VacationSelector
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago
ChicagoCloud Gate in Millennium Park
Puente de San Martín over the Tagus, Toledo
ToledoPuente de San Martín over the Tagus

Photos: Chicago by Jesus Toledo, Pexels License; Toledo by Ввласенко, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Chicago or Toledo?

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
  • beaches

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

Choose Toledo for

  • day trips
  • prices
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Toledo’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, Toledo 5: Chicago leads by 45 points.
Food & drink. Chicago 80, Toledo 40: Chicago leads by 40 points.
Culture & sights. Chicago 78, Toledo 79: Toledo leads by 1 points.
Nightlife. Chicago 77, Toledo 22: Chicago leads by 55 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chicago 48, Toledo 40: Chicago leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Chicago 42, Toledo 78: Toledo leads by 36 points.
Good for families. Chicago 78, Toledo 45: Chicago leads by 33 points.
Getting around. Chicago 72, Toledo 64: Chicago leads by 8 points.
Shopping & style. Chicago 70, Toledo 32: Chicago leads by 38 points.
Affordability. Chicago 33, Toledo 58: Toledo leads by 25 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chicago 82, Toledo 22: Chicago leads by 60 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chicago 33, Toledo 30: Chicago leads by 3 points.
0255075100

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

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.

Toledo
43match

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

Toledo in July

35 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
6 mmrain in the month
13 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
ChicagoToledo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chicago: 1991-2020 normals, Chicago Midway Airport (14.5 km from centre). Toledo: 1991-2020 normals, Toledo (2.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChicagoToledo
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 m523 m
Main airportChicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)25 km from centre274 non-stop destinationsAdolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)80 km from centre239 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureChicagoToledo
City population2,746,38887,216
People per km²4,529376
Museums within 10 km4413
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12
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 Toledo 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.