VacationSelector
The skyline across the water with the Chugach Mountains behind, Anchorage
AnchorageThe skyline across the water with the Chugach Mountains behind
The Royal Palace, Madrid
MadridThe Royal Palace

Photos: Anchorage by Frank K., CC BY 2.0, cropped; Madrid by Mert Ocak, Pexels License.

Anchorage or Madrid?

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 Anchorage for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches

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

Choose Madrid for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Madrid’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. Anchorage 8, Madrid 5: Anchorage leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Anchorage 40, Madrid 80: Madrid leads by 40 points.
Culture & sights. Anchorage 35, Madrid 86: Madrid leads by 51 points.
Nightlife. Anchorage 30, Madrid 85: Madrid leads by 55 points.
Nature & outdoors. Anchorage 93, Madrid 60: Anchorage leads by 33 points.
Day trips. Anchorage 33, Madrid 89: Madrid leads by 56 points.
Good for families. Anchorage 55, Madrid 68: Madrid leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Anchorage 22, Madrid 84: Madrid leads by 62 points.
Shopping & style. Anchorage 28, Madrid 75: Madrid leads by 47 points.
Affordability. Anchorage 28, Madrid 50: Madrid leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Anchorage 34, Madrid 77: Madrid leads by 43 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Anchorage 32, Madrid 36: Madrid leads by 4 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Anchorage and Madrid.

Your match

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

Anchorage
37match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and beaches with your weighting.

Madrid
Best match
66match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Anchorage in July

20 °Cdaytime high
12 °Cnight-time low
47 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 °Csea
18 hdaylight a day

Madrid in July

33 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
9 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
AnchorageMadrid

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Anchorage: 1991-2020 normals, Anchorage Air Force Base (7 km from centre). Madrid: 1991-2020 normals, Madrid (1.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAnchorageMadrid
Official language-Spanish
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-9, UTC-8 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation31 m663 m
Main airportTed Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC)7 km from centre49 non-stop destinationsAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)14 km from centre239 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureAnchorageMadrid
City population291,2473,506,730
People per km²585,801
Museums within 10 km588
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km04
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Anchorage or Madrid 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.