VacationSelector
A jetty on the lagoon, Faro
FaroA jetty on the lagoon
The Riverwalk and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, Wilmington
WilmingtonThe Riverwalk and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge

Photos: Faro by Efrem Efre, Pexels License; Wilmington by Unexpected Snacks, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Faro 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 Faro for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • prices

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

Choose Wilmington for

  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife
  • culture and sights

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. Faro 74, Wilmington 73: Faro leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Faro and Wilmington are level on 48.
Culture & sights. Faro 35, Wilmington 40: Wilmington leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Faro 32, Wilmington 40: Wilmington leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Faro 62, Wilmington 58: Faro leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Faro 64, Wilmington 45: Faro leads by 19 points.
Good for families. Faro 60, Wilmington 62: Wilmington leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Faro 60, Wilmington 28: Faro leads by 32 points.
Shopping & style. Faro 35, Wilmington 33: Faro leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Faro 60, Wilmington 42: Faro leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Faro 30, Wilmington 40: Wilmington leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Faro and Wilmington are level on 33.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Faro
Best match
49match

Wins on getting around and day trips with your weighting.

Wilmington
45match

Wins on live music and the arts and nightlife 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

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
FaroWilmington

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Faro: 1991-2020 normals, Faro / Aeroporto (2.8 km from centre). Wilmington: 1991-2020 normals, Wilmington / The Palms Mobile Home Park (5.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureFaroWilmington
Official languagePortuguese-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC, UTC+1 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation10 m9 m
Main airportFaro - Gago Coutinho International Airport (FAO)3 km from centre91 non-stop destinationsWilmington International Airport (ILM)5 km from centre25 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureFaroWilmington
City population64,560115,451
People per km²319839
Museums within 10 km22
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C3 months6 months

Where else could you go?

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