⭐️ Total score | 2.48/5 (Rank #268) |
👍 Quality of life score | Okay |
👶 Family score | Bad |
🎒 Community score | Okay |
💵 Cost | 😙 Affordable: $1,061 / mo |
📡 Internet | 🙂 Good: 25Mbps (avg) |
😝 Fun | Good |
⛅️ Temperature (now) | 🥵 Too hot: 31°C88°F (feels 40°C104°F) |
💦 Humidity (now) | 🥵 Sweaty: 79% |
👌 Safety | Good |
🤮 Food safety* | Okay |
👮♀️ Lack of crime* | Good |
🤝 Lack of racism* | Bad |
🎓 Education level* | High |
⚡️ Power grid | Good |
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change | Good |
💰 Income level* | Very low: $326 / mo |
🙊 English speaking* | Bad |
🚶 Walkability | Bad |
✌️ Peace (no pol. conflict) | Okay |
🚦 Traffic safety* | Okay |
😄 Happiness* | Bad |
🍸 Nightlife | Bad |
📶 Free WiFi in city | Okay |
🖥 Places to work from | Great |
❄️ A/C or heating | Okay |
😁 Friendly to foreigners | Good |
🗯 Freedom of speech* | Okay |
👩 Female friendly | Bad |
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly | Bad |
🎅 Startup Score | Bad |
🌍 Continent | Asia |
🚩 Country | Sri Lanka |
🗓️ Average trip length | 15 days |
📡 Internet speed (avg) | 25 Mbps |
⛅️ Weather (now) | 🌧 31°C 88°F + 🥵 Sweaty (79%) = feels 40°C 104°F |
🔌 Power | 230V50Hz |
🚕 Best taxi app* | Pickme |
🚑 Travel medical insurance | Safetywing |
💸 1,000 LKR in USD | USD 3.33 |
🏧 Suggested ATM take out: | LKR 100,000 = USD 333 |
💳 Cashless | 💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners) |
☕️ Best coffee place | Barista |
☕️ Best alt. coffee place | Solis Hotel |
🏪 Best 24/7 coffee place | Nomad Trails Thalpe Station |
🚰 Tap water | 🚫 No, not drinkable |
♻️ Return rate | 8% of visitors return |
👨👩👧👦 Population | 810,000 people |
👨👩👧👦 GDP per capita* | $3,910 / year |
👫 Gender ratio (nomads) | 👨 72% 👱♀️ 28% |
⛪️ Religious government | Non-religious |
🏠 Apartment listings | Airbnb |
✈️ Best int'l air carrier | Sri Lankan Airlines |
🏥 Best hospital | Sahana Medical Center |
💵 Cost of living for nomad | $1,061 / month |
💵 Cost of living for expat | $559 / month |
💵 Cost of living for family | $992 / month |
💵 Cost of living for local | $283 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $497 / month |
🏡 Airbnb (median price) | $1,075 / month |
🏠 1br studio rent in center | $307 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $23 / night |
🏠 Airbnb (median price) | $35 / night |
🏢 Coworking hot desk | $143 / month |
🍛 Dinner | $3 |
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $0 |
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L) | $1 |
☕️ Coffee in cafe | $3 |
👩🏫 International school | $666 / year |
📱 Mobile data (~10GB) | $1 / month |
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi) | $2 / trip |
✅ Affordable to live
✅ Pretty safe
✅ Fast internet
✅ Lots of fun stuff to do
✅ Warm now
✅ Warm all year round
✅ Good air quality on average
✅ Spacious and not crowded
✅ High quality of education
✅ Roads are pretty safe
✅ Democratic
✅ Not many people smoke tobacco
❌ Freedom of speech is weak
❌ Very sweaty and humid now
❌ Difficult to do business
❌ Hospitals are bad
❌ People don't speak English well
❌ Not safe for women
❌ Not family friendly
❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
Feels | 8228° warm | 8429° warm | 8429° warm | 8429° warm | 8429° warm | 8429° warm | 8228° warm | 8228° warm | 8228° warm | 8228° warm | 8228° warm | 8429° warm |
Real | 8228° very warm | 8429° very warm | 8429° very warm | 8429° very warm | 8429° very warm | 8429° very warm | 8228° very warm | 8228° very warm | 8228° very warm | 8228° very warm | 8228° very warm | 8429° very warm |
Humidity | nice 44% | nice 42% | nice 42% | nice 41% | nice 43% | nice 43% | nice 43% | nice 44% | nice 44% | nice 44% | nice 44% | nice 43% |
Most common | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain |
Rain | rainy 105mm | rainy 79mm | rainy 108mm | rainy 169mm | rainy 237mm | rainy 199mm | rainy 172mm | rainy 199mm | rainy 226mm | rainy 285mm | rainy 308mm | rainy 210mm |
Cloud | pockets 50% | pockets 32% | pockets 43% | pockets 39% | cloudy 53% | pockets 49% | cloudy 54% | cloudy 55% | cloudy 51% | cloudy 51% | cloudy 53% | pockets 41% |
Sun | avoid sun 7 UVI | avoid sun 9 UVI | avoid sun 9 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 7 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 7 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI |
Remote workers | 433 people | 467 people | 400 people | 200 people | 200 people | 0 people | 0 people | 200 people | 0 people | 333 people | 200 people | 333 people |
If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomad List's Climate Finder
Based on Matara's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
