VacationSelector
The skyline across the water with the Chugach Mountains behind, Anchorage
AnchorageThe skyline across the water with the Chugach Mountains behind
The red cable car above Wellington, Wellington
WellingtonThe red cable car above Wellington

Photos: Anchorage by Frank K., CC BY 2.0, cropped; Wellington by lumoplank, CC0.

Anchorage or Wellington?

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
  • wellness

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

Choose Wellington for

  • getting around
  • beaches
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Wellington’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, Wellington 33: Wellington leads by 25 points.
Food & drink. Anchorage 40, Wellington 62: Wellington leads by 22 points.
Culture & sights. Anchorage 35, Wellington 44: Wellington leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Anchorage 30, Wellington 45: Wellington leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Anchorage 93, Wellington 78: Anchorage leads by 15 points.
Day trips. Anchorage 33, Wellington 40: Wellington leads by 7 points.
Good for families. Anchorage 55, Wellington 62: Wellington leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Anchorage 22, Wellington 68: Wellington leads by 46 points.
Shopping & style. Anchorage 28, Wellington 42: Wellington leads by 14 points.
Affordability. Anchorage 28, Wellington 33: Wellington leads by 5 points.
Live music & performing arts. Anchorage 34, Wellington 56: Wellington leads by 22 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Anchorage 32, Wellington 30: Anchorage leads by 2 points.
0255075100

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

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 wellness with your weighting.

Wellington
Best match
49match

Wins on getting around and beaches 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

Wellington in July

12 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
12 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AnchorageWellington

Where the figures come from

Wellington's sunshine is measured 47 km from the centre, at Paraparaumu Aerodrome.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Anchorage: 1991-2020 normals, Anchorage Air Force Base (7 km from centre). Wellington: 1961-1990 (sunshine 1991-2020) normals, Wellington Aerodrome Aws (5.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAnchorageWellington
Official language-English, New Zealand Sign Language, Māori
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzI230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-9, UTC-8 in summerUTC+12, UTC+13 in summer
Emergency number911111
Elevation31 m0 m
Main airportTed Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC)7 km from centre49 non-stop destinationsWellington International Airport (WLG)5 km from centre20 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureAnchorageWellington
City population291,247216,200
People per km²58487
Museums within 10 km512
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °CNoneNone

Where else could you go?

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