Weekly note

Chennai or The Maldives?

1,220 km apart, in India and Maldives. 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.

Chennai is the better pick in March, September and December to January; The Maldives in April and June to July; either in February and August. May and October to November are best avoided at both.

Month by month

Month JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Chennai 28° 4d 30° 0d 33° 1d 35° 2d 36° 6d 36° 9d 34° 13d 34° 17d 33° 15d 31° 18d 29° 18d 28° 9d
The Maldives 28° 8d 28° 5d 29° 8d 29° 13d 29° 21d 29° 12d 29° 12d 29° 12d 28° 16d 28° 18d 28° 18d 28° 16d
The Maldives, fare from Bengaluru ₹38,803₹25,541———————₹28,172₹28,229₹28,229
Pick ChennaieitherChennaiThe MaldivesneitherThe MaldivesThe MaldiveseitherChennaineitherneitherChennai

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

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

1,220 km as the crow flies, about 2h 24m 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

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.