VacationSelector
The Fisherman's Bastion, Budapest
BudapestThe Fisherman's Bastion
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade

Photos: Budapest by Perituss, CC0; Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License.

Budapest 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 Budapest for

  • wellness
  • live music and the arts
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Izmir for

  • beaches
  • day trips
  • food and drink

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. Budapest 25, Izmir 62: Izmir leads by 37 points.
Food & drink. Budapest 63, Izmir 72: Izmir leads by 9 points.
Culture & sights. Budapest 80, Izmir 55: Budapest leads by 25 points.
Nightlife. Budapest 78, Izmir 60: Budapest leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Budapest 58, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Budapest 68, Izmir 86: Izmir leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Budapest 62, Izmir 55: Budapest leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Budapest 78, Izmir 63: Budapest leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Budapest and Izmir are level on 55.
Affordability. Budapest 62, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. Budapest 76, Izmir 48: Budapest leads by 28 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Budapest 98, Izmir 57: Budapest leads by 41 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Budapest and Izmir.

Your match

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

Budapest
Best match
67match

Wins on wellness and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Izmir
62match

Wins on beaches and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Budapest in July

27 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
75 mmrain in the month
10 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
BudapestIzmir

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Budapest: 1991-2020 normals, Budapest Met Center (2.1 km from centre). Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBudapestIzmir
Official languageHungarianTurkish
CurrencyForint (HUF)Turkish Lira (TRY)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number112112
Elevation117 m2 m
Main airportBudapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport (BUD)18 km from centre157 non-stop destinationsAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureBudapestIzmir
City population1,675,7774,493,242
People per km²3,1914,760
Museums within 10 km8129
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
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 Budapest 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). 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.