VacationSelector
The cathedral from the Torre Tavira, Cadiz
CadizThe cathedral from the Torre Tavira
Yellow colonial houses in the walled city, Cartagena
CartagenaYellow colonial houses in the walled city

Photos: Cadiz by Bronch, CC BY-SA 3.0 ES, cropped; Cartagena by Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Cadiz or Cartagena?

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 Cadiz for

  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

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

Choose Cartagena for

  • nightlife
  • shopping
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Cartagena’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. Cadiz 80, Cartagena 70: Cadiz leads by 10 points.
Food & drink. Cadiz 68, Cartagena 62: Cadiz leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Cadiz 62, Cartagena 68: Cartagena leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Cadiz 45, Cartagena 70: Cartagena leads by 25 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cadiz 66, Cartagena 46: Cadiz leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Cadiz 80, Cartagena 33: Cadiz leads by 47 points.
Good for families. Cadiz 60, Cartagena 40: Cadiz leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Cadiz 70, Cartagena 54: Cadiz leads by 16 points.
Shopping & style. Cadiz 35, Cartagena 48: Cartagena leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Cadiz 58, Cartagena 60: Cartagena leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cadiz 52, Cartagena 40: Cadiz leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cadiz 42, Cartagena 40: Cadiz leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cadiz and Cartagena.

Your match

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

Cadiz
Best match
60match

Wins on day trips and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Cartagena
53match

Wins on nightlife and shopping with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Cadiz in July

28 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Cartagena in July

31 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
124 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
30 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
CadizCartagena

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cadiz: 1991-2020 normals, Cadiz Bay / Puntales (5.2 km from centre). Cartagena: 1991-2020 normals, Cartagena / Rafael Nunez (3.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCadizCartagena
Official languageSpanishSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Colombian Peso (COP)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5
Emergency number112123
Elevation11 m2 m
Main airportJerez Airport (XRY)31 km from centre25 non-stop destinationsRafael Nuñez International Airport (CTG)2 km from centre26 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days19 days

By the numbers

MeasureCadizCartagena
City population109,950914,552
People per km²9,0871,599
Museums within 10 km112
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C3 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cadiz or Cartagena 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). 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.