VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
Fort San Pedro in Cebu City, Cebu
CebuFort San Pedro in Cebu City

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Cebu by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Auckland or Cebu?

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

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

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

Choose Cebu for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Cebu’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, Cebu 60: Auckland leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Cebu 58: Auckland leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Cebu 40: Auckland leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Cebu 46: Cebu leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Cebu 60: Auckland leads by 23 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Cebu 44: Auckland leads by 11 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Cebu 45: Auckland leads by 25 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Cebu 26: Auckland leads by 16 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Cebu 44: Auckland leads by 1 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Cebu 80: Cebu leads by 48 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Cebu 25: Auckland leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Cebu 50: Cebu leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Cebu.

Your match

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

Auckland
Best match
53match

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

Cebu
48match

Wins on prices and wellness 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
14 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Cebu in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
205 mmrain in the month
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandCebu

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). Cebu: 1991-2020 normals, Mactan (7.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandCebu
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriEnglish, Filipino, Taglish
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Philippine Peso (PHP)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number111911
Elevation196 m135 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsMactan Cebu International Airport (CEB)9 km from centre41 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days18 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandCebu
City population1,470,100965,332
People per km²2,6303,065
Museums within 10 km155
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
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 Cebu 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.