VacationSelector
The Guggenheim Museum on the river, Bilbao
BilbaoThe Guggenheim Museum on the river
Tempio Voltiano on the lakeshore, Como
ComoTempio Voltiano on the lakeshore

Photos: Bilbao by José Ligero Loarte, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Como by Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Bilbao or Como?

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 Bilbao for

  • food and drink
  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Como for

  • wellness
  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Como’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. Bilbao 45, Como 36: Bilbao leads by 9 points.
Food & drink. Bilbao 81, Como 45: Bilbao leads by 36 points.
Culture & sights. Bilbao 62, Como 52: Bilbao leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Bilbao 54, Como 22: Bilbao leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bilbao 75, Como 82: Como leads by 7 points.
Day trips. Bilbao 78, Como 87: Como leads by 9 points.
Good for families. Bilbao 55, Como 47: Bilbao leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Bilbao 79, Como 66: Bilbao leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. Bilbao 47, Como 42: Bilbao leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Bilbao 44, Como 30: Bilbao leads by 14 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bilbao 53, Como 34: Bilbao leads by 19 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bilbao 33, Como 44: Como leads by 11 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Bilbao
Best match
59match

Wins on food and drink and nightlife with your weighting.

Como
49match

Wins on wellness and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Bilbao in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
54 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Como in July

27 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
158 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
BilbaoComo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bilbao: 1991-2020 normals, Bilbao / Sondica (4.1 km from centre). Como: 1991-2020 normals, Lugano (23 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBilbaoComo
Official languageSpanishItalian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCFL230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation19 m201 m
Main airportBilbao Airport (BIO)5 km from centre73 non-stop destinationsMilan Malpensa International Airport (MXP)34 km from centre208 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureBilbaoComo
City population351,12483,184
People per km²8,4402,242
Museums within 10 km1711
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km28
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Bilbao or Como 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). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.