads by 42 points.
Getting around. Kathmandu 25, Wellington 68: Wellington leads by 43 points.
Shopping & style. Kathmandu 55, Wellington 42: Kathmandu leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Kathmandu 97, Wellington 33: Kathmandu leads by 64 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kathmandu 28, Wellington 56: Wellington leads by 28 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu 45, Wellington 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 Wellington.

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.

Wellington
49match

Wins on getting around 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

Wellington in July

12 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
12 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
KathmanduWellington

Where the figures come from

Wellington's sunshine is measured 47 km from the centre, at Paraparaumu Aerodrome.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). Wellington: 1961-1990 (sunshine 1991-2020) normals, Wellington Aerodrome Aws (5.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduWellington
Official languageNepaliEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, Māori
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzI230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+5:45UTC+12, UTC+13 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 100, ambulance 102, fire 101111
Elevation1,300 m0 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsWellington International Airport (WLG)5 km from centre20 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-12 days

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduWellington
City population845,767216,200
People per km²17,121487
Museums within 10 km912
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 Wellington 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.