Photos: Cardiff by Tevfik Teker, CC BY 3.0, cropped; Santa Teresa, Costa Rica by Christopher Crouzet, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.
Cardiff or Santa Teresa, Costa Rica?
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 Cardiff for
- day trips
- culture and sights
- getting around
What lies behind each score is written up on Cardiff’s own page.
Choose Santa Teresa, Costa Rica for
- beaches
- wellness
- nature and the outdoors
What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Teresa, Costa Rica’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: Cardiff and Santa Teresa, Costa Rica.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on day trips and culture and sights with your weighting.
Wins on beaches 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.
Cardiff in July
Santa Teresa, Costa Rica in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Cardiff has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Cardiff's sunshine is measured 83 km from the centre, at Lyneham.
Santa Teresa, Costa Rica's temperatures are measured 52 km from the centre, at Puntarenas.
Santa Teresa, Costa Rica has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cardiff: 1991-2020 normals, Cardiff-Wales Airport (14.9 km from centre). Santa Teresa, Costa Rica: 1961-1990 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Puntarenas (51.5 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Cardiff | Santa Teresa, Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | English | Spanish |
| Currency | Pound Sterling (GBP) | Costa Rican Colon (CRC) |
| Sockets | G230 V, 50 Hz | AB120 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Left | Right |
| Time zone | UTC, UTC+1 in summer | UTC-6 |
| Emergency number | 112 or 999 | 911 |
| Elevation | 41 m | 19 m |
| Main airport | Cardiff International Airport (CWL)15 km from centre30 non-stop destinations | Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR)113 km from centre30 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 8 days | 11 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Cardiff | Santa Teresa, Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 383,536 | - |
| People per km² | 2,734 | - |
| Museums within 10 km | 9 | 0 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | None | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cardiff or Santa Teresa, Costa Rica somewhere new.