VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
The Guggenheim Museum on the river, Bilbao
BilbaoThe Guggenheim Museum on the river

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Bilbao by José Ligero Loarte, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Auckland or Bilbao?

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 Auckland for

  • beaches
  • families
  • wellness

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

Choose Bilbao for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Bilbao’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. Auckland 68, Bilbao 45: Auckland leads by 23 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Bilbao 81: Bilbao leads by 19 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Bilbao 62: Bilbao leads by 18 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Bilbao 54: Bilbao leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Bilbao 75: Auckland leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Bilbao 78: Bilbao leads by 23 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Bilbao 55: Auckland leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Bilbao 79: Bilbao leads by 37 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Bilbao 47: Bilbao leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Bilbao 44: Bilbao leads by 12 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Bilbao 53: Bilbao leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Bilbao 33: Auckland leads by 12 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Auckland
53match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Bilbao
Best match
59match

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.

Auckland in July

14 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
135 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Bilbao in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
54 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandBilbao

Where the figures come from

Auckland's station stands 189 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Auckland: 1961-1990 normals, Auckland Aerodrome Aws (17 km from centre). Bilbao: 1991-2020 normals, Bilbao / Sondica (4.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandBilbao
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriSpanish
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Euro (EUR)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number111112
Elevation196 m19 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsBilbao Airport (BIO)5 km from centre73 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandBilbao
City population1,470,100351,124
People per km²2,6308,440
Museums within 10 km1517
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month1 month

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Auckland or Bilbao 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.