VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
The cathedral and Great St. Martin on the Rhine, Cologne
CologneThe cathedral and Great St. Martin on the Rhine

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Cologne by Jörg Braukmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Chengdu or Cologne?

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 Chengdu for

  • food and drink
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Cologne for

  • live music and the arts
  • beaches
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Cologne’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. Chengdu 5, Cologne 14: Cologne leads by 9 points.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Cologne 52: Chengdu leads by 34 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Cologne 67: Cologne leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Cologne 66: Chengdu leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Cologne 56: Chengdu leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Chengdu and Cologne are level on 80.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Cologne 70: Cologne leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Chengdu and Cologne are level on 74.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Cologne 57: Chengdu leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Cologne 46: Chengdu leads by 34 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Cologne 68: Cologne leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Cologne 50: Chengdu leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Cologne.

Your match

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

Chengdu
Best match
63match

Wins on food and drink and prices with your weighting.

Cologne
58match

Wins on live music and the arts and beaches with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Chengdu in July

31 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
177 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Cologne in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
81 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduCologne

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Cologne: 1991-2020 normals, Köln-Stammheim (5.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduCologne
Official languagePutonghuaGerman
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Euro (EUR)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119112
Elevation500 m59 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsCologne Bonn Airport (CGN)15 km from centre115 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduCologne
City population20,937,7571,025,523
People per km²1,4562,532
Museums within 10 km1040
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km03

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chengdu or Cologne 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.

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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.