VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
Nyhavn, Copenhagen
CopenhagenNyhavn

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Copenhagen by Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Chicago or Copenhagen?

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
  • prices
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Copenhagen for

  • day trips
  • wellness
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Copenhagen’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, Copenhagen 40: Chicago leads by 10 points.
Food & drink. Chicago 80, Copenhagen 76: Chicago leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Copenhagen 72: Chicago leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Copenhagen 60: Chicago leads by 17 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Copenhagen 45: Chicago leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Chicago 42, Copenhagen 72: Copenhagen leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Copenhagen 85: Copenhagen leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Copenhagen 85: Copenhagen leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago and Copenhagen are level on 70.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Copenhagen 18: Chicago leads by 15 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Copenhagen 68: Chicago leads by 14 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago 33, Copenhagen 55: Copenhagen leads by 22 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Chicago
62match

Wins on nightlife and prices with your weighting.

Copenhagen
62match

Wins on day trips and wellness 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
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Copenhagen in July

23 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
59 mmrain in the month
17 °Csea
17 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
ChicagoCopenhagen

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Copenhagen: 1991-2020 normals, Koebenhavn / Landbohoejskolen (2.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChicagoCopenhagen
Official language-Danish
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Danish Krone (DKK)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCEFK230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation179 m14 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsCopenhagen Kastrup Airport (CPH)8 km from centre196 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoCopenhagen
City population2,746,388667,099
People per km²4,5297,339
Museums within 10 km4472
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km15
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 monthNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chicago or Copenhagen 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.