VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
The Iguazu Falls in the green jungle, Puerto Iguazu
Puerto IguazuThe Iguazu Falls in the green jungle

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Puerto Iguazu by Muhammed Ballan, Pexels License.

Chicago or Puerto Iguazu?

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
  • culture and sights
  • nightlife

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

Choose Puerto Iguazu for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Puerto Iguazu’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, Puerto Iguazu 5: Chicago leads by 45 points.
Food & drink. Chicago 80, Puerto Iguazu 28: Chicago leads by 52 points.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Puerto Iguazu 9: Chicago leads by 69 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Puerto Iguazu 14: Chicago leads by 63 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Puerto Iguazu 95: Puerto Iguazu leads by 47 points.
Day trips. Chicago 42, Puerto Iguazu 33: Chicago leads by 9 points.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Puerto Iguazu 55: Chicago leads by 23 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Puerto Iguazu 54: Chicago leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago 70, Puerto Iguazu 17: Chicago leads by 53 points.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Puerto Iguazu 48: Puerto Iguazu leads by 15 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Puerto Iguazu 7: Chicago leads by 75 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago 33, Puerto Iguazu 34: Puerto Iguazu leads by 1 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chicago and Puerto Iguazu.

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 culture and sights with your weighting.

Puerto Iguazu
33match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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

Puerto Iguazu in July

22 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
103 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
No seasea
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChicagoPuerto Iguazu

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Puerto Iguazu: 1991-2020 normals, Iguazu Aerodrome (17.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChicagoPuerto Iguazu
Official language-Spanish
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Argentine Peso (ARS)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC-3
Emergency number911117 or 911
Elevation179 m162 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsCataratas Del Iguazú International Airport (IGR)18 km from centre8 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoPuerto Iguazu
City population2,746,38854,903
People per km²4,529-
Museums within 10 km440
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
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 Puerto Iguazu 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.