VacationSelector
The Atomium, Brussels
BrusselsThe Atomium
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière

Photos: Brussels by Ettanghe, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Brussels or Lyon?

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
  • beaches
  • shopping

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

Choose Lyon for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • food and drink
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Lyon’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, Lyon 12: Brussels leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Brussels 72, Lyon 84: Lyon leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Brussels 74, Lyon 77: Lyon leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. Brussels 60, Lyon 58: Brussels leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Brussels 45, Lyon 64: Lyon leads by 19 points.
Day trips. Brussels 89, Lyon 77: Brussels leads by 12 points.
Good for families. Brussels 60, Lyon 62: Lyon leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Brussels 72, Lyon 77: Lyon leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Brussels 62, Lyon 58: Brussels leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Brussels 40, Lyon 42: Lyon leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Brussels and Lyon are level on 68.
Wellness & relaxation. Brussels 33, Lyon 40: Lyon leads by 7 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Brussels and Lyon.

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 beaches with your weighting.

Lyon
60match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and food and drink 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

Lyon in July

28 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
66 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
BrusselsLyon

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Brussels: 1991-2020 normals, Uccle (5.2 km from centre). Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBrusselsLyon
Official languageFrench, German, DutchFrench
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCE230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation70 m160 m
Main airportBrussels Airport (BRU)11 km from centre191 non-stop destinationsLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureBrusselsLyon
City population195,546519,127
People per km²5,90810,838
Museums within 10 km10643
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km102

Where else could you go?

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