VacationSelector
The Fisherman's Bastion, Budapest
BudapestThe Fisherman's Bastion
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Budapest by Perituss, CC0; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Budapest or Philadelphia?

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
  • nightlife
  • prices

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • day trips
  • beaches
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’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, Philadelphia 36: Philadelphia leads by 11 points.
Food & drink. Budapest 63, Philadelphia 62: Budapest leads by 1 points.
Culture & sights. Budapest 80, Philadelphia 72: Budapest leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Budapest 78, Philadelphia 55: Budapest leads by 23 points.
Nature & outdoors. Budapest 58, Philadelphia 52: Budapest leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Budapest 68, Philadelphia 80: Philadelphia leads by 12 points.
Good for families. Budapest 62, Philadelphia 68: Philadelphia leads by 6 points.
Getting around. Budapest 78, Philadelphia 66: Budapest leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Budapest 55, Philadelphia 57: Philadelphia leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Budapest 62, Philadelphia 40: Budapest leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Budapest 76, Philadelphia 72: Budapest leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Budapest 98, Philadelphia 26: Budapest leads by 72 points.
0255075100

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

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 nightlife with your weighting.

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on day trips and beaches 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
16 hdaylight a day

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
BudapestPhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Budapest: 1991-2020 normals, Budapest Met Center (2.1 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBudapestPhiladelphia
Official languageHungarian-
CurrencyForint (HUF)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation117 m12 m
Main airportBudapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport (BUD)18 km from centre157 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureBudapestPhiladelphia
City population1,675,7771,603,797
People per km²3,1914,339
Museums within 10 km8154
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11

Where else could you go?

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