Galle is a cute, small, Portuguese and Dutch colonial-style town with great food options - better than Colombo. Some coffee shops won't let you work, but great beaches are just a few minutes' drive away.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 37° 99° 30° 85°🥵🚕1h$1,292 / mo11Mbps×Sri Lanka is not ready for tourism. Besides scams and "cartel prices" for tuktuks and other services, it is unsafe for women. Men catcalling, touching, and groping are the norm. Moreover, it is not cheap at all compared to other countries in South/Southeast Asia. Especially when landlords tend to increase rental prices once they learn you're a good tenant. Locals may appear friendly, but the reality often differs. As a patriarchal society, instances of domestic violence against girlfriends and w
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 34° 93° 29° 84°AQI 99😷✈️10min$1,247 / mo11Mbps×Really quite hectic and not a very nice city. I wouldn't spend more than a day or two here, not much to see, and there aren't many places to work/eat/see. You're better off heading down to the beaches for some sunshine and beach as well as much faster WIFI.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 39° 102° 31° 89°🥵✈️12min$1,314 / mo12Mbps×Stayed a whole month in Fort Kochi area, eventually going to Ernakulam (downtown area). It is unarguably very different than rest of India, much more cleaner and with friendlier people. Beaches aren`t nice for bathing but are a great choice to catch sunsets everyday. Cost of living is dirty cheap and public transport is good. They even have a subway crossing the city with reminds me the BTS in Bangkok. Actually, Kochi to me is like a small and boring version of Bangkok, which is good if you need
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 38° 100° 31° 87°🥵✈️51min$782 / mo15Mbps×I’m working remotely and since it’s war in Ukraine I was living in Istanbul for half of year, after moving to Dubai i realised it’s not much more expensive here in Dubai. And besides that no one is cheating me like it was happening non stop in Istanbul
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64°AQI 66😷✈️9h$1,854 / mo32Mbps×Sri Lanka is not ready for tourism. Besides scams and "cartel prices" for tuktuks and other services, it is unsafe for women. Men catcalling, touching, and groping are the norm. Moreover, it is not cheap at all compared to other countries in South/Southeast Asia. Especially when landlords tend to increase rental prices once they learn you're a good tenant. Locals may appear friendly, but the reality often differs. As a patriarchal society, instances of domestic violence against girlfriends and w
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 34° 93° 29° 84°AQI 99😷✈️10min$1,247 / mo11Mbps×Galle is a cute, small, Portuguese and Dutch colonial-style town with great food options - better than Colombo. Some coffee shops won't let you work, but great beaches are just a few minutes' drive away.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 37° 99° 30° 85°🥵🚕1h$1,292 / mo11Mbps×Overall, highly recommnded for the fall/spring. Great weather, food, wines and hikes. There are really nice coffeshops (currently writing from one, "The coffee place"). Internet is Ok, but check the accommodation before. Right now there is a lot of anti-sentiment for Russia, so consider that if you're from there.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 13° 55° 13° 56°AQI 46✈️7h$2,115 / mo47Mbps×Ao Nang is a Good Hub for jumping into other beaches and islands. A few services are available for everyday use ( restaurants, bars, laundry, markets, shops, etc ). Still, I consider it quite underdevelop. Internet connectivity was quite intermittent on the two places I stayed. Also, not many places to get work done! I always worked from my villa room. Highly suggest staying by Nopparatthara beach rather than Ao Nang side. No many nomads in here aswell
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 35° 95° 30° 86°🥵✈️3h$2,061 / mo28Mbps×Lived in Phuket for a year now. Amazing place, especially the Bang Tao area. The further you go up north, the more beautiful it gets. Amazing beaches, beach clubs, restaurants and people. Patong is nice for a few days, but if you're not into partying just stay away. A lot of police check on the roads around Patong (and accidents), so always bring your international license. You can make it as expensive (or cheap) as you want, if you eat local like I do a meal is around 60 - 120 baht. Stay away
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 35° 95° 30° 86°🥵✈️3h$1,661 / mo66Mbps×I am from Moscow but grew up abroad. It's a lovely city, it's hard to find another city that matches the amount of cultural activities there are. Every day there are at least 2 festivals, 3 major concerts and tons of shows in theaters. The best season is winter and summer. The amount of decorations in the winter is incomparable (to London for example)! Snow adds magic to the city and if you are worried about the cold, there are plenty of shops with high quality winter clothes at decent prices. T
