VacationSelector
The Three Graces fountain, Place de la Bourse, Bordeaux
BordeauxThe Three Graces fountain, Place de la Bourse
Yellow colonial houses in the walled city, Cartagena
CartagenaYellow colonial houses in the walled city

Photos: Bordeaux by Gzen92, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Cartagena by Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Bordeaux or Cartagena?

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 Bordeaux for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • families

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

Choose Cartagena for

  • beaches
  • nightlife
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Cartagena’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. Bordeaux 50, Cartagena 70: Cartagena leads by 20 points.
Food & drink. Bordeaux 78, Cartagena 62: Bordeaux leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Bordeaux and Cartagena are level on 68.
Nightlife. Bordeaux 50, Cartagena 70: Cartagena leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bordeaux 58, Cartagena 46: Bordeaux leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Bordeaux 78, Cartagena 33: Bordeaux leads by 45 points.
Good for families. Bordeaux 57, Cartagena 40: Bordeaux leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Bordeaux 76, Cartagena 54: Bordeaux leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Bordeaux 56, Cartagena 48: Bordeaux leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Bordeaux 42, Cartagena 60: Cartagena leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bordeaux 55, Cartagena 40: Bordeaux leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bordeaux and Cartagena are level on 40.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Bordeaux and Cartagena.

Your match

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

Bordeaux
Best match
59match

Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.

Cartagena
53match

Wins on beaches 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.

Bordeaux in July

27 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
47 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Cartagena in July

31 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
124 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
30 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
BordeauxCartagena

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bordeaux: 1991-2020 normals, Bordeaux / Merignac (9.5 km from centre). Cartagena: 1991-2020 normals, Cartagena / Rafael Nunez (3.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBordeauxCartagena
Official languageFrenchSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Colombian Peso (COP)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5
Emergency number112123
Elevation1 m2 m
Main airportBordeaux–Mérignac Airport (BOD)11 km from centre95 non-stop destinationsRafael Nuñez International Airport (CTG)2 km from centre26 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days19 days

By the numbers

MeasureBordeauxCartagena
City population267,991914,552
People per km²5,4251,599
Museums within 10 km182
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km41
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Bordeaux or Cartagena 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.