VacationSelector
The Forbidden City, Beijing
BeijingThe Forbidden City
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade

Photos: Beijing by BI ravencrow, Pexels License; Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License.

Beijing 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 Beijing for

  • culture and sights
  • live music and the arts
  • shopping

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

Choose Izmir for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • nightlife

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. Beijing 6, Izmir 62: Izmir leads by 56 points.
Food & drink. Beijing 81, Izmir 72: Beijing leads by 9 points.
Culture & sights. Beijing 93, Izmir 55: Beijing leads by 38 points.
Nightlife. Beijing 58, Izmir 60: Izmir leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Beijing 60, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Beijing 85, Izmir 86: Izmir leads by 1 points.
Good for families. Beijing 64, Izmir 55: Beijing leads by 9 points.
Getting around. Beijing 69, Izmir 63: Beijing leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Beijing 72, Izmir 55: Beijing leads by 17 points.
Affordability. Beijing 68, Izmir 66: Beijing leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Beijing 68, Izmir 48: Beijing leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Beijing 55, Izmir 57: Izmir leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Beijing and Izmir.

Your match

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

Beijing
Best match
65match

Wins on culture and sights and live music and the arts 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.

Beijing in July

32 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
163 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
No seasea
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

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
BeijingIzmir

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Beijing: 1991-2020 normals, Beijing (11.1 km from centre). Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBeijingIzmir
Official languagePutonghuaTurkish
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Turkish Lira (TRY)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+3
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119112
Elevation43 m2 m
Main airportBeijing Capital International Airport (PEK)25 km from centre104 non-stop destinationsAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureBeijingIzmir
City population21,893,0954,493,242
People per km²1,3344,760
Museums within 10 km8329
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km60
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Beijing 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. 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.