VacationSelector
The Adelaide skyline and the footbridge over the River Torrens, Adelaide
AdelaideThe Adelaide skyline and the footbridge over the River Torrens
Painted colonial houses in the Pelourinho, Salvador
SalvadorPainted colonial houses in the Pelourinho

Photos: Adelaide by Ardash Muradian, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Salvador by Paul R. Burley, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Adelaide or Salvador?

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

  • families
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Salvador for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Salvador’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, Salvador 84: Salvador leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Adelaide 72, Salvador 66: Adelaide leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Adelaide 48, Salvador 74: Salvador leads by 26 points.
Nightlife. Adelaide 42, Salvador 70: Salvador leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Adelaide 66, Salvador 52: Adelaide leads by 14 points.
Day trips. Adelaide 60, Salvador 56: Adelaide leads by 4 points.
Good for families. Adelaide 70, Salvador 42: Adelaide leads by 28 points.
Getting around. Adelaide 57, Salvador 42: Adelaide leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Adelaide 44, Salvador 42: Adelaide leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Adelaide 40, Salvador 70: Salvador leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Adelaide and Salvador are level on 63.
Wellness & relaxation. Adelaide 42, Salvador 32: Adelaide leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Adelaide and Salvador.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Adelaide
56match

Wins on families and getting around with your weighting.

Salvador
58match

Wins on prices and nightlife 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

Salvador in July

27 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
201 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
AdelaideSalvador

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Adelaide: 1991-2020 normals, Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) (3.1 km from centre). Salvador: 1991-2020 normals, Salvador (4.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAdelaideSalvador
Official languageEnglishPortuguese
CurrencyAustralian Dollar (AUD)Brazilian Real (BRL)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzCN60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+9:30, UTC+10:30 in summerUTC-3
Emergency number000Police 190, ambulance 192, fire 193
Elevation1 m8 m
Main airportAdelaide International Airport (ADL)6 km from centre35 non-stop destinationsDeputado Luiz Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (SSA)20 km from centre31 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureAdelaideSalvador
City population1,387,2902,417,678
People per km²1,0713,489
Museums within 10 km1349
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 Salvador 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.