VacationSelector
The Brandenburg Gate, Berlin
BerlinThe Brandenburg Gate
The Johannesburg skyline and the Hillbrow Tower, Johannesburg
JohannesburgThe Johannesburg skyline and the Hillbrow Tower

Photos: Berlin by Claudia Solano, Pexels License; Johannesburg by K, Pexels License.

Berlin or Johannesburg?

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 Berlin for

  • getting around
  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Johannesburg for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Johannesburg’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. Berlin 38, Johannesburg 5: Berlin leads by 33 points.
Food & drink. Berlin 66, Johannesburg 58: Berlin leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Berlin 86, Johannesburg 56: Berlin leads by 30 points.
Nightlife. Berlin 98, Johannesburg 62: Berlin leads by 36 points.
Nature & outdoors. Berlin 50, Johannesburg 55: Johannesburg leads by 5 points.
Day trips. Berlin 66, Johannesburg 52: Berlin leads by 14 points.
Good for families. Berlin 76, Johannesburg 42: Berlin leads by 34 points.
Getting around. Berlin 82, Johannesburg 18: Berlin leads by 64 points.
Shopping & style. Berlin 68, Johannesburg 58: Berlin leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Berlin 48, Johannesburg 72: Johannesburg leads by 24 points.
Live music & performing arts. Berlin 90, Johannesburg 55: Berlin leads by 35 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Berlin 55, Johannesburg 28: Berlin leads by 27 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Berlin and Johannesburg.

Your match

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

Berlin
Best match
69match

Wins on getting around and nightlife with your weighting.

Johannesburg
47match

Wins on prices 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.

Berlin in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
76 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Johannesburg in July

19 °Cdaytime high
4 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
BerlinJohannesburg

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Berlin: 1991-2020 normals, Berlin / Alexanderplatz (0.9 km from centre). Johannesburg: 2005-2019 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Johannesburg B / Roosevelt Park (7.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBerlinJohannesburg
Official languageGermanEnglish, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Venda, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Sesotho, Southern Ndebele, South African Sign Language
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Rand (ZAR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCMN230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+2
Emergency number112112
Elevation34 m1,753 m
Main airportBerlin Brandenburg Airport (BER)19 km from centre161 non-stop destinationsO.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB)22 km from centre84 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureBerlinJohannesburg
City population3,700,5774,803,262
People per km²4,1532,922
Museums within 10 km15714
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km42

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Berlin or Johannesburg 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.