VacationSelector
The Guggenheim Museum on the river, Bilbao
BilbaoThe Guggenheim Museum on the river
The fountain on Plaza Mayor, Lima
LimaThe fountain on Plaza Mayor

Photos: Bilbao by José Ligero Loarte, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Lima by James C., CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Bilbao or Lima?

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

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Lima for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Lima’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, Lima 42: Bilbao leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Bilbao 81, Lima 88: Lima leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Bilbao 62, Lima 66: Lima leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Bilbao 54, Lima 62: Lima leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bilbao 75, Lima 45: Bilbao leads by 30 points.
Day trips. Bilbao 78, Lima 34: Bilbao leads by 44 points.
Good for families. Bilbao 55, Lima 42: Bilbao leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Bilbao 79, Lima 35: Bilbao leads by 44 points.
Shopping & style. Bilbao 47, Lima 52: Lima leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Bilbao 44, Lima 70: Lima leads by 26 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bilbao and Lima are level on 53.
Wellness & relaxation. Bilbao 33, Lima 25: Bilbao leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Bilbao and Lima.

Your match

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

Bilbao
Best match
59match

Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.

Lima
51match

Wins on prices and nightlife 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

Lima in July

19 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
1 hsunshine a day
18 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
BilbaoLima

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bilbao: 1991-2020 normals, Bilbao / Sondica (4.1 km from centre). Lima: 1991-2020 normals, Lima-Callao / Aerop. Internacional Jorgechavez (10.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBilbaoLima
Official languageSpanishSpanish, Aymara, Quechua
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Sol (PEN)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5
Emergency number112111 or 911
Elevation19 m154 m
Main airportBilbao Airport (BIO)5 km from centre73 non-stop destinationsJorge Chávez International Airport (LIM)9 km from centre61 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureBilbaoLima
City population351,1249,943,800
People per km²8,4403,721
Museums within 10 km1747
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km22
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month2 months

Where else could you go?

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