VacationSelector
Yellow colonial houses in the walled city, Cartagena
CartagenaYellow colonial houses in the walled city
The Limmat from Quaibrücke, Zurich
ZurichThe Limmat from Quaibrücke

Photos: Cartagena by Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Zurich by Daniel Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Cartagena or Zurich?

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

  • prices
  • beaches
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Zurich for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Zurich’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, Zurich 45: Cartagena leads by 25 points.
Food & drink. Cartagena 62, Zurich 53: Cartagena leads by 9 points.
Culture & sights. Cartagena 68, Zurich 58: Cartagena leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Cartagena 70, Zurich 62: Cartagena leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cartagena 46, Zurich 80: Zurich leads by 34 points.
Day trips. Cartagena 33, Zurich 84: Zurich leads by 51 points.
Good for families. Cartagena 40, Zurich 76: Zurich leads by 36 points.
Getting around. Cartagena 54, Zurich 95: Zurich leads by 41 points.
Shopping & style. Cartagena 48, Zurich 66: Zurich leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Cartagena 60, Zurich 3: Cartagena leads by 57 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cartagena 40, Zurich 70: Zurich leads by 30 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cartagena 40, Zurich 58: Zurich leads by 18 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cartagena and Zurich.

Your match

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

Cartagena
53match

Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.

Zurich
Best match
63match

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

Zurich in July

24 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
126 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
CartagenaZurich

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cartagena: 1991-2020 normals, Cartagena / Rafael Nunez (3.1 km from centre). Zurich: 1991-2020 normals, Zurich Town / Ville. (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCartagenaZurich
Official languageSpanishFrench, German, Italian, Romansh
CurrencyColombian Peso (COP)Swiss Franc (CHF)
SocketsAB110 V, 60 HzCJ230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number123112
Elevation2 m408 m
Main airportRafael Nuñez International Airport (CTG)2 km from centre26 non-stop destinationsZürich Airport (ZRH)9 km from centre226 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year19 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureCartagenaZurich
City population914,552440,935
People per km²1,5995,016
Museums within 10 km263
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cartagena or Zurich 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. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.