VacationSelector
The Semperoper, Dresden
DresdenThe Semperoper
Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo
TokyoShibuya Crossing

Photos: Dresden by Maksym Kozlenko, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Tokyo by Benh LIEU SONG, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Dresden or Tokyo?

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 Dresden for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Tokyo for

  • shopping
  • food and drink
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Tokyo’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. Dresden 10, Tokyo 40: Tokyo leads by 30 points.
Food & drink. Dresden 45, Tokyo 98: Tokyo leads by 53 points.
Culture & sights. Dresden 79, Tokyo 84: Tokyo leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Dresden 47, Tokyo 86: Tokyo leads by 39 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dresden 74, Tokyo 68: Dresden leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Dresden 76, Tokyo 85: Tokyo leads by 9 points.
Good for families. Dresden 60, Tokyo 95: Tokyo leads by 35 points.
Getting around. Dresden 74, Tokyo 98: Tokyo leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Dresden 42, Tokyo 99: Tokyo leads by 57 points.
Affordability. Dresden 55, Tokyo 48: Dresden leads by 7 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dresden 76, Tokyo 86: Tokyo leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dresden 42, Tokyo 78: Tokyo leads by 36 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dresden and Tokyo.

Your match

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

Dresden
57match

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

Tokyo
Best match
80match

Wins on shopping and food and drink with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Dresden in July

26 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
80 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Tokyo in July

30 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
157 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
DresdenTokyo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dresden: 1991-2020 normals, Dresden-Strehlen (3.8 km from centre). Tokyo: 1991-2020 normals, Tokyo (3.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDresdenTokyo
Official languageGermanJapanese
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Yen (JPY)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the region
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+9
Emergency number112Police 110, fire 119
Elevation126 m6 m
Main airportDresden Airport (DRS)10 km from centre13 non-stop destinationsTokyo Haneda International Airport (HND)18 km from centre98 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureDresdenTokyo
City population562,76414,264,798
People per km²1,7136,501
Museums within 10 km70192
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C-4 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Dresden or Tokyo 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.