VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
The cathedral and the Leaning Tower, Pisa
PisaThe cathedral and the Leaning Tower

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Pisa by Bruno Kraler, Pexels License.

Chicago or Pisa?

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
  • shopping

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

Choose Pisa for

  • day trips
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Pisa’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, Pisa 58: Pisa leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Chicago 80, Pisa 55: Chicago leads by 25 points.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Pisa 68: Chicago leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Pisa 40: Chicago leads by 37 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Pisa 62: Pisa leads by 14 points.
Day trips. Chicago 42, Pisa 92: Pisa leads by 50 points.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Pisa 52: Chicago leads by 26 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Pisa 76: Pisa leads by 4 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago 70, Pisa 38: Chicago leads by 32 points.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Pisa 55: Pisa leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Pisa 38: Chicago leads by 44 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago 33, Pisa 45: Pisa leads by 12 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chicago and Pisa.

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.

Pisa
57match

Wins on day trips and prices 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

Pisa in July

30 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
32 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
24 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
ChicagoPisa

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Pisa: 1991-2020 normals, Pisa / S. Giusto (3.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChicagoPisa
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 m4 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsPisa International Airport (PSA)4 km from centre82 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoPisa
City population2,746,38888,737
People per km²4,529479
Museums within 10 km4427
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km13
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month4 months

Where else could you go?

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