VacationSelector
The Guggenheim Museum on the river, Bilbao
BilbaoThe Guggenheim Museum on the river
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade

Photos: Bilbao by José Ligero Loarte, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License.

Bilbao or Izmir?

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

  • getting around
  • food and drink
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Izmir for

  • wellness
  • prices
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Izmir’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, Izmir 62: Izmir leads by 17 points.
Food & drink. Bilbao 81, Izmir 72: Bilbao leads by 9 points.
Culture & sights. Bilbao 62, Izmir 55: Bilbao leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Bilbao 54, Izmir 60: Izmir leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bilbao 75, Izmir 66: Bilbao leads by 9 points.
Day trips. Bilbao 78, Izmir 86: Izmir leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Bilbao and Izmir are level on 55.
Getting around. Bilbao 79, Izmir 63: Bilbao leads by 16 points.
Shopping & style. Bilbao 47, Izmir 55: Izmir leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Bilbao 44, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bilbao 53, Izmir 48: Bilbao leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bilbao 33, Izmir 57: Izmir leads by 24 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Bilbao and Izmir.

Your match

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

Bilbao
59match

Wins on getting around and food and drink with your weighting.

Izmir
Best match
62match

Wins on wellness 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.

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

Izmir in July

34 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
13 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
BilbaoIzmir

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bilbao: 1991-2020 normals, Bilbao / Sondica (4.1 km from centre). Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBilbaoIzmir
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 m2 m
Main airportBilbao Airport (BIO)5 km from centre73 non-stop destinationsAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureBilbaoIzmir
City population351,1244,493,242
People per km²8,4404,760
Museums within 10 km1729
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Bilbao or Izmir 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.