VacationSelector
The Campanile, Trinity College, Dublin
DublinThe Campanile, Trinity College
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque

Photos: Dublin by David Kernan, CC BY 4.0, cropped; Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License.

Dublin or Istanbul?

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 Dublin for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • day trips
  • getting around

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

Choose Istanbul for

  • wellness
  • prices
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Istanbul’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. Dublin 27, Istanbul 45: Istanbul leads by 18 points.
Food & drink. Dublin 50, Istanbul 87: Istanbul leads by 37 points.
Culture & sights. Dublin 64, Istanbul 90: Istanbul leads by 26 points.
Nightlife. Dublin 62, Istanbul 77: Istanbul leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dublin 70, Istanbul 52: Dublin leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Dublin 72, Istanbul 55: Dublin leads by 17 points.
Good for families. Dublin 57, Istanbul 55: Dublin leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Dublin 66, Istanbul 62: Dublin leads by 4 points.
Shopping & style. Dublin 54, Istanbul 86: Istanbul leads by 32 points.
Affordability. Dublin 20, Istanbul 60: Istanbul leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dublin 65, Istanbul 62: Dublin leads by 3 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dublin 25, Istanbul 75: Istanbul leads by 50 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dublin and Istanbul.

Your match

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

Dublin
53match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and day trips with your weighting.

Istanbul
Best match
67match

Wins on wellness and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Dublin in July

20 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
62 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
15 °Csea
17 hdaylight a day

Istanbul in July

30 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
DublinIstanbul

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dublin: 1991-2020 normals, Dublin Airport (9.3 km from centre). Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDublinIstanbul
Official languageEnglish, IrishTurkish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Turkish Lira (TRY)
SocketsG230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC, UTC+1 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number112112
Elevation20 m100 m
Main airportDublin Airport (DUB)9 km from centre200 non-stop destinationsİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureDublinIstanbul
City population592,71315,655,924
People per km²5,1542,930
Museums within 10 km4073
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone3 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Dublin or Istanbul 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). 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. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.