Photos: Aarhus by Mozzihh, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Zurich by Daniel Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.
Aarhus or Zurich?
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 Aarhus for
- prices
- food and drink
- culture and sights
What lies behind each score is written up on Aarhus’s own page.
Choose Zurich for
- nature and the outdoors
- day trips
- getting around
What lies behind each score is written up on Zurich’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: Aarhus and Zurich.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on prices and food and drink with your weighting.
Wins on nature and the outdoors and day trips with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Aarhus in July
Zurich in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Aarhus's temperatures are measured 30 km from the centre, at Tirstrup.
Aarhus has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Aarhus: 1991-2020 normals, Tirstrup (29.8 km from centre). Zurich: 1991-2020 normals, Zurich Town / Ville. (2.2 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Aarhus | Zurich |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Danish | French, German, Italian, Romansh |
| Currency | Danish Krone (DKK) | Swiss Franc (CHF) |
| Sockets | CEFK230 V, 50 Hz | CJ230 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer | UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer |
| Emergency number | 112 | 112 |
| Elevation | 6 m | 408 m |
| Main airport | Aarhus Airport (AAR)30 km from centre15 non-stop destinations | Zürich Airport (ZRH)9 km from centre226 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 14 days | 10 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Aarhus | Zurich |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 290,598 | 440,935 |
| People per km² | 3,193 | 5,016 |
| Museums within 10 km | 17 | 63 |
| 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 Aarhus or Zurich somewhere new.