VacationSelector
The skyline across the water with the Chugach Mountains behind, Anchorage
AnchorageThe skyline across the water with the Chugach Mountains behind
The cathedral of Santa Marta, Santa Marta
Santa MartaThe cathedral of Santa Marta

Photos: Anchorage by Frank K., CC BY 2.0, cropped; Santa Marta by Oliver H, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Anchorage or Santa Marta?

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

  • live music and the arts
  • families
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Santa Marta for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Marta’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, Santa Marta 70: Santa Marta leads by 62 points.
Food & drink. Anchorage 40, Santa Marta 44: Santa Marta leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Anchorage 35, Santa Marta 34: Anchorage leads by 1 points.
Nightlife. Anchorage 30, Santa Marta 50: Santa Marta leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Anchorage 93, Santa Marta 84: Anchorage leads by 9 points.
Day trips. Anchorage 33, Santa Marta 38: Santa Marta leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Anchorage 55, Santa Marta 40: Anchorage leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Anchorage 22, Santa Marta 38: Santa Marta leads by 16 points.
Shopping & style. Anchorage 28, Santa Marta 27: Anchorage leads by 1 points.
Affordability. Anchorage 28, Santa Marta 80: Santa Marta leads by 52 points.
Live music & performing arts. Anchorage 34, Santa Marta 17: Anchorage leads by 17 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Anchorage 32, Santa Marta 30: Anchorage leads by 2 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Anchorage and Santa Marta.

Your match

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

Anchorage
37match

Wins on live music and the arts and families with your weighting.

Santa Marta
Best match
46match

Wins on beaches and prices 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

Santa Marta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
59 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
28 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AnchorageSanta Marta

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Anchorage: 1991-2020 normals, Anchorage Air Force Base (7 km from centre). Santa Marta: 1991-2020 normals, Santa Marta / Simon Bolivar (11.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAnchorageSanta Marta
Official language-Spanish
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Colombian Peso (COP)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-9, UTC-8 in summerUTC-5
Emergency number911123
Elevation31 m8 m
Main airportTed Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC)7 km from centre49 non-stop destinationsSimón Bolívar International Airport (SMR)13 km from centre6 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days19 days

By the numbers

MeasureAnchorageSanta Marta
City population291,247505,915
People per km²581,723
Museums within 10 km53
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Anchorage or Santa Marta 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.