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked bad👮 Safety badTap to open🌥 Feels 4° 39° 5° 42°AQI 78😷✈️9h$2,085 / mo26Mbps×Once you figure out housing (not an easy thing but doable, especially once you stop looking in the touristic areas), Lisbon is a very charming, safe (even though I'll admit this is getting worse in certain areas), and fun city to live in. In most neighbourhoods you have the feeling of living in a small town instead of an urban area. There's aways something to do or see so it's hard to be bored living here. I still find Lisbon (and Portugal in general), to be one of the most attractive places in
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 17° 63° 17° 63°AQI 42✈️13h$3,476 / mo123Mbps×Really quite hectic and not a very nice city. I wouldn't spend more than a day or two here, not much to see, and there aren't many places to work/eat/see. You're better off heading down to the beaches for some sunshine and beach as well as much faster WIFI.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 39° 102° 31° 89°🥵✈️12min$1,314 / mo12Mbps×Great for a visit. Beautiful scenery. Good food. I thought it would be great to live here, start a startup and be in the same time zone as SF, close to Seattle, etc. But compared to Vancouver in 2009, one big change that totally ruined it for me: Absolute zombie apocalypse of drug addicts and shouting/violent home less people. It was shockingly bad. The locals often visibly carry naxalone (anti-overdose medicine, I learned) because there are so many people overdosing in the street. Police were n
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 7° 45° 8° 47°AQI 28✈️18h$4,997 / mo125Mbps×Lived here for over a year, but I only recommend short visits. Contrary to what you hear, there is plenty of crime in parts of Dubai. Talking about that crime is considered taboo and, in many cases, is illegal. Sexual assault and gang violence against expats took place just outside my building, to people who lived in my building. I went to the police station a few times, but the issue was never handled and no arrests were ever made. I have videos of (unspecified) crimes taking place here, but
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 23° 73° 23° 74°AQI 76😷✈️5h$3,480 / mo54Mbps×Sri Lanka is not ready for tourism. Besides scams and "cartel prices" for tuktuks and other services, it is unsafe for women. Men catcalling, touching, and groping are the norm. Moreover, it is not cheap at all compared to other countries in South/Southeast Asia. Especially when landlords tend to increase rental prices once they learn you're a good tenant. Locals may appear friendly, but the reality often differs. As a patriarchal society, instances of domestic violence against girlfriends and w
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 34° 93° 29° 84°AQI 99😷✈️10min$1,247 / mo🌇 Also went here16 people×Really quite hectic and not a very nice city. I wouldn't spend more than a day or two here, not much to see, and there aren't many places to work/eat/see. You're better off heading down to the beaches for some sunshine and beach as well as much faster WIFI.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 39° 102° 31° 89°🥵✈️12min$1,314 / mo🌇 Also went here16 people×Lived in Phuket for a year now. Amazing place, especially the Bang Tao area. The further you go up north, the more beautiful it gets. Amazing beaches, beach clubs, restaurants and people. Patong is nice for a few days, but if you're not into partying just stay away. A lot of police check on the roads around Patong (and accidents), so always bring your international license. You can make it as expensive (or cheap) as you want, if you eat local like I do a meal is around 60 - 120 baht. Stay away
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 35° 95° 30° 86°🥵✈️3h$1,661 / mo🌇 Also went here16 people×Agree with other reviewers about the influx of refugees and the increased prices. I'm there now and from my last visit a year ago prices have inflated significantly. There's also development everywhere now so the word is out.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked great👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 33° 91° 29° 84°✈️3h$1,705 / mo🌇 Also went here13 people×A dystopian cyberpunk metropolis, a veritable Night City, both chaotic and well run, livable yet poisonous. Follow the classic advice: stay near the BTS, skyscraper condo, work from mall libraries, cafes, and commons, don’t be outside. Outsource your chores. On a western salary or with savings, you’ll be playing life on easy mode. Focus your energy on meeting people, honing your body, and learning new skills. There’s a reason it’s number 1. You can disagree, but try to find it.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 39° 102° 34° 94°🥵AQI 67😷✈️3h$1,344 / mo🌇 Also went here24 people×It's getting better. I came here just before the Chinese New Year, and the city was very lively. Lots of people, live music, etc. The decorations in the shopping mall were beautiful, and there were so many food options that it would take a year to try them all.