VacationSelector
The Guggenheim Museum on the river, Bilbao
BilbaoThe Guggenheim Museum on the river
The Latin Bridge over the Miljacka, Sarajevo
SarajevoThe Latin Bridge over the Miljacka

Photos: Bilbao by José Ligero Loarte, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Sarajevo by Tumi-1983, CC0.

Bilbao or Sarajevo?

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
  • food and drink
  • getting around

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

Choose Sarajevo for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Sarajevo’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, Sarajevo 6: Bilbao leads by 39 points.
Food & drink. Bilbao 81, Sarajevo 60: Bilbao leads by 21 points.
Culture & sights. Bilbao 62, Sarajevo 64: Sarajevo leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Bilbao 54, Sarajevo 44: Bilbao leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bilbao 75, Sarajevo 78: Sarajevo leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Bilbao 78, Sarajevo 62: Bilbao leads by 16 points.
Good for families. Bilbao 55, Sarajevo 38: Bilbao leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Bilbao 79, Sarajevo 60: Bilbao leads by 19 points.
Shopping & style. Bilbao 47, Sarajevo 40: Bilbao leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Bilbao 44, Sarajevo 80: Sarajevo leads by 36 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bilbao 53, Sarajevo 40: Bilbao leads by 13 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bilbao 33, Sarajevo 42: Sarajevo leads by 9 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Bilbao and Sarajevo.

Your match

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

Bilbao
Best match
59match

Wins on beaches and food and drink with your weighting.

Sarajevo
51match

Wins on prices and wellness 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

Sarajevo in July

28 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
75 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
BilbaoSarajevo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bilbao: 1991-2020 normals, Bilbao / Sondica (4.1 km from centre). Sarajevo: 1991-2020 normals, Sarajevo-Bejelave (2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBilbaoSarajevo
Official languageSpanishCroatian, Serbian, Bosnian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Convertible Mark (BAM)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation19 m518 m
Main airportBilbao Airport (BIO)5 km from centre73 non-stop destinationsSarajevo International Airport (SJJ)7 km from centre38 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days8 days

By the numbers

MeasureBilbaoSarajevo
City population351,124275,524
People per km²8,4401,947
Museums within 10 km1725
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
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 Sarajevo 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.