VacationSelector
The Texas State Capitol under a blue sky, Austin
AustinThe Texas State Capitol under a blue sky
The Atomium, Brussels
BrusselsThe Atomium

Photos: Austin by LoneStarMike, CC BY 3.0, cropped; Brussels by Ettanghe, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Austin or Brussels?

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 Austin for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Brussels for

  • getting around
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Brussels’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. Austin 30, Brussels 18: Austin leads by 12 points.
Food & drink. Austin 66, Brussels 72: Brussels leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Austin 40, Brussels 74: Brussels leads by 34 points.
Nightlife. Austin 65, Brussels 60: Austin leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Austin 57, Brussels 45: Austin leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Austin 58, Brussels 89: Brussels leads by 31 points.
Good for families. Austin 55, Brussels 60: Brussels leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Austin 30, Brussels 72: Brussels leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Austin 45, Brussels 62: Brussels leads by 17 points.
Affordability. Austin 33, Brussels 40: Brussels leads by 7 points.
Live music & performing arts. Austin 77, Brussels 68: Austin leads by 9 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Austin 40, Brussels 33: Austin leads by 7 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Austin and Brussels.

Your match

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

Austin
50match

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

Brussels
Best match
58match

Wins on getting around and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Austin in July

36 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
49 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Brussels in July

23 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
80 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AustinBrussels

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Austin: 1991-2020 normals, Camp Mabry/Austin City Asos (3.7 km from centre). Brussels: 1991-2020 normals, Uccle (5.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAustinBrussels
Official language-French, German, Dutch
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCE230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation149 m70 m
Main airportAustin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)13 km from centre91 non-stop destinationsBrussels Airport (BRU)11 km from centre191 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureAustinBrussels
City population961,855195,546
People per km²1,2175,908
Museums within 10 km21106
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km010

Where else could you go?

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