VacationSelector
The Explanada de España, Alicante
AlicanteThe Explanada de España
Vine rows before the snow-capped Andes in the Uco Valley, Mendoza
MendozaVine rows before the snow-capped Andes in the Uco Valley

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

Alicante or Mendoza?

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
  • families
  • nightlife

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

Choose Mendoza for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Mendoza’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, Mendoza 6: Alicante leads by 76 points.
Food & drink. Alicante 67, Mendoza 68: Mendoza leads by 1 points.
Culture & sights. Alicante 46, Mendoza 30: Alicante leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Alicante 60, Mendoza 40: Alicante leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Alicante 63, Mendoza 83: Mendoza leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Alicante 72, Mendoza 52: Alicante leads by 20 points.
Good for families. Alicante 68, Mendoza 42: Alicante leads by 26 points.
Getting around. Alicante 66, Mendoza 48: Alicante leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Alicante 44, Mendoza 33: Alicante leads by 11 points.
Affordability. Alicante 60, Mendoza 56: Alicante leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. Alicante 37, Mendoza 33: Alicante leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Alicante 40, Mendoza 55: Mendoza leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Alicante and Mendoza.

Your match

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

Alicante
Best match
59match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Mendoza
46match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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

Mendoza in July

15 °Cdaytime high
2 °Cnight-time low
5 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
No seasea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0204060JFMAMJJASOND
AlicanteMendoza

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Alicante: 1991-2020 normals, Alicante (2.8 km from centre). Mendoza: 1991-2020 normals, Mendoza Aerodrome (8.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlicanteMendoza
Official languageSpanishSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Argentine Peso (ARS)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-3
Emergency number112117 or 911
Elevation3 m769 m
Main airportAlicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport (ALC)10 km from centre126 non-stop destinationsGovernor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport (MDZ)8 km from centre5 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureAlicanteMendoza
City population366,221127,160
People per km²1,8192,355
Museums within 10 km81
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Alicante or Mendoza 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. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.