VacationSelector
Haedong Yonggungsa temple on the rocks by the sea, Busan
BusanHaedong Yonggungsa temple on the rocks by the sea
The Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi
HanoiThe Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake

Photos: Busan by Andrea De Santis, Pexels License; Hanoi by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Busan or Hanoi?

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 Busan for

  • beaches
  • families
  • getting around

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

Choose Hanoi for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Hanoi’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. Busan 68, Hanoi 6: Busan leads by 62 points.
Food & drink. Busan 72, Hanoi 85: Hanoi leads by 13 points.
Culture & sights. Busan 52, Hanoi 72: Hanoi leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Busan 60, Hanoi 50: Busan leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Busan 74, Hanoi 52: Busan leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Busan 74, Hanoi 58: Busan leads by 16 points.
Good for families. Busan 70, Hanoi 35: Busan leads by 35 points.
Getting around. Busan 68, Hanoi 36: Busan leads by 32 points.
Shopping & style. Busan 60, Hanoi 50: Busan leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Busan 56, Hanoi 98: Hanoi leads by 42 points.
Live music & performing arts. Busan 42, Hanoi 40: Busan leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Busan 78, Hanoi 46: Busan leads by 32 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Busan and Hanoi.

Your match

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

Busan
Best match
65match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Hanoi
52match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Busan in July

27 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
352 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Hanoi in July

34 °Cdaytime high
27 °Cnight-time low
311 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
BusanHanoi

Where the figures come from

Hanoi's sunshine is measured 86 km from the centre, at Phu Lien.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Busan: 1991-2020 normals, Pusan (9.7 km from centre). Hanoi: 1991-2020 normals, Ha Noi (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBusanHanoi
Official languageKorean, Korean Sign LanguageVietnamese
CurrencyWon (KRW)Dong (VND)
SocketsCF220 V, 60 HzACFG220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+9UTC+7
Emergency numberPolice 112, ambulance 119, fire 119Police 113, ambulance 115, fire 114
Elevation30 m10 m
Main airportGimhae International Airport (PUS)12 km from centre49 non-stop destinationsNoi Bai International Airport (HAN)22 km from centre91 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year18 days-

By the numbers

MeasureBusanHanoi
City population3,453,1988,717,600
People per km²4,4862,595
Museums within 10 km714
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km31
Swim season, months above 21 °C4 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Busan or Hanoi 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). 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.