VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
Yellow colonial houses in the walled city, Cartagena
CartagenaYellow colonial houses in the walled city

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Cartagena by Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Auckland or Cartagena?

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

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families
  • day trips

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

Choose Cartagena for

  • nightlife
  • prices
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Cartagena’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, Cartagena 70: Cartagena leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Auckland and Cartagena are level on 62.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Cartagena 68: Cartagena leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Cartagena 70: Cartagena leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Cartagena 46: Auckland leads by 37 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Cartagena 33: Auckland leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Cartagena 40: Auckland leads by 30 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Cartagena 54: Cartagena leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Cartagena 48: Cartagena leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Cartagena 60: Cartagena leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Cartagena 40: Auckland leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Cartagena 40: Auckland leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Cartagena.

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Auckland
53match

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

Cartagena
53match

Wins on nightlife 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.

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

Cartagena in July

31 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
124 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
30 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandCartagena

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). Cartagena: 1991-2020 normals, Cartagena / Rafael Nunez (3.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandCartagena
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriSpanish
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Colombian Peso (COP)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC-5
Emergency number111123
Elevation196 m2 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsRafael Nuñez International Airport (CTG)2 km from centre26 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days19 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandCartagena
City population1,470,100914,552
People per km²2,6301,599
Museums within 10 km152
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month12 months

Where else could you go?

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