VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
The Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco
San FranciscoThe Golden Gate Bridge

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; San Francisco by Elijah Cobb, Pexels License.

Auckland or San Francisco?

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
  • prices
  • families

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

Choose San Francisco for

  • live music and the arts
  • getting around
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on San Francisco’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, San Francisco 25: Auckland leads by 43 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, San Francisco 82: San Francisco leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, San Francisco 68: San Francisco leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, San Francisco 58: San Francisco leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, San Francisco 80: Auckland leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, San Francisco 72: San Francisco leads by 17 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, San Francisco 66: Auckland leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, San Francisco 70: San Francisco leads by 28 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, San Francisco 58: San Francisco leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, San Francisco 14: Auckland leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, San Francisco 76: San Francisco leads by 31 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, San Francisco 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 San Francisco.

Your match

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

Auckland
53match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

San Francisco
Best match
59match

Wins on live music and the arts 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
14 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

San Francisco in July

22 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
13 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandSan Francisco

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). San Francisco: 1981-2010 normals, Alameda Naval Air Station (9.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandSan Francisco
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 m16 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsSan Francisco International Airport (SFO)18 km from centre142 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandSan Francisco
City population1,470,100873,965
People per km²2,6301,455
Museums within 10 km1551
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 monthNone

Where else could you go?

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