VacationSelector
Nyhavn, Copenhagen
CopenhagenNyhavn
The lighthouse in the Paphos Archaeological Park, Paphos
PaphosThe lighthouse in the Paphos Archaeological Park

Photos: Copenhagen by Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Paphos by Nikodem Nijaki, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Copenhagen or Paphos?

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

  • live music and the arts
  • getting around
  • shopping

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

Choose Paphos for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Paphos’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, Paphos 76: Paphos leads by 36 points.
Food & drink. Copenhagen 76, Paphos 45: Copenhagen leads by 31 points.
Culture & sights. Copenhagen 72, Paphos 62: Copenhagen leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Copenhagen 60, Paphos 38: Copenhagen leads by 22 points.
Nature & outdoors. Copenhagen 45, Paphos 70: Paphos leads by 25 points.
Day trips. Copenhagen 72, Paphos 64: Copenhagen leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Copenhagen 85, Paphos 68: Copenhagen leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Copenhagen 85, Paphos 40: Copenhagen leads by 45 points.
Shopping & style. Copenhagen 70, Paphos 25: Copenhagen leads by 45 points.
Affordability. Copenhagen 18, Paphos 52: Paphos leads by 34 points.
Live music & performing arts. Copenhagen 68, Paphos 22: Copenhagen leads by 46 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Copenhagen 55, Paphos 42: Copenhagen leads by 13 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Copenhagen and Paphos.

Your match

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

Copenhagen
Best match
62match

Wins on live music and the arts and getting around with your weighting.

Paphos
50match

Wins on beaches and prices 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

Paphos in July

30 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
27 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
CopenhagenPaphos

Where the figures come from

Paphos has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Copenhagen: 1991-2020 normals, Koebenhavn / Landbohoejskolen (2.4 km from centre). Paphos: 1991-2020 normals, Paphos Airport (8.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCopenhagenPaphos
Official languageDanishTurkish, Greek, Modern Greek
CurrencyDanish Krone (DKK)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCEFK230 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation14 m72 m
Main airportCopenhagen Kastrup Airport (CPH)8 km from centre196 non-stop destinationsPaphos International Airport (PFO)8 km from centre59 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days17 days

By the numbers

MeasureCopenhagenPaphos
City population667,09935,961
People per km²7,3391,987
Museums within 10 km724
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km52
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone6 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Copenhagen or Paphos 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.