VacationSelector
Fort Lovrijenac above the sea, Dubrovnik
DubrovnikFort Lovrijenac above the sea
Rathausquai on the Reuss, Lucerne
LucerneRathausquai on the Reuss

Photos: Dubrovnik by Natalia Semenova, CC BY 3.0, cropped; Lucerne by ILOVESwitzerland, Pexels License.

Dubrovnik or Lucerne?

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 Dubrovnik for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Lucerne for

  • live music and the arts
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Lucerne’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. Dubrovnik 74, Lucerne 35: Dubrovnik leads by 39 points.
Food & drink. Dubrovnik 47, Lucerne 35: Dubrovnik leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Dubrovnik 72, Lucerne 58: Dubrovnik leads by 14 points.
Nightlife. Dubrovnik 37, Lucerne 28: Dubrovnik leads by 9 points.
Nature & outdoors. Dubrovnik 70, Lucerne 92: Lucerne leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Dubrovnik 66, Lucerne 78: Lucerne leads by 12 points.
Good for families. Dubrovnik 50, Lucerne 66: Lucerne leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Dubrovnik 60, Lucerne 86: Lucerne leads by 26 points.
Shopping & style. Dubrovnik 25, Lucerne 46: Lucerne leads by 21 points.
Affordability. Dubrovnik 28, Lucerne 8: Dubrovnik leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Dubrovnik 25, Lucerne 66: Lucerne leads by 41 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Dubrovnik 32, Lucerne 46: Lucerne leads by 14 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Dubrovnik and Lucerne.

Your match

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

Dubrovnik
49match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

Lucerne
Best match
54match

Wins on live music and the arts and getting around with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Dubrovnik in July

29 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
29 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Lucerne in July

24 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
141 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
DubrovnikLucerne

Where the figures come from

Dubrovnik has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Dubrovnik's sunshine is measured 83 km from the centre, at Mostar.

Lucerne has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Lucerne's sunshine is measured 42 km from the centre, at Zurich Town / Ville..

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Dubrovnik: 1999-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Dubrovnik / Cilipi (15.3 km from centre). Lucerne: 2005-2025 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Emmen (4.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureDubrovnikLucerne
Official languageCroatianFrench, German, Italian, Romansh
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Swiss Franc (CHF)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCJ230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation10 m436 m
Main airportDubrovnik Ruđer Bošković Airport (DBV)16 km from centre76 non-stop destinationsZürich Airport (ZRH)49 km from centre226 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureDubrovnikLucerne
City population41,56286,234
People per km²-2,963
Museums within 10 km714
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km31
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Dubrovnik or Lucerne 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.