VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
The beach promenade in Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv
Tel AvivThe beach promenade in Tel Aviv

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Tel Aviv by israeltourism, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Chicago or Tel Aviv?

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

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • shopping

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

Choose Tel Aviv for

  • day trips
  • beaches
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Tel Aviv’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, Tel Aviv 86: Tel Aviv leads by 36 points.
Food & drink. Chicago and Tel Aviv are level on 80.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Tel Aviv 57: Chicago leads by 21 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Tel Aviv 82: Tel Aviv leads by 5 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Tel Aviv 52: Tel Aviv leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Chicago 42, Tel Aviv 84: Tel Aviv leads by 42 points.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Tel Aviv 68: Chicago leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Tel Aviv 64: Chicago leads by 8 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago 70, Tel Aviv 55: Chicago leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Tel Aviv 14: Chicago leads by 19 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Tel Aviv 70: Chicago leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago 33, Tel Aviv 35: Tel Aviv leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chicago and Tel Aviv.

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Chicago
62match

Wins on culture and sights and prices with your weighting.

Tel Aviv
62match

Wins on day trips and beaches 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

Tel Aviv in July

32 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
27 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
ChicagoTel Aviv

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Tel Aviv: 1991-2020 normals, Bet Dagan (9.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChicagoTel Aviv
Official language-Hebrew
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)New Israeli Sheqel (ILS)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCHM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number911Police 100, fire 102
Elevation179 m5 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsBen Gurion International Airport (TLV)13 km from centre111 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days-

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoTel Aviv
City population2,746,388467,875
People per km²4,5298,998
Museums within 10 km4498
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month7 months

Where else could you go?

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