VacationSelector
The pyramids of Giza, Cairo
CairoThe pyramids of Giza
The church of San Francisco under a blue sky, Quito
QuitoThe church of San Francisco under a blue sky

Photos: Cairo by Ricardo Liberato, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Quito by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Cairo or Quito?

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
  • shopping
  • prices

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

Choose Quito for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Quito’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, Quito 5: Cairo leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Cairo 60, Quito 54: Cairo leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Cairo 96, Quito 77: Cairo leads by 19 points.
Nightlife. Cairo 48, Quito 40: Cairo leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cairo 30, Quito 86: Quito leads by 56 points.
Day trips. Cairo 66, Quito 55: Cairo leads by 11 points.
Good for families. Cairo and Quito are level on 32.
Getting around. Cairo 35, Quito 45: Quito leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Cairo 58, Quito 40: Cairo leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Cairo 95, Quito 78: Cairo leads by 17 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cairo 50, Quito 38: Cairo leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cairo 15, Quito 44: Quito leads by 29 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cairo and Quito.

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Cairo
50match

Wins on culture and sights and shopping with your weighting.

Quito
50match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and wellness 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

Quito in July

18 °Cdaytime high
5 °Cnight-time low
32 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
CairoQuito

Where the figures come from

Quito's station stands 208 m above the city centre, so the centre is likely a little warmer than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cairo: 1991-2020 normals, Helwan (21.9 km from centre). Quito: 1961-1990 normals, Izobamba-Santa Catalina (16.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCairoQuito
Official languageArabicSpanish, Shuar, Northern Quichua
CurrencyEgyptian Pound (EGP)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC-5
Emergency numberPolice 122, ambulance 123, fire 180911
Elevation23 m2,850 m
Main airportCairo International Airport (CAI)17 km from centre127 non-stop destinationsMariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO)20 km from centre22 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureCairoQuito
City population9,801,5361,763,275
People per km²18,5644,735
Museums within 10 km4816
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km22

Where else could you go?

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