VacationSelector
Wat Pho, Bangkok
BangkokWat Pho
Shitennō-ji temple, Osaka
OsakaShitennō-ji temple

Photos: Bangkok by Lu Zhao, Pexels License; Osaka by Sarmat Batagov, Pexels License.

Bangkok or Osaka?

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

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • wellness

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

Choose Osaka for

  • getting around
  • families
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Osaka’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, Osaka 34: Osaka leads by 22 points.
Food & drink. Bangkok 95, Osaka 91: Bangkok leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Bangkok 80, Osaka 63: Bangkok leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Bangkok 85, Osaka 80: Bangkok leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bangkok 25, Osaka 58: Osaka leads by 33 points.
Day trips. Bangkok 72, Osaka 97: Osaka leads by 25 points.
Good for families. Bangkok 50, Osaka 88: Osaka leads by 38 points.
Getting around. Bangkok 50, Osaka 90: Osaka leads by 40 points.
Shopping & style. Bangkok and Osaka are level on 80.
Affordability. Bangkok 85, Osaka 60: Bangkok leads by 25 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bangkok 52, Osaka 66: Osaka leads by 14 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bangkok 75, Osaka 66: Bangkok leads by 9 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Bangkok
63match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Osaka
Best match
73match

Wins on getting around and families 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

Osaka in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
175 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
BangkokOsaka

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bangkok: 1991-2020 normals, Bangkok (5.7 km from centre). Osaka: 1991-2020 normals, Osaka (1.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBangkokOsaka
Official languageThaiJapanese
CurrencyBaht (THB)Yen (JPY)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the region
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+9
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199Police 110, fire 119
Elevation2 m20 m
Main airportSuvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)26 km from centre150 non-stop destinationsKansai International Airport (KIX)38 km from centre62 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-16 days

By the numbers

MeasureBangkokOsaka
City population5,676,6482,751,862
People per km²3,61912,340
Museums within 10 km5944
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km06
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 Osaka 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. 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.