VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
The cathedral above the old town, Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de CompostelaThe cathedral above the old town

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Santiago de Compostela by Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez (Lmbuga), CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Chicago or Santiago de Compostela?

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
  • families
  • shopping

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

Choose Santiago de Compostela for

  • prices
  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Santiago de Compostela’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, Santiago de Compostela 32: Chicago leads by 18 points.
Food & drink. Chicago 80, Santiago de Compostela 68: Chicago leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Santiago de Compostela 70: Chicago leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Santiago de Compostela 45: Chicago leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Santiago de Compostela 62: Santiago de Compostela leads by 14 points.
Day trips. Chicago 42, Santiago de Compostela 72: Santiago de Compostela leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Santiago de Compostela 42: Chicago leads by 36 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Santiago de Compostela 70: Chicago leads by 2 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago 70, Santiago de Compostela 35: Chicago leads by 35 points.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Santiago de Compostela 64: Santiago de Compostela leads by 31 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Santiago de Compostela 40: Chicago leads by 42 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago 33, Santiago de Compostela 42: Santiago de Compostela leads by 9 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chicago and Santiago de Compostela.

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 families with your weighting.

Santiago de Compostela
54match

Wins on prices and day trips 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

Santiago de Compostela in July

25 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
41 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
17 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChicagoSantiago de Compostela

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Santiago de Compostela: 1991-2020 normals, Santiago / Labacolla (8.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChicagoSantiago de Compostela
Official language-Spanish
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation179 m260 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsSantiago-Rosalía de Castro Airport (SCQ)10 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoSantiago de Compostela
City population2,746,388100,965
People per km²4,529459
Museums within 10 km446
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12
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 Santiago de Compostela 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.