VacationSelector
The Guggenheim Museum on the river, Bilbao
BilbaoThe Guggenheim Museum on the river
The Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo, Mexico City
Mexico CityThe Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo

Photos: Bilbao by José Ligero Loarte, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Mexico City by Oscar Dominguez, Pexels License.

Bilbao or Mexico City?

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

  • beaches
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Mexico City for

  • prices
  • shopping
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Mexico City’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, Mexico City 5: Bilbao leads by 40 points.
Food & drink. Bilbao 81, Mexico City 90: Mexico City leads by 9 points.
Culture & sights. Bilbao 62, Mexico City 88: Mexico City leads by 26 points.
Nightlife. Bilbao 54, Mexico City 80: Mexico City leads by 26 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bilbao 75, Mexico City 50: Bilbao leads by 25 points.
Day trips. Bilbao 78, Mexico City 75: Bilbao leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Bilbao 55, Mexico City 58: Mexico City leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Bilbao 79, Mexico City 50: Bilbao leads by 29 points.
Shopping & style. Bilbao 47, Mexico City 76: Mexico City leads by 29 points.
Affordability. Bilbao 44, Mexico City 75: Mexico City leads by 31 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bilbao 53, Mexico City 72: Mexico City leads by 19 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bilbao 33, Mexico City 40: Mexico City leads by 7 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Bilbao and Mexico City.

Your match

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

Bilbao
59match

Wins on beaches and getting around with your weighting.

Mexico City
Best match
63match

Wins on prices 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

Mexico City in July

25 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
176 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
BilbaoMexico City

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bilbao: 1991-2020 normals, Bilbao / Sondica (4.1 km from centre). Mexico City: 1991-2020 normals, Mexico Central, D. F. (7.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBilbaoMexico City
Official languageSpanishSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-6
Emergency number112911
Elevation19 m2,240 m
Main airportBilbao Airport (BIO)5 km from centre73 non-stop destinationsMexico City Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX)7 km from centre109 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days9 days

By the numbers

MeasureBilbaoMexico City
City population351,1249,209,944
People per km²8,4406,202
Museums within 10 km17108
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km26
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 Mexico City 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.