VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
The Latin Bridge over the Miljacka, Sarajevo
SarajevoThe Latin Bridge over the Miljacka

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Sarajevo by Tumi-1983, CC0.

Chiang Mai or Sarajevo?

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
  • food and drink

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

Choose Sarajevo for

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

What lies behind each score is written up on Sarajevo’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 and Sarajevo are level on 6.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Sarajevo 60: Chiang Mai leads by 18 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Sarajevo 64: Chiang Mai leads by 1 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai 45, Sarajevo 44: Chiang Mai leads by 1 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Sarajevo 78: Sarajevo leads by 5 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Sarajevo 62: Sarajevo leads by 14 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Sarajevo 38: Chiang Mai leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Sarajevo 60: Sarajevo leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai 62, Sarajevo 40: Chiang Mai leads by 22 points.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Sarajevo 80: Chiang Mai leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Sarajevo 40: Sarajevo leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Sarajevo 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 Sarajevo.

Your match

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

Chiang Mai
Best match
56match

Wins on wellness and shopping with your weighting.

Sarajevo
51match

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
13 hdaylight a day

Sarajevo in July

28 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
75 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Chiang MaiSarajevo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Sarajevo: 1991-2020 normals, Sarajevo-Bejelave (2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiSarajevo
Official languageThaiCroatian, Serbian, Bosnian
CurrencyBaht (THB)Convertible Mark (BAM)
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 m518 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsSarajevo International Airport (SJJ)7 km from centre38 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-8 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiSarajevo
City population1,198,000275,524
People per km²2,9581,947
Museums within 10 km625
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01

Where else could you go?

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