VacationSelector
The Cathedral of Sant'Agata, Catania
CataniaThe Cathedral of Sant'Agata
La Concha beach and Monte Urgull, San Sebastian
San SebastianLa Concha beach and Monte Urgull

Photos: Catania by Berthold Werner, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; San Sebastian by Guérin Nicolas, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Catania or San Sebastian?

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

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose San Sebastian for

  • getting around
  • wellness
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on San Sebastian’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, San Sebastian 68: Catania leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Catania 77, San Sebastian 88: San Sebastian leads by 11 points.
Culture & sights. Catania 62, San Sebastian 52: Catania leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Catania 60, San Sebastian 44: Catania leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Catania 83, San Sebastian 72: Catania leads by 11 points.
Day trips. Catania 84, San Sebastian 80: Catania leads by 4 points.
Good for families. Catania 50, San Sebastian 66: San Sebastian leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Catania 48, San Sebastian 80: San Sebastian leads by 32 points.
Shopping & style. Catania 42, San Sebastian 40: Catania leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Catania 60, San Sebastian 32: Catania leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Catania 55, San Sebastian 45: Catania leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Catania 30, San Sebastian 50: San Sebastian leads by 20 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Catania
60match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

San Sebastian
60match

Wins on getting around 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.

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

San Sebastian in July

22 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
92 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
CataniaSan Sebastian

Where the figures come from

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

San Sebastian's station stands 252 m above the city centre, so the centre is likely a little warmer than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Catania: 1991-2020 normals, Catania / Fontanarossa (5.2 km from centre). San Sebastian: 1991-2020 normals, San Sebastian / Igueldo (6.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCataniaSan Sebastian
Official languageItalianSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCFL230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation7 m6 m
Main airportCatania-Fontanarossa Airport (CTA)4 km from centre96 non-stop destinationsSan Sebastián Airport (EAS)16 km from centre11 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureCataniaSan Sebastian
City population311,584189,866
People per km²1,7043,118
Museums within 10 km2514
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km33
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months2 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Catania or San Sebastian 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. 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.