VacationSelector
San Petronio on Piazza Maggiore, Bologna
BolognaSan Petronio on Piazza Maggiore
The Three Graces fountain, Place de la Bourse, Bordeaux
BordeauxThe Three Graces fountain, Place de la Bourse

Photos: Bologna by Vanni Lazzari, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Bordeaux by Gzen92, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Bologna or Bordeaux?

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 Bologna for

  • day trips
  • culture and sights
  • nightlife

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

Choose Bordeaux for

  • beaches
  • families
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Bordeaux’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. Bologna 30, Bordeaux 50: Bordeaux leads by 20 points.
Food & drink. Bologna 82, Bordeaux 78: Bologna leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Bologna 77, Bordeaux 68: Bologna leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Bologna 58, Bordeaux 50: Bologna leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bologna 52, Bordeaux 58: Bordeaux leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Bologna 95, Bordeaux 78: Bologna leads by 17 points.
Good for families. Bologna 50, Bordeaux 57: Bordeaux leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Bologna and Bordeaux are level on 76.
Shopping & style. Bologna 55, Bordeaux 56: Bordeaux leads by 1 points.
Affordability. Bologna 48, Bordeaux 42: Bologna leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bologna 60, Bordeaux 55: Bologna leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bologna and Bordeaux are level on 40.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Bologna and Bordeaux.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Bologna
60match

Wins on day trips and culture and sights with your weighting.

Bordeaux
59match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Bologna in July

32 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
39 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Bordeaux in July

27 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
47 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
BolognaBordeaux

Where the figures come from

Bologna has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Bologna's sunshine is measured 82 km from the centre, at Cervia.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bologna: 1991-2020 normals, Bologna / Borgo Panigale (5.5 km from centre). Bordeaux: 1991-2020 normals, Bordeaux / Merignac (9.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBolognaBordeaux
Official languageItalianFrench
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCFL230 V, 50 HzCE230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation54 m1 m
Main airportBologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport (BLQ)6 km from centre98 non-stop destinationsBordeaux–Mérignac Airport (BOD)11 km from centre95 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureBolognaBordeaux
City population387,971267,991
People per km²2,7545,425
Museums within 10 km6818
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km34

Where else could you go?

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