VacationSelector
The Atomium, Brussels
BrusselsThe Atomium
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade

Photos: Brussels by Ettanghe, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License.

Brussels or Izmir?

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

  • live music and the arts
  • culture and sights
  • getting around

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

Choose Izmir for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Izmir’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, Izmir 62: Izmir leads by 44 points.
Food & drink. Brussels and Izmir are level on 72.
Culture & sights. Brussels 74, Izmir 55: Brussels leads by 19 points.
Nightlife. Brussels and Izmir are level on 60.
Nature & outdoors. Brussels 45, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 21 points.
Day trips. Brussels 89, Izmir 86: Brussels leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Brussels 60, Izmir 55: Brussels leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Brussels 72, Izmir 63: Brussels leads by 9 points.
Shopping & style. Brussels 62, Izmir 55: Brussels leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Brussels 40, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 26 points.
Live music & performing arts. Brussels 68, Izmir 48: Brussels leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Brussels 33, Izmir 57: Izmir leads by 24 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Brussels and Izmir.

Your match

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

Brussels
58match

Wins on live music and the arts and culture and sights with your weighting.

Izmir
Best match
62match

Wins on beaches and prices 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
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Izmir in July

34 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
13 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
BrusselsIzmir

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Brussels: 1991-2020 normals, Uccle (5.2 km from centre). Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBrusselsIzmir
Official languageFrench, German, DutchTurkish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Turkish Lira (TRY)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number112112
Elevation70 m2 m
Main airportBrussels Airport (BRU)11 km from centre191 non-stop destinationsAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureBrusselsIzmir
City population195,5464,493,242
People per km²5,9084,760
Museums within 10 km10629
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km100
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

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