VacationSelector
The Texas State Capitol under a blue sky, Austin
AustinThe Texas State Capitol under a blue sky
The terrace on Cerro Santa Lucía, Santiago
SantiagoThe terrace on Cerro Santa Lucía

Photos: Austin by LoneStarMike, CC BY 3.0, cropped; Santiago by Rjcastillo, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Austin 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 Austin for

  • live music and the arts
  • beaches
  • food and drink

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

Choose Santiago for

  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

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. Austin 30, Santiago 12: Austin leads by 18 points.
Food & drink. Austin 66, Santiago 60: Austin leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Austin 40, Santiago 52: Santiago leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Austin 65, Santiago 60: Austin leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Austin 57, Santiago 83: Santiago leads by 26 points.
Day trips. Austin 58, Santiago 70: Santiago leads by 12 points.
Good for families. Austin 55, Santiago 57: Santiago leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Austin 30, Santiago 68: Santiago leads by 38 points.
Shopping & style. Austin 45, Santiago 52: Santiago leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Austin 33, Santiago 58: Santiago leads by 25 points.
Live music & performing arts. Austin 77, Santiago 55: Austin leads by 22 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Austin 40, Santiago 37: Austin leads by 3 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Austin and Santiago.

Your match

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

Austin
50match

Wins on live music and the arts and beaches with your weighting.

Santiago
Best match
55match

Wins on getting around and nature and the outdoors 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

Santiago in July

14 °Cdaytime high
4 °Cnight-time low
52 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AustinSantiago

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

Before you go

MeasureAustinSantiago
Official language-Spanish
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Chilean Peso (CLP)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCL220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC-4, UTC-3 in summer
Emergency number911Police 133/134, ambulance 131, fire 132
Elevation149 m575 m
Main airportAustin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)13 km from centre91 non-stop destinationsComodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL)14 km from centre67 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureAustinSantiago
City population961,8556,257,516
People per km²1,2177,468
Museums within 10 km2154
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00

Where else could you go?

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