VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
The Dutch Reformed Church in Galle Fort, Galle
GalleThe Dutch Reformed Church in Galle Fort

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Galle by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Chicago or Galle?

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

  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife
  • getting around

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

Choose Galle for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Galle’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, Galle 80: Galle leads by 30 points.
Food & drink. Chicago 80, Galle 50: Chicago leads by 30 points.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Galle 55: Chicago leads by 23 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Galle 18: Chicago leads by 59 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Galle 66: Galle leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Chicago 42, Galle 50: Galle leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Galle 42: Chicago leads by 36 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Galle 35: Chicago leads by 37 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago 70, Galle 33: Chicago leads by 37 points.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Galle 72: Galle leads by 39 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Galle 10: Chicago leads by 72 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago 33, Galle 70: Galle leads by 37 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chicago and Galle.

Your match

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

Chicago
Best match
62match

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

Galle
48match

Wins on prices 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

Galle in July

28 °Cdaytime high
27 °Cnight-time low
116 mmrain in the month
28 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ChicagoGalle

Where the figures come from

Galle has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Galle: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureChicagoGalle
Official language-Tamil, Sinhala
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzGM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC+5:30
Emergency number911Police 119, ambulance 110, fire 110
Elevation179 m0 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)133 km from centre56 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days-

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoGalle
City population2,746,38893,118
People per km²4,529-
Museums within 10 km442
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chicago or Galle 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. Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.