VacationSelector
Swayambhunath with its prayer flags, Kathmandu
KathmanduSwayambhunath with its prayer flags
The Riverwalk and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, Wilmington
WilmingtonThe Riverwalk and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge

Photos: Kathmandu by Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Wilmington by Unexpected Snacks, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Kathmandu or Wilmington?

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 Wilmington for

  • beaches
  • families
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Wilmington’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, Wilmington 73: Wilmington leads by 69 points.
Food & drink. Kathmandu 55, Wilmington 48: Kathmandu leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Kathmandu 82, Wilmington 40: Kathmandu leads by 42 points.
Nightlife. Kathmandu 36, Wilmington 40: Wilmington leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Kathmandu 70, Wilmington 58: Kathmandu leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Kathmandu 56, Wilmington 45: Kathmandu leads by 11 points.
Good for families. Kathmandu 20, Wilmington 62: Wilmington leads by 42 points.
Getting around. Kathmandu 25, Wilmington 28: Wilmington leads by 3 points.
Shopping & style. Kathmandu 55, Wilmington 33: Kathmandu leads by 22 points.
Affordability. Kathmandu 97, Wilmington 42: Kathmandu leads by 55 points.
Live music & performing arts. Kathmandu 28, Wilmington 40: Wilmington leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Kathmandu 45, Wilmington 33: Kathmandu leads by 12 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Kathmandu and Wilmington.

Your match

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

Kathmandu
Best match
48match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Wilmington
45match

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

Wilmington in July

32 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
174 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
27 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
KathmanduWilmington

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kathmandu: 1991-2020 normals, Kathmandu Airport (4.7 km from centre). Wilmington: 1991-2020 normals, Wilmington / The Palms Mobile Home Park (5.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureKathmanduWilmington
Official languageNepali-
CurrencyNepalese Rupee (NPR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:45UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 100, ambulance 102, fire 101911
Elevation1,300 m9 m
Main airportTribhuvan International Airport (KTM)4 km from centre38 non-stop destinationsWilmington International Airport (ILM)5 km from centre25 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-14 days

By the numbers

MeasureKathmanduWilmington
City population845,767115,451
People per km²17,121839
Museums within 10 km92
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C-6 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Kathmandu or Wilmington 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.