VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License.

Auckland or Istanbul?

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
  • beaches
  • families

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

Choose Istanbul for

  • culture and sights
  • shopping
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Istanbul’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, Istanbul 45: Auckland leads by 23 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Istanbul 87: Istanbul leads by 25 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Istanbul 90: Istanbul leads by 46 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Istanbul 77: Istanbul leads by 35 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Istanbul 52: Auckland leads by 31 points.
Day trips. Auckland and Istanbul are level on 55.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Istanbul 55: Auckland leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Istanbul 62: Istanbul leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Istanbul 86: Istanbul leads by 41 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Istanbul 60: Istanbul leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Istanbul 62: Istanbul leads by 17 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Istanbul 75: Istanbul leads by 30 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Istanbul.

Your match

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

Auckland
53match

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

Istanbul
Best match
67match

Wins on culture and sights and shopping 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

Istanbul in July

30 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandIstanbul

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). Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandIstanbul
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriTurkish
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Turkish Lira (TRY)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number111112
Elevation196 m100 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandIstanbul
City population1,470,10015,655,924
People per km²2,6302,930
Museums within 10 km1573
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
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 Istanbul 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.