VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License.

Auckland or Chiang Mai?

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
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Chiang Mai for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Chiang Mai’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, Chiang Mai 6: Auckland leads by 62 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Chiang Mai 78: Chiang Mai leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Chiang Mai 65: Chiang Mai leads by 21 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Chiang Mai 45: Chiang Mai leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Chiang Mai 73: Auckland leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Chiang Mai 48: Auckland leads by 7 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Chiang Mai 55: Auckland leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Chiang Mai 38: Auckland leads by 4 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Chiang Mai 62: Chiang Mai leads by 17 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Chiang Mai 90: Chiang Mai leads by 58 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Chiang Mai 30: Auckland leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Chiang Mai 82: Chiang Mai leads by 37 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Chiang Mai.

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.

Chiang Mai
Best match
56match

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
No recordsunshine a day
14 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Chiang Mai in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
153 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandChiang Mai

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). Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandChiang Mai
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriThai
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Baht (THB)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzABCF220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC+7
Emergency number111Police 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199
Elevation196 m310 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandChiang Mai
City population1,470,1001,198,000
People per km²2,6302,958
Museums within 10 km156
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Auckland or Chiang Mai 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.