VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
Hawthorne Bridge and downtown, Portland
PortlandHawthorne Bridge and downtown

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Portland by Cacophony, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Auckland or Portland?

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
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Portland for

  • getting around
  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Portland’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, Portland 20: Auckland leads by 48 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Portland 68: Portland leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Portland 38: Auckland leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Portland 52: Portland leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Portland 84: Portland leads by 1 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Portland 58: Portland leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Portland 55: Auckland leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Portland 62: Portland leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Portland 52: Portland leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Portland 38: Portland leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Portland 55: Portland leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Portland 42: Auckland leads by 3 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Portland.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Auckland
53match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Portland
52match

Wins on getting around and nightlife 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

Portland in July

27 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandPortland

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). Portland: 1991-2020 normals, Portland International Airport (9.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandPortland
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, Māori-
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number111911
Elevation196 m152 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsPortland International Airport (PDX)10 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandPortland
City population1,470,100652,503
People per km²2,6301,736
Museums within 10 km1517
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 Portland 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.