VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
The Royal Palace, Madrid
MadridThe Royal Palace

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Madrid by Mert Ocak, Pexels License.

Chengdu or Madrid?

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

  • prices
  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Madrid for

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

What lies behind each score is written up on Madrid’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 and Madrid are level on 5.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Madrid 80: Chengdu leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Madrid 86: Madrid leads by 26 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Madrid 85: Madrid leads by 17 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Madrid 60: Chengdu leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Madrid 89: Madrid leads by 9 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Madrid 68: Madrid leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Madrid 84: Madrid leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Madrid 75: Madrid leads by 11 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Madrid 50: Chengdu leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Madrid 77: Madrid leads by 27 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Madrid 36: Chengdu leads by 22 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Madrid.

Your match

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

Chengdu
63match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

Madrid
Best match
66match

Wins on live music and the arts and culture and sights 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

Madrid in July

33 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
9 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduMadrid

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Madrid: 1991-2020 normals, Madrid (1.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduMadrid
Official languagePutonghuaSpanish
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 m663 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)14 km from centre239 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduMadrid
City population20,937,7573,506,730
People per km²1,4565,801
Museums within 10 km1088
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 Madrid 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.