VacationSelector
Bryggen across Vågen, Bergen
BergenBryggen across Vågen
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Bergen by Abdullah Guc, Pexels License; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Bergen or Philadelphia?

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 Bergen for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around
  • wellness

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • day trips
  • prices
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’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. Bergen 20, Philadelphia 36: Philadelphia leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Bergen 47, Philadelphia 62: Philadelphia leads by 15 points.
Culture & sights. Bergen 55, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Bergen 40, Philadelphia 55: Philadelphia leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bergen 88, Philadelphia 52: Bergen leads by 36 points.
Day trips. Bergen 38, Philadelphia 80: Philadelphia leads by 42 points.
Good for families. Bergen 60, Philadelphia 68: Philadelphia leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Bergen 74, Philadelphia 66: Bergen leads by 8 points.
Shopping & style. Bergen 33, Philadelphia 57: Philadelphia leads by 24 points.
Affordability. Bergen 12, Philadelphia 40: Philadelphia leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bergen 58, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 14 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bergen 32, Philadelphia 26: Bergen leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Bergen and Philadelphia.

Your match

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

Bergen
46match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and getting around with your weighting.

Philadelphia
Best match
57match

Wins on day trips and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Bergen in July

20 °Cdaytime high
12 °Cnight-time low
159 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
15 °Csea
18 hdaylight a day

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
BergenPhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bergen: 1991-2020 normals, Bergen / Florida (1.2 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBergenPhiladelphia
Official languageNorwegian, Nynorsk, Bokmål, Sámi-
CurrencyNorwegian Krone (NOK)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112, ambulance 113, fire 110911
Elevation5 m12 m
Main airportBergen Airport, Flesland (BGO)12 km from centre64 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureBergenPhiladelphia
City population291,1891,603,797
People per km²3,3394,339
Museums within 10 km3154
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Bergen or Philadelphia 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). 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. 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.