VacationSelector
The Guggenheim Museum on the river, Bilbao
BilbaoThe Guggenheim Museum on the river
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque

Photos: Bilbao by José Ligero Loarte, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License.

Bilbao or Istanbul?

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

  • nature and the outdoors
  • day trips
  • getting around

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

Choose Istanbul for

  • wellness
  • shopping
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Istanbul’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 and Istanbul are level on 45.
Food & drink. Bilbao 81, Istanbul 87: Istanbul leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Bilbao 62, Istanbul 90: Istanbul leads by 28 points.
Nightlife. Bilbao 54, Istanbul 77: Istanbul leads by 23 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bilbao 75, Istanbul 52: Bilbao leads by 23 points.
Day trips. Bilbao 78, Istanbul 55: Bilbao leads by 23 points.
Good for families. Bilbao and Istanbul are level on 55.
Getting around. Bilbao 79, Istanbul 62: Bilbao leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Bilbao 47, Istanbul 86: Istanbul leads by 39 points.
Affordability. Bilbao 44, Istanbul 60: Istanbul leads by 16 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bilbao 53, Istanbul 62: Istanbul leads by 9 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bilbao 33, Istanbul 75: Istanbul leads by 42 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Bilbao and Istanbul.

Your match

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

Bilbao
59match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and day trips with your weighting.

Istanbul
Best match
67match

Wins on wellness 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.

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

Istanbul in July

30 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
BilbaoIstanbul

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bilbao: 1991-2020 normals, Bilbao / Sondica (4.1 km from centre). Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBilbaoIstanbul
Official languageSpanishTurkish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Turkish Lira (TRY)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number112112
Elevation19 m100 m
Main airportBilbao Airport (BIO)5 km from centre73 non-stop destinationsİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureBilbaoIstanbul
City population351,12415,655,924
People per km²8,4402,930
Museums within 10 km1773
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month3 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Bilbao or Istanbul 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. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.