VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
The Royal Palace, Madrid
MadridThe Royal Palace

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Madrid by Mert Ocak, Pexels License.

Chiang Mai 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 Chiang Mai for

  • wellness
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Madrid for

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

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. Chiang Mai 6, Madrid 5: Chiang Mai leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Madrid 80: Madrid leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Madrid 86: Madrid leads by 21 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai 45, Madrid 85: Madrid leads by 40 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Madrid 60: Chiang Mai leads by 13 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Madrid 89: Madrid leads by 41 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Madrid 68: Madrid leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Madrid 84: Madrid leads by 46 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai 62, Madrid 75: Madrid leads by 13 points.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Madrid 50: Chiang Mai leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Madrid 77: Madrid leads by 47 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Madrid 36: Chiang Mai leads by 46 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Madrid.

Your match

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

Chiang Mai
56match

Wins on wellness and prices with your weighting.

Madrid
Best match
66match

Wins on live music and the arts and getting around 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

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
Chiang MaiMadrid

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Madrid: 1991-2020 normals, Madrid (1.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiMadrid
Official languageThaiSpanish
CurrencyBaht (THB)Euro (EUR)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199112
Elevation310 m663 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)14 km from centre239 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-12 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiMadrid
City population1,198,0003,506,730
People per km²2,9585,801
Museums within 10 km688
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 Chiang Mai 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). 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.