VacationSelector
The cathedral and Great St. Martin on the Rhine, Cologne
CologneThe cathedral and Great St. Martin on the Rhine
The Koutoubia Mosque from its gardens, Marrakech
MarrakechThe Koutoubia Mosque from its gardens

Photos: Cologne by Jörg Braukmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Marrakech by Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Cologne or Marrakech?

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

  • day trips
  • families
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Marrakech for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Marrakech’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, Marrakech 7: Cologne leads by 7 points.
Food & drink. Cologne 52, Marrakech 64: Marrakech leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Cologne 67, Marrakech 76: Marrakech leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Cologne 66, Marrakech 33: Cologne leads by 33 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cologne 56, Marrakech 70: Marrakech leads by 14 points.
Day trips. Cologne 80, Marrakech 28: Cologne leads by 52 points.
Good for families. Cologne 70, Marrakech 25: Cologne leads by 45 points.
Getting around. Cologne 74, Marrakech 38: Cologne leads by 36 points.
Shopping & style. Cologne 57, Marrakech 72: Marrakech leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Cologne 46, Marrakech 72: Marrakech leads by 26 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cologne 68, Marrakech 25: Cologne leads by 43 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cologne 50, Marrakech 75: Marrakech leads by 25 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cologne and Marrakech.

Your match

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

Cologne
Best match
58match

Wins on day trips and families with your weighting.

Marrakech
49match

Wins on prices and wellness 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

Marrakech in July

38 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
CologneMarrakech

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cologne: 1991-2020 normals, Köln-Stammheim (5.4 km from centre). Marrakech: 1991-2020 normals, Marrakech (5.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCologneMarrakech
Official languageGermanArabic, Standard Moroccan Tamazight
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Moroccan Dirham (MAD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCE50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1
Emergency number112Police 19/112, ambulance 15, fire 15
Elevation59 m465 m
Main airportCologne Bonn Airport (CGN)15 km from centre115 non-stop destinationsMarrakesh Menara Airport (RAK)6 km from centre113 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureCologneMarrakech
City population1,025,5231,002,697
People per km²2,5324,360
Museums within 10 km4014
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 Marrakech 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.