VacationSelector
The Explanada de España, Alicante
AlicanteThe Explanada de España
Haedong Yonggungsa temple on the rocks by the sea, Busan
BusanHaedong Yonggungsa temple on the rocks by the sea

Photos: Alicante by Emilio Sánchez Hernández, Pexels License; Busan by Andrea De Santis, Pexels License.

Alicante or Busan?

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 Alicante for

  • beaches
  • prices

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

Choose Busan for

  • wellness
  • shopping
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Busan’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. Alicante 82, Busan 68: Alicante leads by 14 points.
Food & drink. Alicante 67, Busan 72: Busan leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Alicante 46, Busan 52: Busan leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Alicante and Busan are level on 60.
Nature & outdoors. Alicante 63, Busan 74: Busan leads by 11 points.
Day trips. Alicante 72, Busan 74: Busan leads by 2 points.
Good for families. Alicante 68, Busan 70: Busan leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Alicante 66, Busan 68: Busan leads by 2 points.
Shopping & style. Alicante 44, Busan 60: Busan leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Alicante 60, Busan 56: Alicante leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. Alicante 37, Busan 42: Busan leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Alicante 40, Busan 78: Busan leads by 38 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Alicante and Busan.

Your match

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

Alicante
59match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

Busan
Best match
65match

Wins on wellness and shopping with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Alicante in July

30 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
3 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Busan in July

27 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
352 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
AlicanteBusan

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Alicante: 1991-2020 normals, Alicante (2.8 km from centre). Busan: 1991-2020 normals, Pusan (9.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlicanteBusan
Official languageSpanishKorean, Korean Sign Language
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Won (KRW)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+9
Emergency number112Police 112, ambulance 119, fire 119
Elevation3 m30 m
Main airportAlicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport (ALC)10 km from centre126 non-stop destinationsGimhae International Airport (PUS)12 km from centre49 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days18 days

By the numbers

MeasureAlicanteBusan
City population366,2213,453,198
People per km²1,8194,486
Museums within 10 km87
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km23
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months4 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Alicante or Busan 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.