VacationSelector
The Atomium, Brussels
BrusselsThe Atomium
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city

Photos: Brussels by Ettanghe, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License.

Brussels or Chiang Mai?

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 Brussels for

  • day trips
  • live music and the arts
  • getting around

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

Choose Chiang Mai for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Chiang Mai’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. Brussels 18, Chiang Mai 6: Brussels leads by 12 points.
Food & drink. Brussels 72, Chiang Mai 78: Chiang Mai leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Brussels 74, Chiang Mai 65: Brussels leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Brussels 60, Chiang Mai 45: Brussels leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Brussels 45, Chiang Mai 73: Chiang Mai leads by 28 points.
Day trips. Brussels 89, Chiang Mai 48: Brussels leads by 41 points.
Good for families. Brussels 60, Chiang Mai 55: Brussels leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Brussels 72, Chiang Mai 38: Brussels leads by 34 points.
Shopping & style. Brussels and Chiang Mai are level on 62.
Affordability. Brussels 40, Chiang Mai 90: Chiang Mai leads by 50 points.
Live music & performing arts. Brussels 68, Chiang Mai 30: Brussels leads by 38 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Brussels 33, Chiang Mai 82: Chiang Mai leads by 49 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Brussels and Chiang Mai.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Brussels
58match

Wins on day trips and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Chiang Mai
56match

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.

Brussels in July

23 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
80 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Chiang Mai in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
153 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
BrusselsChiang Mai

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Brussels: 1991-2020 normals, Uccle (5.2 km from centre). Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBrusselsChiang Mai
Official languageFrench, German, DutchThai
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Baht (THB)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzABCF220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+7
Emergency number112Police 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199
Elevation70 m310 m
Main airportBrussels Airport (BRU)11 km from centre191 non-stop destinationsChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days-

By the numbers

MeasureBrusselsChiang Mai
City population195,5461,198,000
People per km²5,9082,958
Museums within 10 km1066
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km100

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Brussels or Chiang Mai 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.