VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
The White Tower from the promenade, Thessaloniki
ThessalonikiThe White Tower from the promenade

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Thessaloniki by Destinygreece, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Chicago or Thessaloniki?

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 Thessaloniki for

  • prices
  • day trips
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Thessaloniki’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, Thessaloniki 55: Thessaloniki leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Chicago 80, Thessaloniki 77: Chicago leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Thessaloniki 73: Chicago leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Thessaloniki 76: Chicago leads by 1 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Thessaloniki 66: Thessaloniki leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Chicago 42, Thessaloniki 74: Thessaloniki leads by 32 points.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Thessaloniki 50: Chicago leads by 28 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Thessaloniki 60: Chicago leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago 70, Thessaloniki 50: Chicago leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Thessaloniki 66: Thessaloniki leads by 33 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Thessaloniki 52: Chicago leads by 30 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago and Thessaloniki are level on 33.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Chicago
62match

Wins on live music and the arts and families with your weighting.

Thessaloniki
61match

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

Thessaloniki in July

32 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
ChicagoThessaloniki

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Thessaloniki: 1991-2020 normals, Thessaloniki Airport (14 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChicagoThessaloniki
Official language-Greek
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation179 m6 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsThessaloniki Macedonia International Airport (SKG)14 km from centre90 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoThessaloniki
City population2,746,388309,617
People per km²4,52916,042
Museums within 10 km4432
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month5 months

Where else could you go?

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