VacationSelector
Bryggen across Vågen, Bergen
BergenBryggen across Vågen
The Space Needle behind Pier 70, Seattle
SeattleThe Space Needle behind Pier 70

Photos: Bergen by Abdullah Guc, Pexels License; Seattle by Caio, Pexels License.

Bergen or Seattle?

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

  • getting around
  • culture and sights
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Seattle for

  • food and drink
  • shopping
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Seattle’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, Seattle 30: Seattle leads by 10 points.
Food & drink. Bergen 47, Seattle 66: Seattle leads by 19 points.
Culture & sights. Bergen 55, Seattle 50: Bergen leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Bergen 40, Seattle 55: Seattle leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bergen 88, Seattle 87: Bergen leads by 1 points.
Day trips. Bergen 38, Seattle 55: Seattle leads by 17 points.
Good for families. Bergen 60, Seattle 64: Seattle leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Bergen 74, Seattle 60: Bergen leads by 14 points.
Shopping & style. Bergen 33, Seattle 52: Seattle leads by 19 points.
Affordability. Bergen 12, Seattle 22: Seattle leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bergen 58, Seattle 70: Seattle leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bergen 32, Seattle 40: Seattle leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Bergen and Seattle.

Your match

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

Bergen
46match

Wins on getting around and culture and sights with your weighting.

Seattle
Best match
54match

Wins on food and drink and shopping 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
15 °Csea
18 hdaylight a day

Seattle in July

25 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
15 mmrain in the month
12 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
BergenSeattle

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bergen: 1991-2020 normals, Bergen / Florida (1.2 km from centre). Seattle: 1991-2020 normals, Seattle-Tacoma Airport (17.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBergenSeattle
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-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 112, ambulance 113, fire 110911
Elevation5 m40 m
Main airportBergen Airport, Flesland (BGO)12 km from centre64 non-stop destinationsSeattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)18 km from centre135 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureBergenSeattle
City population291,189737,015
People per km²3,3391,996
Museums within 10 km3127
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °CNoneNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Bergen or Seattle 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.