VacationSelector
A jetty on the lagoon, Faro
FaroA jetty on the lagoon
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade

Photos: Faro by Efrem Efre, Pexels License; Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License.

Faro or Izmir?

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 Faro for

  • beaches
  • families

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

Choose Izmir for

  • nightlife
  • food and drink
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Izmir’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. Faro 74, Izmir 62: Faro leads by 12 points.
Food & drink. Faro 48, Izmir 72: Izmir leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Faro 35, Izmir 55: Izmir leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Faro 32, Izmir 60: Izmir leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Faro 62, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Faro 64, Izmir 86: Izmir leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Faro 60, Izmir 55: Faro leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Faro 60, Izmir 63: Izmir leads by 3 points.
Shopping & style. Faro 35, Izmir 55: Izmir leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Faro 60, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Faro 30, Izmir 48: Izmir leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Faro 33, Izmir 57: Izmir leads by 24 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Faro and Izmir.

Your match

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

Faro
49match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Izmir
Best match
62match

Wins on nightlife 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.

Faro in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Izmir in July

34 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
13 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
FaroIzmir

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Faro: 1991-2020 normals, Faro / Aeroporto (2.8 km from centre). Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureFaroIzmir
Official languagePortugueseTurkish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Turkish Lira (TRY)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC, UTC+1 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number112112
Elevation10 m2 m
Main airportFaro - Gago Coutinho International Airport (FAO)3 km from centre91 non-stop destinationsAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureFaroIzmir
City population64,5604,493,242
People per km²3194,760
Museums within 10 km229
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C3 months5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Faro or Izmir 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.