VacationSelector
The Cathedral of Sant'Agata, Catania
CataniaThe Cathedral of Sant'Agata
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade

Photos: Catania by Berthold Werner, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License.

Catania or Izmir?

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 Catania for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Izmir for

  • wellness
  • getting around
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Izmir’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. Catania 72, Izmir 62: Catania leads by 10 points.
Food & drink. Catania 77, Izmir 72: Catania leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Catania 62, Izmir 55: Catania leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Catania and Izmir are level on 60.
Nature & outdoors. Catania 83, Izmir 66: Catania leads by 17 points.
Day trips. Catania 84, Izmir 86: Izmir leads by 2 points.
Good for families. Catania 50, Izmir 55: Izmir leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Catania 48, Izmir 63: Izmir leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Catania 42, Izmir 55: Izmir leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Catania 60, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Catania 55, Izmir 48: Catania leads by 7 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Catania 30, Izmir 57: Izmir leads by 27 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Catania and Izmir.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Catania
60match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and beaches with your weighting.

Izmir
62match

Wins on wellness 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.

Catania in July

31 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
9 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Izmir in July

34 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
13 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
CataniaIzmir

Where the figures come from

Catania's sunshine is measured 88 km from the centre, at Messina.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Catania: 1991-2020 normals, Catania / Fontanarossa (5.2 km from centre). Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCataniaIzmir
Official languageItalianTurkish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Turkish Lira (TRY)
SocketsCFL230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number112112
Elevation7 m2 m
Main airportCatania-Fontanarossa Airport (CTA)4 km from centre96 non-stop destinationsAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureCataniaIzmir
City population311,5844,493,242
People per km²1,7044,760
Museums within 10 km2529
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km30
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Catania or Izmir 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.