VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
Tempio Voltiano on the lakeshore, Como
ComoTempio Voltiano on the lakeshore

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Como by Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Chicago or Como?

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 Chicago for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • food and drink

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

Choose Como for

  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Como’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. Chicago 50, Como 36: Chicago leads by 14 points.
Food & drink. Chicago 80, Como 45: Chicago leads by 35 points.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Como 52: Chicago leads by 26 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Como 22: Chicago leads by 55 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Como 82: Como leads by 34 points.
Day trips. Chicago 42, Como 87: Como leads by 45 points.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Como 47: Chicago leads by 31 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Como 66: Chicago leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago 70, Como 42: Chicago leads by 28 points.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Como 30: Chicago leads by 3 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Como 34: Chicago leads by 48 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago 33, Como 44: Como leads by 11 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chicago and Como.

Your match

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

Chicago
Best match
62match

Wins on nightlife and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Como
49match

Wins on day trips and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Chicago in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
102 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Como in July

27 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
158 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
ChicagoComo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Como: 1991-2020 normals, Lugano (23 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChicagoComo
Official language-Italian
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCFL230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation179 m201 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsMilan Malpensa International Airport (MXP)34 km from centre208 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoComo
City population2,746,38883,184
People per km²4,5292,242
Museums within 10 km4411
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km18
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chicago or Como 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. 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.