VacationSelector
The pyramids of Giza, Cairo
CairoThe pyramids of Giza
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River

Photos: Cairo by Ricardo Liberato, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Cairo or Chengdu?

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 Cairo for

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • beaches

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

Choose Chengdu for

  • wellness
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Chengdu’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. Cairo 10, Chengdu 5: Cairo leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Cairo 60, Chengdu 86: Chengdu leads by 26 points.
Culture & sights. Cairo 96, Chengdu 60: Cairo leads by 36 points.
Nightlife. Cairo 48, Chengdu 68: Chengdu leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cairo 30, Chengdu 68: Chengdu leads by 38 points.
Day trips. Cairo 66, Chengdu 80: Chengdu leads by 14 points.
Good for families. Cairo 32, Chengdu 65: Chengdu leads by 33 points.
Getting around. Cairo 35, Chengdu 74: Chengdu leads by 39 points.
Shopping & style. Cairo 58, Chengdu 64: Chengdu leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Cairo 95, Chengdu 80: Cairo leads by 15 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cairo and Chengdu are level on 50.
Wellness & relaxation. Cairo 15, Chengdu 58: Chengdu leads by 43 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cairo and Chengdu.

Your match

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

Cairo
50match

Wins on culture and sights and prices with your weighting.

Chengdu
Best match
63match

Wins on wellness and getting around with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Cairo in July

36 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Chengdu in July

31 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
177 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
CairoChengdu

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cairo: 1991-2020 normals, Helwan (21.9 km from centre). Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCairoChengdu
Official languageArabicPutonghua
CurrencyEgyptian Pound (EGP)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsCF220 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 122, ambulance 123, fire 180Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation23 m500 m
Main airportCairo International Airport (CAI)17 km from centre127 non-stop destinationsChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasureCairoChengdu
City population9,801,53620,937,757
People per km²18,5641,456
Museums within 10 km4810
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cairo or Chengdu 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). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.