VacationSelector
Wat Pho, Bangkok
BangkokWat Pho
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade

Photos: Bangkok by Lu Zhao, Pexels License; Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License.

Bangkok 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 Bangkok for

  • culture and sights
  • nightlife
  • shopping

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

Choose Izmir for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • day trips

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. Bangkok 12, Izmir 62: Izmir leads by 50 points.
Food & drink. Bangkok 95, Izmir 72: Bangkok leads by 23 points.
Culture & sights. Bangkok 80, Izmir 55: Bangkok leads by 25 points.
Nightlife. Bangkok 85, Izmir 60: Bangkok leads by 25 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bangkok 25, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 41 points.
Day trips. Bangkok 72, Izmir 86: Izmir leads by 14 points.
Good for families. Bangkok 50, Izmir 55: Izmir leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Bangkok 50, Izmir 63: Izmir leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. Bangkok 80, Izmir 55: Bangkok leads by 25 points.
Affordability. Bangkok 85, Izmir 66: Bangkok leads by 19 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bangkok 52, Izmir 48: Bangkok leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bangkok 75, Izmir 57: Bangkok leads by 18 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Bangkok
63match

Wins on culture and sights and nightlife with your weighting.

Izmir
62match

Wins on beaches 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.

Bangkok in July

34 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
184 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
30 °Csea
13 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

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
BangkokIzmir

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bangkok: 1991-2020 normals, Bangkok (5.7 km from centre). Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBangkokIzmir
Official languageThaiTurkish
CurrencyBaht (THB)Turkish Lira (TRY)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+3
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199112
Elevation2 m2 m
Main airportSuvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)26 km from centre150 non-stop destinationsAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-14 days

By the numbers

MeasureBangkokIzmir
City population5,676,6484,493,242
People per km²3,6194,760
Museums within 10 km5929
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Bangkok 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). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.