Photos: Kochi by Vis M, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Varanasi by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.
Kochi or Varanasi?
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 Kochi for
- wellness
- nature and the outdoors
- families
What lies behind each score is written up on Kochi’s own page.
Choose Varanasi for
- culture and sights
- live music and the arts
- shopping
What lies behind each score is written up on Varanasi’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Kochi and Varanasi.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on wellness and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.
Wins on culture and sights and live music and the arts with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Kochi in July
Varanasi in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Kochi has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.
Varanasi has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kochi: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km. Varanasi: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.
Before you go
| Measure | Kochi | Varanasi |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Hindi, English | Hindi, English |
| Currency | Indian Rupee (INR) | Indian Rupee (INR) |
| Sockets | CM230 V, 50 Hz | CM230 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Left | Left |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 | UTC+5:30 |
| Emergency number | 108 or 112 | 108 or 112 |
| Elevation | 0 m | 76 m |
| Main airport | Cochin International Airport (COK)24 km from centre36 non-stop destinations | Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport (VNS)21 km from centre16 non-stop destinations |
By the numbers
| Measure | Kochi | Varanasi |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 677,381 | 1,198,491 |
| People per km² | 7,138 | 14,598 |
| Museums within 10 km | 4 | 2 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 1 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | - |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Kochi or Varanasi somewhere new.