VacationSelector
Nyhavn, Copenhagen
CopenhagenNyhavn
Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan, New York
New YorkBrooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan

Photos: Copenhagen by Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; New York by Jakub Hałun, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Copenhagen or New York?

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 Copenhagen for

  • families
  • wellness
  • prices

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

Choose New York for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on New York’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. Copenhagen 40, New York 50: New York leads by 10 points.
Food & drink. Copenhagen 76, New York 92: New York leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Copenhagen 72, New York 89: New York leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Copenhagen 60, New York 97: New York leads by 37 points.
Nature & outdoors. Copenhagen 45, New York 55: New York leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Copenhagen 72, New York 68: Copenhagen leads by 4 points.
Good for families. Copenhagen 85, New York 70: Copenhagen leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Copenhagen 85, New York 82: Copenhagen leads by 3 points.
Shopping & style. Copenhagen 70, New York 97: New York leads by 27 points.
Affordability. Copenhagen 18, New York 12: Copenhagen leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Copenhagen 68, New York 99: New York leads by 31 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Copenhagen 55, New York 42: Copenhagen leads by 13 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Copenhagen and New York.

Your match

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

Copenhagen
62match

Wins on families and wellness with your weighting.

New York
Best match
71match

Wins on nightlife and live music and the arts with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Copenhagen in July

23 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
59 mmrain in the month
17 °Csea
17 hdaylight a day

New York in July

30 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
107 mmrain in the month
22 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
CopenhagenNew York

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Copenhagen: 1991-2020 normals, Koebenhavn / Landbohoejskolen (2.4 km from centre). New York: 1991-2020 normals, LaGuardia Airport (12.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCopenhagenNew York
Official languageDanish-
CurrencyDanish Krone (DKK)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCEFK230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation14 m25 m
Main airportCopenhagen Kastrup Airport (CPH)8 km from centre196 non-stop destinationsJohn F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)21 km from centre189 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureCopenhagenNew York
City population667,0998,804,190
People per km²7,3397,256
Museums within 10 km72157
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km52
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 Copenhagen or New York 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.