VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
The terrace on Cerro Santa Lucía, Santiago
SantiagoThe terrace on Cerro Santa Lucía

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Santiago by Rjcastillo, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Chiang Mai or Santiago?

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
  • food and drink

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

Choose Santiago for

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

What lies behind each score is written up on Santiago’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 12: Santiago leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Santiago 60: Chiang Mai leads by 18 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Santiago 52: Chiang Mai leads by 13 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai 45, Santiago 60: Santiago leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Santiago 83: Santiago leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Santiago 70: Santiago leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Santiago 57: Santiago leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Santiago 68: Santiago leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai 62, Santiago 52: Chiang Mai leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Santiago 58: Chiang Mai leads by 32 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Santiago 55: Santiago leads by 25 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Santiago 37: Chiang Mai leads by 45 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Santiago.

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.

Santiago
55match

Wins on getting around and live music and the arts 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

Santiago in July

14 °Cdaytime high
4 °Cnight-time low
52 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Chiang MaiSantiago

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Santiago: 1991-2020 normals, Santiago Q. Normal (3.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiSantiago
Official languageThaiSpanish
CurrencyBaht (THB)Chilean Peso (CLP)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzCL220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC-4, UTC-3 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199Police 133/134, ambulance 131, fire 132
Elevation310 m575 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsComodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL)14 km from centre67 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-16 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiSantiago
City population1,198,0006,257,516
People per km²2,9587,468
Museums within 10 km654
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00

Where else could you go?

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