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 36° 97° 30° 87°🥵AQI 68😷✈️3h$1,224 / mo🌇 Also went here17 people×Chiang Mai has had a deep Buddhist influence running over the last 1,000 years and this can be felt in the helpfulness, patience and generosity of the Thai and long-term transplants you come across. The city has an active community scene (nomads, spiritual seekers, hikers, creatives), several mountains with hiking spots and waterfalls surrounding the city, over 20 water bodies inside the city -- many have cafes and walks around, several public parks, and over 13 national parks with campgrounds w
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked good👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 33° 91° 35° 95°🥵AQI 165😷✈️3h$963 / mo🌇 Also went here17 people×The most vietnamese city in Vietnam. The Old Quarter and West Lake are the highlights. If you come, try the egg coffee. Be mindful Vietnam has cracked down on visas, and it is not as friendly to foreigners. I was able to relax after I received a 5-year spousal visa.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 30° 86° 27° 80°AQI 157😷✈️4h$1,110 / mo🌇 Also went here13 people×Was here in Mid-2023. Bali has completely changed from when I last visited in 2017. Full of arrogant influences and degenerate party people who are entitled and have no respect for the locals. Many Uber drivers told me they are starting to get annoyed because a lot of Westerners don’t respect anything…. Pollution and traffic are on the rise. It is turning into Kuta. Probably one of the least walkable places, forget walking on the sidewalk unless you want to get taken out. A lot of accidents
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 32° 90° 28° 82°AQI 50✈️6h$1,919 / mo🌇 Also went here19 people×Can’t recommend Ubud. It’s just the same overdeveloped and overpriced mentally isolated tourist trap that is Canggu, just a bit worse. If you have never been anywhere else, it might be okay for 2 weeks, but to any seasoned traveller it’s a the type of place you dread.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 32° 90° 29° 84°AQI 50✈️6h$1,955 / mo🌇 Also went here17 people×I’m working remotely and since it’s war in Ukraine I was living in Istanbul for half of year, after moving to Dubai i realised it’s not much more expensive here in Dubai. And besides that no one is cheating me like it was happening non stop in Istanbul
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64°AQI 66😷✈️9h$1,854 / mo🌇 Also went here14 people×Lived in Prague for 8 years. It's a beautiful international European city. Never learned Czech, but was fine. Almost all cafes and restaurants have English menus. Superb food delivery apps (Wolt is the best). All the food you can imagine. Vietnamese food is world-class because of the huge Vietnamese population. If you want hipster bars and cafes, there's plenty of that. If you want old-world-charm there's plenty of that. If you want posh luxury there's some of Europes best restaurants and cockta
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 12° 54° 13° 55°AQI 54😷✈️10h$4,335 / mo🌇 Also went here15 people×I've been hanging out in Berlin on and off for 30 years. It is very safe for women. It is much friendlier than it used to be. There are loads of vegan restaurants now. The nightlife and specially jazz clubs are amazing! I have an excellent apartment to rent out in Wedding - which used to have a boring reputation but now is very cool.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 12° 54° 13° 55°AQI 63😷✈️11h$3,727 / mo🌇 Also went here19 people×I don't know exactly how Barcelona is still considered safe but it's far from it. It's probably the most dangerous city to live in Madrid and one of the most dangerous in europe, with constant pick-pocketing and even violent crimes to get your wallet and phone in certain areas. If you like a peaceful life, Barcelona is not the place anymore!!
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 13° 55° 14° 58°AQI 33✈️11h$5,058 / mo🌇 Also went here23 people×Once you figure out housing (not an easy thing but doable, especially once you stop looking in the touristic areas), Lisbon is a very charming, safe (even though I'll admit this is getting worse in certain areas), and fun city to live in. In most neighbourhoods you have the feeling of living in a small town instead of an urban area. There's aways something to do or see so it's hard to be bored living here. I still find Lisbon (and Portugal in general), to be one of the most attractive places in
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 17° 63° 17° 63°AQI 42✈️13h$3,476 / mo🌇 Also went here21 people×Can't login? See the FAQ
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