VacationSelector
The Adelaide skyline and the footbridge over the River Torrens, Adelaide
AdelaideThe Adelaide skyline and the footbridge over the River Torrens
Durban

Photos: Adelaide by Ardash Muradian, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Adelaide or Durban?

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 Adelaide for

  • getting around
  • live music and the arts
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Adelaide’s own page.

Choose Durban for

  • prices
  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Durban’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Adelaide 68, Durban 80: Durban leads by 12 points.
Food & drink. Adelaide 72, Durban 60: Adelaide leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Adelaide 48, Durban 38: Adelaide leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Adelaide 42, Durban 40: Adelaide leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Adelaide 66, Durban 68: Durban leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Adelaide 60, Durban 38: Adelaide leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Adelaide 70, Durban 60: Adelaide leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Adelaide 57, Durban 20: Adelaide leads by 37 points.
Shopping & style. Adelaide 44, Durban 42: Adelaide leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Adelaide 40, Durban 72: Durban leads by 32 points.
Live music & performing arts. Adelaide 63, Durban 40: Adelaide leads by 23 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Adelaide 42, Durban 30: Adelaide leads by 12 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Adelaide and Durban.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Adelaide
Best match
56match

Wins on getting around and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Durban
49match

Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Adelaide in July

16 °Cdaytime high
8 °Cnight-time low
72 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
14 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Durban in July

23 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
44 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
22 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AdelaideDurban

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Adelaide: 1991-2020 normals, Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) (3.1 km from centre). Durban: 1991-2020 normals, Durban, Durban International Airport (14.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAdelaideDurban
Official languageEnglishEnglish, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Venda, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Sesotho, Southern Ndebele, South African Sign Language
CurrencyAustralian Dollar (AUD)Rand (ZAR)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzCMN230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+9:30, UTC+10:30 in summerUTC+2
Emergency number000112
Elevation1 m22 m
Main airportAdelaide International Airport (ADL)6 km from centre35 non-stop destinationsKing Shaka International Airport (DUR)29 km from centre13 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAdelaideDurban
City population1,387,290595,061
People per km²1,0712,634
Museums within 10 km131
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C3 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Adelaide or Durban somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.