VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
Shitennō-ji temple, Osaka
OsakaShitennō-ji temple

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Osaka by Sarmat Batagov, Pexels License.

Chiang Mai or Osaka?

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 Osaka for

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

What lies behind each score is written up on Osaka’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, Osaka 34: Osaka leads by 28 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Osaka 91: Osaka leads by 13 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Osaka 63: Chiang Mai leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai 45, Osaka 80: Osaka leads by 35 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Osaka 58: Chiang Mai leads by 15 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Osaka 97: Osaka leads by 49 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Osaka 88: Osaka leads by 33 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Osaka 90: Osaka leads by 52 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai 62, Osaka 80: Osaka leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Osaka 60: Chiang Mai leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Osaka 66: Osaka leads by 36 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Osaka 66: Chiang Mai leads by 16 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Osaka.

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.

Osaka
Best match
73match

Wins on getting around and day trips 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
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Osaka in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
175 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Chiang MaiOsaka

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Osaka: 1991-2020 normals, Osaka (1.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiOsaka
Official languageThaiJapanese
CurrencyBaht (THB)Yen (JPY)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the region
Driving sideLeftLeft
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+9
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199Police 110, fire 119
Elevation310 m20 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsKansai International Airport (KIX)38 km from centre62 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-16 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiOsaka
City population1,198,0002,751,862
People per km²2,95812,340
Museums within 10 km644
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km06
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chiang Mai or Osaka 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.