VacationSelector
The Story Bridge from Howard Smith Wharves, Brisbane
BrisbaneThe Story Bridge from Howard Smith Wharves
Durban

Photos: Brisbane by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Brisbane or Durban?

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 Brisbane for

  • getting around
  • families
  • nightlife

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

Choose Durban for

  • prices
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Durban’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. Brisbane 55, Durban 80: Durban leads by 25 points.
Food & drink. Brisbane and Durban are level on 60.
Culture & sights. Brisbane 42, Durban 38: Brisbane leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Brisbane 55, Durban 40: Brisbane leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Brisbane 74, Durban 68: Brisbane leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Brisbane 50, Durban 38: Brisbane leads by 12 points.
Good for families. Brisbane 78, Durban 60: Brisbane leads by 18 points.
Getting around. Brisbane 62, Durban 20: Brisbane leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Brisbane 45, Durban 42: Brisbane leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Brisbane 33, Durban 72: Durban leads by 39 points.
Live music & performing arts. Brisbane 55, Durban 40: Brisbane leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Brisbane 40, Durban 30: Brisbane leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Brisbane and Durban.

Your match

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

Brisbane
Best match
54match

Wins on getting around and families with your weighting.

Durban
49match

Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Brisbane in July

22 °Cdaytime high
10 °Cnight-time low
27 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
20 °Csea
11 hdaylight a day

Durban in July

23 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
44 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
22 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
BrisbaneDurban

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Brisbane: 1991-2020 normals, Brisbane (4.5 km from centre). Durban: 1991-2020 normals, Durban, Durban International Airport (14.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBrisbaneDurban
Official languageEnglishEnglish, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Venda, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Sesotho, Southern Ndebele, South African Sign Language
CurrencyAustralian Dollar (AUD)Rand (ZAR)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzCMN230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+10UTC+2
Emergency number000112
Elevation0 m22 m
Main airportBrisbane International Airport (BNE)13 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsKing Shaka International Airport (DUR)29 km from centre13 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureBrisbaneDurban
City population2,706,966595,061
People per km²1712,634
Museums within 10 km161
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C9 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Brisbane or Durban 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). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.

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.