Weekly note

Colombo or Delhi?

2,395 km apart, in Sri Lanka and India. 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.

Colombo is the better pick in January, April and July; Delhi in February to March and August to December. May to June are best avoided at both.

Month by month

Month JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Colombo 30° 8d 32° 5d 31° 12d 31° 20d 30° 26d 29° 27d 29° 21d 29° 23d 29° 25d 29° 26d 29° 23d 30° 15d
Delhi 19° 3d 24° 2d 29° 2d 36° 2d 38° 3d 38° 6d 34° 20d 33° 16d 33° 11d 32° 1d 27° 1d 21° 1d
Colombo, fare from Bengaluru ₹25,414₹29,136———————₹26,559₹26,297₹27,535
Pick ColomboDelhiDelhiColomboneitherneitherColomboDelhiDelhiDelhiDelhiDelhi

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

2,395 km as the crow flies, about 3h 50m in the air.Nonstop, about 5 a day · Air India, SriLankan Airlines.

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.