VacationSelector
The Campanile, Trinity College, Dublin
DublinThe Campanile, Trinity College
The cathedral above the old town, Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de CompostelaThe cathedral above the old town

Photos: Dublin by David Kernan, CC BY 4.0, cropped; Santiago de Compostela by Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez (Lmbuga), CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Dublin or Santiago de Compostela?

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

  • live music and the arts
  • shopping
  • nightlife

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

Choose Santiago de Compostela for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Santiago de Compostela’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, Santiago de Compostela 32: Santiago de Compostela leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Dublin 50, Santiago de Compostela 68: Santiago de Compostela leads by 18 points.
Culture & sights. Dublin 64, Santiago de Compostela 70: Santiago de Compostela leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Dublin 62, Santiago de Compostela 45: Dublin leads by 17 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dublin 70, Santiago de Compostela 62: Dublin leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Dublin and Santiago de Compostela are level on 72.
Good for families. Dublin 57, Santiago de Compostela 42: Dublin leads by 15 points.
Getting around. Dublin 66, Santiago de Compostela 70: Santiago de Compostela leads by 4 points.
Shopping & style. Dublin 54, Santiago de Compostela 35: Dublin leads by 19 points.
Affordability. Dublin 20, Santiago de Compostela 64: Santiago de Compostela leads by 44 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dublin 65, Santiago de Compostela 40: Dublin leads by 25 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dublin 25, Santiago de Compostela 42: Santiago de Compostela leads by 17 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dublin and Santiago de Compostela.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Dublin
53match

Wins on live music and the arts and shopping with your weighting.

Santiago de Compostela
54match

Wins on prices 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.

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

Santiago de Compostela in July

25 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
41 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
17 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
DublinSantiago de Compostela

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dublin: 1991-2020 normals, Dublin Airport (9.3 km from centre). Santiago de Compostela: 1991-2020 normals, Santiago / Labacolla (8.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDublinSantiago de Compostela
Official languageEnglish, IrishSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsG230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC, UTC+1 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation20 m260 m
Main airportDublin Airport (DUB)9 km from centre200 non-stop destinationsSantiago-Rosalía de Castro Airport (SCQ)10 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureDublinSantiago de Compostela
City population592,713100,965
People per km²5,154459
Museums within 10 km406
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12
Swim season, months above 21 °CNoneNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Dublin or Santiago de Compostela 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. 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.