VacationSelector
The cathedral and Great St. Martin on the Rhine, Cologne
CologneThe cathedral and Great St. Martin on the Rhine
The Triple Bridge and the Franciscan Church, Ljubljana
LjubljanaThe Triple Bridge and the Franciscan Church

Photos: Cologne by Jörg Braukmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Ljubljana by detait, Pexels License.

Cologne or Ljubljana?

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

  • nightlife
  • shopping
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Ljubljana for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Ljubljana’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, Ljubljana 22: Ljubljana leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Cologne 52, Ljubljana 55: Ljubljana leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Cologne 67, Ljubljana 55: Cologne leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Cologne 66, Ljubljana 40: Cologne leads by 26 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cologne 56, Ljubljana 80: Ljubljana leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Cologne 80, Ljubljana 78: Cologne leads by 2 points.
Good for families. Cologne 70, Ljubljana 54: Cologne leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Cologne and Ljubljana are level on 74.
Shopping & style. Cologne 57, Ljubljana 33: Cologne leads by 24 points.
Affordability. Cologne 46, Ljubljana 54: Ljubljana leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cologne 68, Ljubljana 50: Cologne leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cologne 50, Ljubljana 42: Cologne leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cologne and Ljubljana.

Your match

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

Cologne
Best match
58match

Wins on nightlife and shopping with your weighting.

Ljubljana
53match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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.

Cologne in July

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

Ljubljana in July

28 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
121 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
CologneLjubljana

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cologne: 1991-2020 normals, Köln-Stammheim (5.4 km from centre). Ljubljana: 1991-2020 normals, Ljubljana / Bezigrad (1.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCologneLjubljana
Official languageGermanSlovene
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 m309 m
Main airportCologne Bonn Airport (CGN)15 km from centre115 non-stop destinationsLjubljana Jože Pučnik Airport (LJU)20 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureCologneLjubljana
City population1,025,523284,293
People per km²2,5321,736
Museums within 10 km4014
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km33

Where else could you go?

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