VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
The cathedral and the Leaning Tower, Pisa
PisaThe cathedral and the Leaning Tower

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Pisa by Bruno Kraler, Pexels License.

Chiang Mai or Pisa?

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
  • shopping

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

Choose Pisa for

  • beaches
  • day trips
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Pisa’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, Pisa 58: Pisa leads by 52 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Pisa 55: Chiang Mai leads by 23 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Pisa 68: Pisa leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai 45, Pisa 40: Chiang Mai leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Pisa 62: Chiang Mai leads by 11 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Pisa 92: Pisa leads by 44 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Pisa 52: Chiang Mai leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Pisa 76: Pisa leads by 38 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai 62, Pisa 38: Chiang Mai leads by 24 points.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Pisa 55: Chiang Mai leads by 35 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Pisa 38: Pisa leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Pisa 45: Chiang Mai leads by 37 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Pisa.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Chiang Mai
56match

Wins on wellness and prices with your weighting.

Pisa
57match

Wins on beaches 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

Pisa in July

30 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
32 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
24 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Chiang MaiPisa

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Pisa: 1991-2020 normals, Pisa / S. Giusto (3.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiPisa
Official languageThaiItalian
CurrencyBaht (THB)Euro (EUR)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzCFL230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199112
Elevation310 m4 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsPisa International Airport (PSA)4 km from centre82 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiPisa
City population1,198,00088,737
People per km²2,958479
Museums within 10 km627
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km03
Swim season, months above 21 °C-4 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chiang Mai or Pisa 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. 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.