VacationSelector
The cathedral and Great St. Martin on the Rhine, Cologne
CologneThe cathedral and Great St. Martin on the Rhine
Comares Tower and the Palace of Charles V, Alhambra, Granada
GranadaComares Tower and the Palace of Charles V, Alhambra

Photos: Cologne by Jörg Braukmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Granada by Jebulon, CC0.

Cologne or Granada?

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 Cologne for

  • families
  • shopping
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Granada for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Granada’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. Cologne 14, Granada 38: Granada leads by 24 points.
Food & drink. Cologne 52, Granada 62: Granada leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Cologne 67, Granada 80: Granada leads by 13 points.
Nightlife. Cologne 66, Granada 58: Cologne leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cologne 56, Granada 80: Granada leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Cologne 80, Granada 76: Cologne leads by 4 points.
Good for families. Cologne 70, Granada 52: Cologne leads by 18 points.
Getting around. Cologne 74, Granada 68: Cologne leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Cologne 57, Granada 40: Cologne leads by 17 points.
Affordability. Cologne 46, Granada 63: Granada leads by 17 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cologne 68, Granada 58: Cologne leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cologne 50, Granada 48: Cologne leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cologne and Granada.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Cologne
58match

Wins on families and shopping with your weighting.

Granada
60match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Cologne in July

25 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
81 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Granada in July

35 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
13 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
CologneGranada

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cologne: 1991-2020 normals, Köln-Stammheim (5.4 km from centre). Granada: 1991-2020 normals, Granada / Caserío Hospicio (5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCologneGranada
Official languageGermanSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation59 m693 m
Main airportCologne Bonn Airport (CGN)15 km from centre115 non-stop destinationsF.G.L. Airport Granada-Jaén Airport (GRX)16 km from centre13 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureCologneGranada
City population1,025,523233,975
People per km²2,5322,659
Museums within 10 km4020
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km31

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cologne or Granada 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.