VacationSelector
Botero sculptures on Plaza Botero, Medellin
MedellinBotero sculptures on Plaza Botero
The tusks over Moi Avenue, Mombasa
MombasaThe tusks over Moi Avenue

Photos: Medellin by Steffen Schmitz, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Mombasa by Rob Oo, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Medellin or Mombasa?

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 Medellin for

  • nightlife
  • getting around
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Mombasa for

  • beaches
  • culture and sights
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Mombasa’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. Medellin 5, Mombasa 82: Mombasa leads by 77 points.
Food & drink. Medellin 58, Mombasa 60: Mombasa leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Medellin 42, Mombasa 55: Mombasa leads by 13 points.
Nightlife. Medellin 76, Mombasa 46: Medellin leads by 30 points.
Nature & outdoors. Medellin 66, Mombasa 74: Mombasa leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Medellin 58, Mombasa 45: Medellin leads by 13 points.
Good for families. Medellin 50, Mombasa 45: Medellin leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Medellin 55, Mombasa 30: Medellin leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. Medellin 45, Mombasa 35: Medellin leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Medellin 80, Mombasa 70: Medellin leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Medellin 42, Mombasa 22: Medellin leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Medellin 30, Mombasa 40: Mombasa leads by 10 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Medellin and Mombasa.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Medellin
51match

Wins on nightlife and getting around with your weighting.

Mombasa
50match

Wins on beaches and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Medellin in July

29 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
133 mmrain in the month
No seasea
12 hdaylight a day

Mombasa in July

28 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
63 mmrain in the month
26 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
MedellinMombasa

Where the figures come from

Medellin has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Mombasa has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Medellin: 1958-2025 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Medellin / Olaya Herrera (5.2 km from centre). Mombasa: 1991-2020 normals, Mombasa (5.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMedellinMombasa
Official languageSpanishEnglish, Swahili
CurrencyColombian Peso (COP)Kenyan Shilling (KES)
SocketsAB110 V, 60 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-5UTC+3
Emergency number123Police 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999
Elevation1,405 m50 m
Main airportJose Maria Córdova International Airport (MDE)19 km from centre35 non-stop destinationsMoi International Airport (MBA)8 km from centre22 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year19 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureMedellinMombasa
City population2,529,4031,208,333
People per km²6,6444,100
Museums within 10 km140
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02
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 Medellin or Mombasa 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). 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.