VacationSelector
The cathedral and Great St. Martin on the Rhine, Cologne
CologneThe cathedral and Great St. Martin on the Rhine
Vilnius Cathedral, Vilnius
VilniusVilnius Cathedral

Photos: Cologne by Jörg Braukmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Vilnius by Scotch Mist, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Cologne or Vilnius?

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
  • nightlife
  • day trips

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

Choose Vilnius for

  • prices
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Vilnius’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, Vilnius 17: Vilnius leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Cologne 52, Vilnius 50: Cologne leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Cologne 67, Vilnius 66: Cologne leads by 1 points.
Nightlife. Cologne 66, Vilnius 46: Cologne leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cologne 56, Vilnius 52: Cologne leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Cologne 80, Vilnius 60: Cologne leads by 20 points.
Good for families. Cologne 70, Vilnius 44: Cologne leads by 26 points.
Getting around. Cologne 74, Vilnius 68: Cologne leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Cologne 57, Vilnius 38: Cologne leads by 19 points.
Affordability. Cologne 46, Vilnius 64: Vilnius leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cologne 68, Vilnius 54: Cologne leads by 14 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cologne 50, Vilnius 34: Cologne leads by 16 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Cologne
Best match
58match

Wins on families and nightlife with your weighting.

Vilnius
49match

Wins on prices 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

Vilnius in July

24 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
90 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
17 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
CologneVilnius

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cologne: 1991-2020 normals, Köln-Stammheim (5.4 km from centre). Vilnius: 1991-2020 normals, Vilnius (13 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCologneVilnius
Official languageGermanLithuanian
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation59 m98 m
Main airportCologne Bonn Airport (CGN)15 km from centre115 non-stop destinationsVilnius International Airport (VNO)6 km from centre82 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureCologneVilnius
City population1,025,523619,405
People per km²2,5321,545
Museums within 10 km4031
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 Vilnius 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.