VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
The terrace on Cerro Santa Lucía, Santiago
SantiagoThe terrace on Cerro Santa Lucía

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

Auckland or Santiago?

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
  • wellness

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

Choose Santiago for

  • getting around
  • prices
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Santiago’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, Santiago 12: Auckland leads by 56 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Santiago 60: Auckland leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Santiago 52: Santiago leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Santiago 60: Santiago leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland and Santiago are level on 83.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Santiago 70: Santiago leads by 15 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Santiago 57: Auckland leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Santiago 68: Santiago leads by 26 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Santiago 52: Santiago leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Santiago 58: Santiago leads by 26 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Santiago 55: Santiago leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Santiago 37: Auckland leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Santiago.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Auckland
53match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Santiago
55match

Wins on getting around and prices 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

Santiago in July

14 °Cdaytime high
4 °Cnight-time low
52 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandSantiago

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). Santiago: 1991-2020 normals, Santiago Q. Normal (3.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandSantiago
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriSpanish
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Chilean Peso (CLP)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzCL220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC-4, UTC-3 in summer
Emergency number111Police 133/134, ambulance 131, fire 132
Elevation196 m575 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsComodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL)14 km from centre67 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandSantiago
City population1,470,1006,257,516
People per km²2,6307,468
Museums within 10 km1554
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 Santiago 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.