VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
The Croatian National Theatre, Zagreb
ZagrebThe Croatian National Theatre

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Zagreb by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Chiang Mai or Zagreb?

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 Zagreb for

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

What lies behind each score is written up on Zagreb’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, Zagreb 10: Zagreb leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Zagreb 55: Chiang Mai leads by 23 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Zagreb 56: Chiang Mai leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai 45, Zagreb 47: Zagreb leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Zagreb 62: Chiang Mai leads by 11 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Zagreb 60: Zagreb leads by 12 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Zagreb 52: Chiang Mai leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Zagreb 70: Zagreb leads by 32 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai 62, Zagreb 40: Chiang Mai leads by 22 points.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Zagreb 60: Chiang Mai leads by 30 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Zagreb 52: Zagreb leads by 22 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Zagreb 33: Chiang Mai leads by 49 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Zagreb.

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 prices with your weighting.

Zagreb
50match

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

Zagreb in July

29 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
87 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Chiang MaiZagreb

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

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiZagreb
Official languageThaiCroatian
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 m127 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsZagreb Franjo Tuđman International Airport (ZAG)11 km from centre64 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-14 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiZagreb
City population1,198,000767,131
People per km²2,958-
Museums within 10 km627
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 Zagreb 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.