VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
Castle Square and the Royal Castle, Warsaw
WarsawCastle Square and the Royal Castle

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Warsaw by Raymond Petrik, Pexels License.

Chiang Mai or Warsaw?

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
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

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

Choose Warsaw for

  • getting around
  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Warsaw’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, Warsaw 12: Warsaw leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Warsaw 60: Chiang Mai leads by 18 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Warsaw 70: Warsaw leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai 45, Warsaw 66: Warsaw leads by 21 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Warsaw 47: Chiang Mai leads by 26 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Warsaw 52: Warsaw leads by 4 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Warsaw 62: Warsaw leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Warsaw 72: Warsaw leads by 34 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai 62, Warsaw 55: Chiang Mai leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Warsaw 64: Chiang Mai leads by 26 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Warsaw 63: Warsaw leads by 33 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Warsaw 35: Chiang Mai leads by 47 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Warsaw.

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 nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Warsaw
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

Warsaw in July

25 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
83 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Chiang MaiWarsaw

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Warsaw: 1991-2020 normals, Warszawa-Okecie (7.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiWarsaw
Official languageThaiPolish
CurrencyBaht (THB)Zloty (PLN)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzCE50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199112
Elevation310 m118 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsWarsaw Chopin Airport (WAW)8 km from centre172 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-14 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiWarsaw
City population1,198,0001,862,402
People per km²2,9583,601
Museums within 10 km6117
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 Warsaw 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.