VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
The fountain on Plaza Mayor, Lima
LimaThe fountain on Plaza Mayor

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Lima by James C., CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Chicago or Lima?

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

  • getting around
  • families
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Lima for

  • prices
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Lima’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, Lima 42: Chicago leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Chicago 80, Lima 88: Lima leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Lima 66: Chicago leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Lima 62: Chicago leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Lima 45: Chicago leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Chicago 42, Lima 34: Chicago leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Lima 42: Chicago leads by 36 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Lima 35: Chicago leads by 37 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago 70, Lima 52: Chicago leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Lima 70: Lima leads by 37 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Lima 53: Chicago leads by 29 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago 33, Lima 25: Chicago leads by 8 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Chicago
Best match
62match

Wins on getting around and families with your weighting.

Lima
51match

Wins on prices and food and drink 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

Lima in July

19 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
1 hsunshine a day
18 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
ChicagoLima

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Lima: 1991-2020 normals, Lima-Callao / Aerop. Internacional Jorgechavez (10.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChicagoLima
Official language-Spanish, Aymara, Quechua
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Sol (PEN)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC-5
Emergency number911111 or 911
Elevation179 m154 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsJorge Chávez International Airport (LIM)9 km from centre61 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoLima
City population2,746,3889,943,800
People per km²4,5293,721
Museums within 10 km4447
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month2 months

Where else could you go?

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