VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
Santo Domingo church behind agaves, Oaxaca
OaxacaSanto Domingo church behind agaves

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Oaxaca by Öskr Rck, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Chiang Mai or Oaxaca?

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
  • families
  • prices

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

Choose Oaxaca for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Oaxaca’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, Oaxaca 5: Chiang Mai leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Oaxaca 84: Oaxaca leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Oaxaca 74: Oaxaca leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai 45, Oaxaca 40: Chiang Mai leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Oaxaca 62: Chiang Mai leads by 11 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Oaxaca 65: Oaxaca leads by 17 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Oaxaca 40: Chiang Mai leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Oaxaca 55: Oaxaca leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai and Oaxaca are level on 62.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Oaxaca 77: Chiang Mai leads by 13 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Oaxaca 38: Oaxaca leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Oaxaca 50: Chiang Mai leads by 32 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Oaxaca.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Chiang Mai
56match

Wins on wellness and families with your weighting.

Oaxaca
54match

Wins on day trips 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

Oaxaca in July

28 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
80 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Chiang MaiOaxaca

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Oaxaca: 1961-1990 normals, Oaxaca, Oax. (1.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiOaxaca
Official languageThaiSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyBaht (THB)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC-6
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199911
Elevation310 m1,555 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsXoxocotlán International Airport (OAX)7 km from centre14 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-9 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiOaxaca
City population1,198,000258,913
People per km²2,9583,028
Museums within 10 km610
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 Oaxaca 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. 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.