VacationSelector
The Flame Towers from the seafront, Baku
BakuThe Flame Towers from the seafront
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade

Photos: Baku by Zulfugar Karimov, Pexels License; Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License.

Baku or Izmir?

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 Baku for

  • culture and sights
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Izmir for

  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Izmir’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. Baku 40, Izmir 62: Izmir leads by 22 points.
Food & drink. Baku 60, Izmir 72: Izmir leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Baku 62, Izmir 55: Baku leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Baku 42, Izmir 60: Izmir leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Baku 30, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 36 points.
Day trips. Baku 45, Izmir 86: Izmir leads by 41 points.
Good for families. Baku 45, Izmir 55: Izmir leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Baku 58, Izmir 63: Izmir leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Baku 48, Izmir 55: Izmir leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Baku 64, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Baku 52, Izmir 48: Baku leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Baku 30, Izmir 57: Izmir leads by 27 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Baku and Izmir.

Your match

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

Baku
48match

Wins on culture and sights and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Izmir
Best match
62match

Wins on day trips 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.

Baku in July

30 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
5 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Izmir in July

34 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
13 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
BakuIzmir

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Baku: 1991-2020 normals, Mashtaga (23.2 km from centre). Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBakuIzmir
Official languageAzerbaijani, Azerbaijani Sign LanguageTurkish
CurrencyAzerbaijan Manat (AZN)Turkish Lira (TRY)
SocketsCF220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+3
Emergency number102 or 112112
Elevation-28 m2 m
Main airportHeydar Aliyev International Airport (GYD)22 km from centre79 non-stop destinationsAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-14 days

By the numbers

MeasureBakuIzmir
City population2,300,5004,493,242
People per km²1,0754,760
Museums within 10 km5029
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20
Swim season, months above 21 °C4 months5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Baku or Izmir 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). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.