VacationSelector
Nyhavn, Copenhagen
CopenhagenNyhavn
The Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower, Shanghai
ShanghaiThe Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower

Photos: Copenhagen by Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Shanghai by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Copenhagen or Shanghai?

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

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

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

Choose Shanghai for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Shanghai’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, Shanghai 10: Copenhagen leads by 30 points.
Food & drink. Copenhagen 76, Shanghai 88: Shanghai leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Copenhagen and Shanghai are level on 72.
Nightlife. Copenhagen 60, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 20 points.
Nature & outdoors. Copenhagen 45, Shanghai 25: Copenhagen leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Copenhagen 72, Shanghai 90: Shanghai leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Copenhagen 85, Shanghai 80: Copenhagen leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Copenhagen and Shanghai are level on 85.
Shopping & style. Copenhagen 70, Shanghai 82: Shanghai leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Copenhagen 18, Shanghai 55: Shanghai leads by 37 points.
Live music & performing arts. Copenhagen 68, Shanghai 66: Copenhagen leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Copenhagen and Shanghai are level on 55.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Copenhagen and Shanghai.

Your match

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

Copenhagen
62match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Shanghai
Best match
66match

Wins on prices and nightlife 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
No recordsunshine a day
17 °Csea
17 hdaylight a day

Shanghai in July

33 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
151 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
CopenhagenShanghai

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Copenhagen: 1991-2020 normals, Koebenhavn / Landbohoejskolen (2.4 km from centre). Shanghai: 1991-2020 normals, Shanghai / Hongqiao (8.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCopenhagenShanghai
Official languageDanishPutonghua
CurrencyDanish Krone (DKK)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsCEFK230 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number112Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation14 m4 m
Main airportCopenhagen Kastrup Airport (CPH)8 km from centre196 non-stop destinationsShanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)33 km from centre207 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasureCopenhagenShanghai
City population667,09924,870,895
People per km²7,3393,922
Museums within 10 km7245
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km50
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone5 months

Where else could you go?

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