VacationSelector
A heritage tram before the Regent building, Christchurch
ChristchurchA heritage tram before the Regent building
A jetty on the lagoon, Faro
FaroA jetty on the lagoon

Photos: Christchurch by Bernard Spragg. NZ, CC0; Faro by Efrem Efre, Pexels License.

Christchurch or Faro?

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 Christchurch for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Faro for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Faro’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. Christchurch 38, Faro 74: Faro leads by 36 points.
Food & drink. Christchurch 45, Faro 48: Faro leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Christchurch 38, Faro 35: Christchurch leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. Christchurch and Faro are level on 32.
Nature & outdoors. Christchurch 84, Faro 62: Christchurch leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Christchurch 45, Faro 64: Faro leads by 19 points.
Good for families. Christchurch 66, Faro 60: Christchurch leads by 6 points.
Getting around. Christchurch 48, Faro 60: Faro leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Christchurch 32, Faro 35: Faro leads by 3 points.
Affordability. Christchurch 38, Faro 60: Faro leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Christchurch 38, Faro 30: Christchurch leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Christchurch 45, Faro 33: Christchurch leads by 12 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Christchurch
46match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and wellness with your weighting.

Faro
Best match
49match

Wins on beaches 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.

Christchurch in July

11 °Cdaytime high
1 °Cnight-time low
68 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
10 °Csea
9 hdaylight a day

Faro in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
ChristchurchFaro

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Christchurch: 1991-2020 normals, Christchurch (8.7 km from centre). Faro: 1991-2020 normals, Faro / Aeroporto (2.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChristchurchFaro
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, MāoriPortuguese
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)Euro (EUR)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC, UTC+1 in summer
Emergency number111112
Elevation20 m10 m
Main airportChristchurch International Airport (CHC)10 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsFaro - Gago Coutinho International Airport (FAO)3 km from centre91 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureChristchurchFaro
City population383,20064,560
People per km²1,298319
Museums within 10 km112
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone3 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Christchurch or Faro 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.