VacationSelector
India Gate behind its flower beds, Delhi
DelhiIndia Gate behind its flower beds
The Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower, Shanghai
ShanghaiThe Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower

Photos: Delhi by shalender kumar, Pexels License; Shanghai by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Delhi 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 Delhi for

  • prices
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Shanghai for

  • families
  • nightlife
  • getting around

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. Delhi 4, Shanghai 10: Shanghai leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Delhi 84, Shanghai 88: Shanghai leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Delhi 85, Shanghai 72: Delhi leads by 13 points.
Nightlife. Delhi 44, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 36 points.
Nature & outdoors. Delhi 20, Shanghai 25: Shanghai leads by 5 points.
Day trips. Delhi 68, Shanghai 90: Shanghai leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Delhi 32, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 48 points.
Getting around. Delhi 55, Shanghai 85: Shanghai leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Delhi 78, Shanghai 82: Shanghai leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Delhi 90, Shanghai 55: Delhi leads by 35 points.
Live music & performing arts. Delhi 55, Shanghai 66: Shanghai leads by 11 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Delhi 25, Shanghai 55: Shanghai leads by 30 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Delhi and Shanghai.

Your match

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

Delhi
53match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Shanghai
Best match
66match

Wins on families 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.

Delhi in July

36 °Cdaytime high
28 °Cnight-time low
190 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
14 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
DelhiShanghai

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Delhi: 1991-2020 normals, New Delhi / Safdarjung (9.4 km from centre). Shanghai: 1991-2020 normals, Shanghai / Hongqiao (8.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDelhiShanghai
Official languageHindi, EnglishPutonghua
CurrencyIndian Rupee (INR)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsCM230 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+5:30UTC+8
Emergency number108 or 112Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation221 m4 m
Main airportIndira Gandhi International Airport (DEL)17 km from centre144 non-stop destinationsShanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)33 km from centre207 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-6 days

By the numbers

MeasureDelhiShanghai
City population26,495,00024,870,895
People per km²18,9623,922
Museums within 10 km2345
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km40
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Delhi 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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.