VacationSelector
The Semperoper, Dresden
DresdenThe Semperoper
The Riverwalk and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, Wilmington
WilmingtonThe Riverwalk and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge

Photos: Dresden by Maksym Kozlenko, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Wilmington by Unexpected Snacks, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Dresden or Wilmington?

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

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

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

Choose Wilmington for

  • beaches
  • food and drink
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Wilmington’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, Wilmington 73: Wilmington leads by 63 points.
Food & drink. Dresden 45, Wilmington 48: Wilmington leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Dresden 79, Wilmington 40: Dresden leads by 39 points.
Nightlife. Dresden 47, Wilmington 40: Dresden leads by 7 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dresden 74, Wilmington 58: Dresden leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Dresden 76, Wilmington 45: Dresden leads by 31 points.
Good for families. Dresden 60, Wilmington 62: Wilmington leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Dresden 74, Wilmington 28: Dresden leads by 46 points.
Shopping & style. Dresden 42, Wilmington 33: Dresden leads by 9 points.
Affordability. Dresden 55, Wilmington 42: Dresden leads by 13 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dresden 76, Wilmington 40: Dresden leads by 36 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dresden 42, Wilmington 33: Dresden leads by 9 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dresden and Wilmington.

Your match

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

Dresden
Best match
57match

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

Wilmington
45match

Wins on beaches 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

Wilmington in July

32 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
174 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
27 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
DresdenWilmington

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dresden: 1991-2020 normals, Dresden-Strehlen (3.8 km from centre). Wilmington: 1991-2020 normals, Wilmington / The Palms Mobile Home Park (5.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDresdenWilmington
Official languageGerman-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation126 m9 m
Main airportDresden Airport (DRS)10 km from centre13 non-stop destinationsWilmington International Airport (ILM)5 km from centre25 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureDresdenWilmington
City population562,764115,451
People per km²1,713839
Museums within 10 km702
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C-6 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Dresden or Wilmington 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.