VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
A jetty on the lagoon, Faro
FaroA jetty on the lagoon

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Faro by Efrem Efre, Pexels License.

Auckland or Faro?

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
  • live music and the arts
  • food and drink

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

Choose Faro for

  • prices
  • getting around
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Faro’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, Faro 74: Faro leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Faro 48: Auckland leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Faro 35: Auckland leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Faro 32: Auckland leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Faro 62: Auckland leads by 21 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Faro 64: Faro leads by 9 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Faro 60: Auckland leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Faro 60: Faro leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Faro 35: Auckland leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Faro 60: Faro leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Faro 30: Auckland leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Faro 33: Auckland leads by 12 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Faro.

Your match

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

Auckland
Best match
53match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Faro
49match

Wins on prices and getting around 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

Faro in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandFaro

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). Faro: 1991-2020 normals, Faro / Aeroporto (2.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandFaro
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriPortuguese
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Euro (EUR)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC, UTC+1 in summer
Emergency number111112
Elevation196 m10 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsFaro - Gago Coutinho International Airport (FAO)3 km from centre91 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandFaro
City population1,470,10064,560
People per km²2,630319
Museums within 10 km152
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month3 months

Where else could you go?

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