VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Chiang Mai or Lyon?

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 Chiang Mai for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Lyon for

  • getting around
  • live music and the arts
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Lyon’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. Chiang Mai 6, Lyon 12: Lyon leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Lyon 84: Lyon leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Lyon 77: Lyon leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai 45, Lyon 58: Lyon leads by 13 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Lyon 64: Chiang Mai leads by 9 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Lyon 77: Lyon leads by 29 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Lyon 62: Lyon leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Lyon 77: Lyon leads by 39 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai 62, Lyon 58: Chiang Mai leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Lyon 42: Chiang Mai leads by 48 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Lyon 68: Lyon leads by 38 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Lyon 40: Chiang Mai leads by 42 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Lyon.

Your match

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

Chiang Mai
56match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

Lyon
Best match
60match

Wins on getting around and live music and the arts with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Chiang Mai in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
153 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Lyon in July

28 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
66 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Chiang MaiLyon

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiLyon
Official languageThaiFrench
CurrencyBaht (THB)Euro (EUR)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzCE230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199112
Elevation310 m160 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-11 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiLyon
City population1,198,000519,127
People per km²2,95810,838
Museums within 10 km643
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chiang Mai or Lyon 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). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.