VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
The terrace on Cerro Santa Lucía, Santiago
SantiagoThe terrace on Cerro Santa Lucía

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Santiago by Rjcastillo, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Chengdu or Santiago?

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
  • wellness

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

Choose Santiago for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Santiago’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, Santiago 12: Santiago leads by 7 points.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Santiago 60: Chengdu leads by 26 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Santiago 52: Chengdu leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Santiago 60: Chengdu leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Santiago 83: Santiago leads by 15 points.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Santiago 70: Chengdu leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Santiago 57: Chengdu leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Santiago 68: Chengdu leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Santiago 52: Chengdu leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Santiago 58: Chengdu leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Santiago 55: Santiago leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Santiago 37: Chengdu leads by 21 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Santiago.

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.

Santiago
55match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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

Santiago in July

14 °Cdaytime high
4 °Cnight-time low
52 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduSantiago

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Santiago: 1991-2020 normals, Santiago Q. Normal (3.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduSantiago
Official languagePutonghuaSpanish
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Chilean Peso (CLP)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzCL220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC-4, UTC-3 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119Police 133/134, ambulance 131, fire 132
Elevation500 m575 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsComodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL)14 km from centre67 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduSantiago
City population20,937,7576,257,516
People per km²1,4567,468
Museums within 10 km1054
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00

Where else could you go?

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