VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
The Hofburg and Heldenplatz, Vienna
ViennaThe Hofburg and Heldenplatz

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Vienna by C.Stadler/Bwag, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT, cropped.

Chiang Mai or Vienna?

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 Vienna for

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

What lies behind each score is written up on Vienna’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, Vienna 27: Vienna leads by 21 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Vienna 68: Chiang Mai leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Vienna 89: Vienna leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai 45, Vienna 50: Vienna leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Vienna 62: Chiang Mai leads by 11 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Vienna 74: Vienna leads by 26 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Vienna 77: Vienna leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Vienna 90: Vienna leads by 52 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai and Vienna are level on 62.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Vienna 44: Chiang Mai leads by 46 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Vienna 96: Vienna leads by 66 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Vienna 58: Chiang Mai leads by 24 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Vienna.

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.

Vienna
Best match
66match

Wins on live music and the arts and getting around 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

Vienna in July

27 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
78 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Chiang MaiVienna

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Vienna: 1991-2020 normals, Wien / Hohe Warte (4.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiVienna
Official languageThaiGerman, Austrian Sign Language
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 m151 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsVienna International Airport (VIE)18 km from centre202 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-16 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiVienna
City population1,198,0002,028,289
People per km²2,9584,890
Museums within 10 km6152
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km03

Where else could you go?

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