Photos: Rotorua by W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Varanasi by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.
Rotorua 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 Rotorua for
- nature and the outdoors
- families
- wellness
What lies behind each score is written up on Rotorua’s own page.
Choose Varanasi for
- prices
- culture and sights
- 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: Rotorua and Varanasi.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on nature and the outdoors and families with your weighting.
Wins on prices 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.
Rotorua in July
Varanasi in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Rotorua 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. Rotorua: 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 | Rotorua | Varanasi |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | English, New Zealand Sign Language, Māori | Hindi, English |
| Currency | New Zealand Dollar (NZD) | Indian Rupee (INR) |
| Sockets | I230 V, 50 Hz | CM230 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Left | Left |
| Time zone | UTC+12, UTC+13 in summer | UTC+5:30 |
| Emergency number | 111 | 108 or 112 |
| Elevation | 280 m | 76 m |
| Main airport | Rotorua Regional Airport (ROT)7 km from centre3 non-stop destinations | Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport (VNS)21 km from centre16 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 12 days | - |
By the numbers
| Measure | Rotorua | Varanasi |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 58,500 | 1,198,491 |
| People per km² | 22 | 14,598 |
| Museums within 10 km | 1 | 2 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 1 |
| 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 Rotorua or Varanasi somewhere new.