VacationSelector
The Three Graces fountain, Place de la Bourse, Bordeaux
BordeauxThe Three Graces fountain, Place de la Bourse
The Limmat from Quaibrücke, Zurich
ZurichThe Limmat from Quaibrücke

Photos: Bordeaux by Gzen92, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Zurich by Daniel Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Bordeaux or Zurich?

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

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Zurich for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Zurich’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, Zurich 45: Bordeaux leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Bordeaux 78, Zurich 53: Bordeaux leads by 25 points.
Culture & sights. Bordeaux 68, Zurich 58: Bordeaux leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Bordeaux 50, Zurich 62: Zurich leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. Bordeaux 58, Zurich 80: Zurich leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Bordeaux 78, Zurich 84: Zurich leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Bordeaux 57, Zurich 76: Zurich leads by 19 points.
Getting around. Bordeaux 76, Zurich 95: Zurich leads by 19 points.
Shopping & style. Bordeaux 56, Zurich 66: Zurich leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Bordeaux 42, Zurich 3: Bordeaux leads by 39 points.
Live music & performing arts. Bordeaux 55, Zurich 70: Zurich leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Bordeaux 40, Zurich 58: Zurich leads by 18 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Bordeaux and Zurich.

Your match

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

Bordeaux
59match

Wins on prices and food and drink with your weighting.

Zurich
Best match
63match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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.

Bordeaux in July

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

Zurich in July

24 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
126 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
BordeauxZurich

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bordeaux: 1991-2020 normals, Bordeaux / Merignac (9.5 km from centre). Zurich: 1991-2020 normals, Zurich Town / Ville. (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBordeauxZurich
Official languageFrenchFrench, German, Italian, Romansh
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Swiss Franc (CHF)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCJ230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation1 m408 m
Main airportBordeaux–Mérignac Airport (BOD)11 km from centre95 non-stop destinationsZürich Airport (ZRH)9 km from centre226 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureBordeauxZurich
City population267,991440,935
People per km²5,4255,016
Museums within 10 km1863
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km41

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Bordeaux or Zurich 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.