VacationSelector
Yellow colonial houses in the walled city, Cartagena
CartagenaYellow colonial houses in the walled city
The cathedral and the Leaning Tower, Pisa
PisaThe cathedral and the Leaning Tower

Photos: Cartagena by Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Pisa by Bruno Kraler, Pexels License.

Cartagena or Pisa?

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 Cartagena for

  • nightlife
  • beaches
  • shopping

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

Choose Pisa for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Pisa’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. Cartagena 70, Pisa 58: Cartagena leads by 12 points.
Food & drink. Cartagena 62, Pisa 55: Cartagena leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Cartagena and Pisa are level on 68.
Nightlife. Cartagena 70, Pisa 40: Cartagena leads by 30 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cartagena 46, Pisa 62: Pisa leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Cartagena 33, Pisa 92: Pisa leads by 59 points.
Good for families. Cartagena 40, Pisa 52: Pisa leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Cartagena 54, Pisa 76: Pisa leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Cartagena 48, Pisa 38: Cartagena leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Cartagena 60, Pisa 55: Cartagena leads by 5 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cartagena 40, Pisa 38: Cartagena leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cartagena 40, Pisa 45: Pisa leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cartagena and Pisa.

Your match

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

Cartagena
53match

Wins on nightlife and beaches with your weighting.

Pisa
Best match
57match

Wins on day trips 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.

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

Pisa in July

30 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
32 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
24 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
CartagenaPisa

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cartagena: 1991-2020 normals, Cartagena / Rafael Nunez (3.1 km from centre). Pisa: 1991-2020 normals, Pisa / S. Giusto (3.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCartagenaPisa
Official languageSpanishItalian
CurrencyColombian Peso (COP)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB110 V, 60 HzCFL230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number123112
Elevation2 m4 m
Main airportRafael Nuñez International Airport (CTG)2 km from centre26 non-stop destinationsPisa International Airport (PSA)4 km from centre82 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year19 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureCartagenaPisa
City population914,55288,737
People per km²1,599479
Museums within 10 km227
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km13
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months4 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cartagena or Pisa 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). 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.