VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
The old town on the Neckar, Heidelberg
HeidelbergThe old town on the Neckar

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Heidelberg by Kuanling Chen, Pexels License.

Chengdu or Heidelberg?

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
  • nightlife

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

Choose Heidelberg for

  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Heidelberg’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, Heidelberg 7: Heidelberg leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Heidelberg 40: Chengdu leads by 46 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Heidelberg 58: Chengdu leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Heidelberg 38: Chengdu leads by 30 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Heidelberg 60: Chengdu leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Heidelberg 78: Chengdu leads by 2 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Heidelberg 62: Chengdu leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Heidelberg 72: Chengdu leads by 2 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Heidelberg 40: Chengdu leads by 24 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Heidelberg 42: Chengdu leads by 38 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Heidelberg 48: Chengdu leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Heidelberg 44: Chengdu leads by 14 points.
0255075100

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

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.

Heidelberg
49match

Wins on 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

Heidelberg in July

26 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
80 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduHeidelberg

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

Before you go

MeasureChengduHeidelberg
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 m114 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsFrankfurt Main Airport (FRA)69 km from centre281 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduHeidelberg
City population20,937,757156,092
People per km²1,4561,433
Museums within 10 km1017
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km04

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chengdu or Heidelberg 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.