VacationSelector
The Explanada de España, Alicante
AlicanteThe Explanada de España
Fort San Pedro in Cebu City, Cebu
CebuFort San Pedro in Cebu City

Photos: Alicante by Emilio Sánchez Hernández, Pexels License; Cebu by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Alicante or Cebu?

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

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • families

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

Choose Cebu for

  • prices
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Cebu’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, Cebu 60: Alicante leads by 22 points.
Food & drink. Alicante 67, Cebu 58: Alicante leads by 9 points.
Culture & sights. Alicante 46, Cebu 40: Alicante leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Alicante 60, Cebu 46: Alicante leads by 14 points.
Nature & outdoors. Alicante 63, Cebu 60: Alicante leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Alicante 72, Cebu 44: Alicante leads by 28 points.
Good for families. Alicante 68, Cebu 45: Alicante leads by 23 points.
Getting around. Alicante 66, Cebu 26: Alicante leads by 40 points.
Shopping & style. Alicante and Cebu are level on 44.
Affordability. Alicante 60, Cebu 80: Cebu leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Alicante 37, Cebu 25: Alicante leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Alicante 40, Cebu 50: Cebu leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Alicante and Cebu.

Your match

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

Alicante
Best match
59match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

Cebu
48match

Wins on prices and wellness 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

Cebu in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
205 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AlicanteCebu

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Alicante: 1991-2020 normals, Alicante (2.8 km from centre). Cebu: 1991-2020 normals, Mactan (7.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlicanteCebu
Official languageSpanishEnglish, Filipino, Taglish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Philippine Peso (PHP)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number112911
Elevation3 m135 m
Main airportAlicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport (ALC)10 km from centre126 non-stop destinationsMactan Cebu International Airport (CEB)9 km from centre41 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days18 days

By the numbers

MeasureAlicanteCebu
City population366,221965,332
People per km²1,8193,065
Museums within 10 km85
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Alicante or Cebu 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.