VacationSelector
Nyhavn, Copenhagen
CopenhagenNyhavn
The lighthouse and harbour at Sharm el-Sheikh, Sharm el-Sheikh
Sharm el-SheikhThe lighthouse and harbour at Sharm el-Sheikh

Photos: Copenhagen by Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Sharm el-Sheikh by Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0, cropped.

Copenhagen or Sharm el-Sheikh?

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

  • getting around
  • culture and sights
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Sharm el-Sheikh for

  • prices
  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Sharm el-Sheikh’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, Sharm el-Sheikh 87: Sharm el-Sheikh leads by 47 points.
Food & drink. Copenhagen 76, Sharm el-Sheikh 30: Copenhagen leads by 46 points.
Culture & sights. Copenhagen 72, Sharm el-Sheikh 12: Copenhagen leads by 60 points.
Nightlife. Copenhagen 60, Sharm el-Sheikh 42: Copenhagen leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Copenhagen 45, Sharm el-Sheikh 82: Sharm el-Sheikh leads by 37 points.
Day trips. Copenhagen 72, Sharm el-Sheikh 30: Copenhagen leads by 42 points.
Good for families. Copenhagen 85, Sharm el-Sheikh 62: Copenhagen leads by 23 points.
Getting around. Copenhagen 85, Sharm el-Sheikh 22: Copenhagen leads by 63 points.
Shopping & style. Copenhagen 70, Sharm el-Sheikh 25: Copenhagen leads by 45 points.
Affordability. Copenhagen 18, Sharm el-Sheikh 74: Sharm el-Sheikh leads by 56 points.
Live music & performing arts. Copenhagen 68, Sharm el-Sheikh 10: Copenhagen leads by 58 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Copenhagen 55, Sharm el-Sheikh 50: Copenhagen leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Copenhagen and Sharm el-Sheikh.

Your match

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

Copenhagen
Best match
62match

Wins on getting around and culture and sights with your weighting.

Sharm el-Sheikh
44match

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.

Copenhagen in July

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

Sharm el-Sheikh in July

38 °Cdaytime high
28 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
28 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
CopenhagenSharm el-Sheikh

Where the figures come from

Sharm el-Sheikh has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Copenhagen: 1991-2020 normals, Koebenhavn / Landbohoejskolen (2.4 km from centre). Sharm el-Sheikh: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureCopenhagenSharm el-Sheikh
Official languageDanishArabic
CurrencyDanish Krone (DKK)Egyptian Pound (EGP)
SocketsCEFK230 V, 50 HzCF220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112Police 122, ambulance 123, fire 180
Elevation14 m1 m
Main airportCopenhagen Kastrup Airport (CPH)8 km from centre196 non-stop destinationsSharm El Sheikh International Airport (SSH)16 km from centre112 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasureCopenhagenSharm el-Sheikh
City population667,09973,000
People per km²7,339-
Museums within 10 km721
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km50
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Copenhagen or Sharm el-Sheikh 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. Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. 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.