VacationSelector
The Atomium, Brussels
BrusselsThe Atomium
The Hofburg and Heldenplatz, Vienna
ViennaThe Hofburg and Heldenplatz

Photos: Brussels by Ettanghe, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Vienna by C.Stadler/Bwag, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT, cropped.

Brussels or Vienna?

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
  • nightlife
  • food and drink

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

Choose Vienna for

  • live music and the arts
  • wellness
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Vienna’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, Vienna 27: Vienna leads by 9 points.
Food & drink. Brussels 72, Vienna 68: Brussels leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Brussels 74, Vienna 89: Vienna leads by 15 points.
Nightlife. Brussels 60, Vienna 50: Brussels leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Brussels 45, Vienna 62: Vienna leads by 17 points.
Day trips. Brussels 89, Vienna 74: Brussels leads by 15 points.
Good for families. Brussels 60, Vienna 77: Vienna leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Brussels 72, Vienna 90: Vienna leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Brussels and Vienna are level on 62.
Affordability. Brussels 40, Vienna 44: Vienna leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. Brussels 68, Vienna 96: Vienna leads by 28 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Brussels 33, Vienna 58: Vienna leads by 25 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Brussels
58match

Wins on day trips and nightlife with your weighting.

Vienna
Best match
66match

Wins on live music and the arts 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

Vienna in July

27 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
78 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
BrusselsVienna

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Brussels: 1991-2020 normals, Uccle (5.2 km from centre). Vienna: 1991-2020 normals, Wien / Hohe Warte (4.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBrusselsVienna
Official languageFrench, German, DutchGerman, Austrian Sign Language
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCE230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation70 m151 m
Main airportBrussels Airport (BRU)11 km from centre191 non-stop destinationsVienna International Airport (VIE)18 km from centre202 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureBrusselsVienna
City population195,5462,028,289
People per km²5,9084,890
Museums within 10 km106152
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km103

Where else could you go?

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