VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
The cathedral above the old town, Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de CompostelaThe cathedral above the old town

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Santiago de Compostela by Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez (Lmbuga), CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Chiang Mai or Santiago de Compostela?

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
  • shopping
  • prices

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

Choose Santiago de Compostela for

  • getting around
  • beaches
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Santiago de Compostela’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, Santiago de Compostela 32: Santiago de Compostela leads by 26 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Santiago de Compostela 68: Chiang Mai leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Santiago de Compostela 70: Santiago de Compostela leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai and Santiago de Compostela are level on 45.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Santiago de Compostela 62: Chiang Mai leads by 11 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Santiago de Compostela 72: Santiago de Compostela leads by 24 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Santiago de Compostela 42: Chiang Mai leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Santiago de Compostela 70: Santiago de Compostela leads by 32 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai 62, Santiago de Compostela 35: Chiang Mai leads by 27 points.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Santiago de Compostela 64: Chiang Mai leads by 26 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Santiago de Compostela 40: Santiago de Compostela leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Santiago de Compostela 42: Chiang Mai leads by 40 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Santiago de Compostela.

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 shopping with your weighting.

Santiago de Compostela
54match

Wins on getting around and beaches 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

Santiago de Compostela in July

25 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
41 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
17 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Chiang MaiSantiago de Compostela

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Santiago de Compostela: 1991-2020 normals, Santiago / Labacolla (8.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiSantiago de Compostela
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 m260 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsSantiago-Rosalía de Castro Airport (SCQ)10 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-13 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiSantiago de Compostela
City population1,198,000100,965
People per km²2,958459
Museums within 10 km66
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

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