VacationSelector
La Paz
Rowing boats below the ghats in the morning light, Varanasi
VaranasiRowing boats below the ghats in the morning light

Photos: Varanasi by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

La Paz 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 La Paz for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • nightlife
  • getting around

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

Choose Varanasi for

  • culture and sights
  • live music and the arts
  • wellness

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.

Beaches & swimming. La Paz 3, Varanasi 4: Varanasi leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. La Paz 50, Varanasi 55: Varanasi leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. La Paz 52, Varanasi 80: Varanasi leads by 28 points.
Nightlife. La Paz 38, Varanasi 10: La Paz leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. La Paz 82, Varanasi 18: La Paz leads by 64 points.
Day trips. La Paz 40, Varanasi 42: Varanasi leads by 2 points.
Good for families. La Paz 10, Varanasi 5: La Paz leads by 5 points.
Getting around. La Paz 45, Varanasi 28: La Paz leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. La Paz 45, Varanasi 55: Varanasi leads by 10 points.
Affordability. La Paz and Varanasi are level on 92.
Live music & performing arts. La Paz 35, Varanasi 58: Varanasi leads by 23 points.
Wellness & relaxation. La Paz 12, Varanasi 30: Varanasi leads by 18 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: La Paz and Varanasi.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

La Paz
42match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and nightlife with your weighting.

Varanasi
40match

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.

La Paz in July

13 °Cdaytime high
-2 °Cnight-time low
16 mmrain in the month
11 hdaylight a day

Varanasi in July

35 °Cdaytime high
27 °Cnight-time low
249 mmrain in the month
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
La PazVaranasi

Where the figures come from

La Paz 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. La Paz: 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

MeasureLa PazVaranasi
Official languageSpanish, Aymara, Quechua, GuaraniHindi, English
CurrencyBoliviano (BOB)Indian Rupee (INR)
SocketsAC50 HzCM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-4UTC+5:30
Emergency number911108 or 112
Elevation3,640 m76 m
Main airportEl Alto International Airport (LPB)6 km from centre12 non-stop destinationsLal Bahadur Shastri International Airport (VNS)21 km from centre16 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days-

By the numbers

MeasureLa PazVaranasi
City population755,7321,198,491
People per km²1,60114,598
Museums within 10 km212
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow La Paz or Varanasi somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. 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). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. 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.