Photos: Cape Town by Stephan Louis, Pexels License; Hong Kong by LN9267, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.
Cape Town or Hong Kong?
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 Cape Town for
- prices
- nature and the outdoors
- beaches
What lies behind each score is written up on Cape Town’s own page.
Choose Hong Kong for
- getting around
- shopping
- food and drink
What lies behind each score is written up on Hong Kong’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cape Town and Hong Kong.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on prices and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.
Wins on getting around 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.
Cape Town in July
Hong Kong in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cape Town: 1991-2020 normals, Cape Town Airport (17.5 km from centre). Hong Kong: 1991-2020 normals, King's Park (4.4 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Cape Town | Hong Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | English, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Venda, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Sesotho, Southern Ndebele, South African Sign Language | Standard Chinese |
| Currency | Rand (ZAR) | Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) |
| Sockets | CMN230 V, 50 Hz | G220 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Left | Left |
| Time zone | UTC+2 | UTC+8 |
| Emergency number | 112 | 999 |
| Elevation | 5 m | 7 m |
| Main airport | Cape Town International Airport (CPT)18 km from centre45 non-stop destinations | Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)25 km from centre148 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 13 days | 17 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Cape Town | Hong Kong |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 3,776,313 | 7,413,070 |
| People per km² | 1,538 | - |
| Museums within 10 km | 22 | 39 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 3 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | None | 8 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cape Town or Hong Kong somewhere new.