VacationSelector
The Mezquita and the Roman bridge, Cordoba
CordobaThe Mezquita and the Roman bridge
The cathedral of Santa Marta, Santa Marta
Santa MartaThe cathedral of Santa Marta

Photos: Cordoba by Jose María Ligero Loarte, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Santa Marta by Oliver H, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Cordoba or Santa Marta?

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 Cordoba for

  • day trips
  • culture and sights
  • getting around

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

Choose Santa Marta for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Marta’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. Cordoba 14, Santa Marta 70: Santa Marta leads by 56 points.
Food & drink. Cordoba 62, Santa Marta 44: Cordoba leads by 18 points.
Culture & sights. Cordoba 81, Santa Marta 34: Cordoba leads by 47 points.
Nightlife. Cordoba 40, Santa Marta 50: Santa Marta leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cordoba 45, Santa Marta 84: Santa Marta leads by 39 points.
Day trips. Cordoba 86, Santa Marta 38: Cordoba leads by 48 points.
Good for families. Cordoba and Santa Marta are level on 40.
Getting around. Cordoba 68, Santa Marta 38: Cordoba leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Cordoba 38, Santa Marta 27: Cordoba leads by 11 points.
Affordability. Cordoba 63, Santa Marta 80: Santa Marta leads by 17 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cordoba 47, Santa Marta 17: Cordoba leads by 30 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cordoba 40, Santa Marta 30: Cordoba leads by 10 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cordoba and Santa Marta.

Your match

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

Cordoba
Best match
52match

Wins on day trips and culture and sights with your weighting.

Santa Marta
46match

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

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Cordoba in July

37 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Santa Marta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
59 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
28 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
CordobaSanta Marta

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cordoba: 1991-2020 normals, Cordoba / Aeropuerto (7.6 km from centre). Santa Marta: 1991-2020 normals, Santa Marta / Simon Bolivar (11.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCordobaSanta Marta
Official languageSpanishSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Colombian Peso (COP)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB110 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5
Emergency number112123
Elevation120 m8 m
Main airportCórdoba Airport (ODB)8 km from centre3 non-stop destinationsSimón Bolívar International Airport (SMR)13 km from centre6 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days19 days

By the numbers

MeasureCordobaSanta Marta
City population323,262505,915
People per km²2581,723
Museums within 10 km163
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cordoba or Santa Marta 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.