The Andaman Islands or Colombo?

1,493 km apart, in India and Sri Lanka. Each is scored month by month on the same ten years of climate readings, the public holidays that crowd it, and what the flight costs. This is where they part, and when.

• The Andaman Islands India · best Feb, Mar, Apr
• Colombo Sri Lanka · best Jan, Feb, Mar

Month by month

Each cell is that destination's own verdict for the month — sweet spot, ok or avoid — with its typical daily high and its rainy days ("11d"). The pick goes to the better verdict; with the same verdict, to the higher score, unless the two are within a whisker of each other, when it is either. A month both would avoid is neither. A dot marks a busy month. Fares are the typical return from Bengaluru, in INR.

Before you go

• Cost of living — The Andaman Islands: very cheap, about 23% of the United States; Colombo: very cheap, about 27% of the United States.
• Currency — The Andaman Islands: Indian rupee; Colombo: Sri lankan rupee.
• Plugs — The Andaman Islands: type C and D, 230 V; Colombo: type D and G, 230 V.
• Driving — The Andaman Islands: on the left; Colombo: on the left.
• Travel advice — The Andaman Islands: avoid all travel to parts; Colombo: no advice against travel.

Facts from Wikidata (CC0), the UK Foreign Office (Open Government Licence) and the World Bank. The advisory is written for British travellers; entry rules depend on your passport.

Between them

1,493 km as the crow flies, about 2h 44m in the air.

The flight time is estimated from the distance. A road, train or bus is named only where it was measured — flights from AeroDataBox, roads from OpenRouteService, timetables via Transitous — and none of it is a fare; the searches on each destination's page are where prices live.

Also compared

• The Andaman Islands or Goa
• The Andaman Islands or Jaipur
• The Andaman Islands or Kathmandu
• The Andaman Islands or Kochi
• The Andaman Islands or Leh
• The Andaman Islands or The Maldives
• The Andaman Islands or Srinagar
• Colombo or Goa
• Colombo or Jaipur
• Colombo or Kathmandu
• Colombo or Kochi
• Colombo or Leh

Every verdict here is the destination's own: ten years of climate readings, the public holidays that crowd it, and what the flight costs. The comparison is the difference between two pages, not a third opinion.