VacationSelector
A jetty on the lagoon, Faro
FaroA jetty on the lagoon
The Limmat from Quaibrücke, Zurich
ZurichThe Limmat from Quaibrücke

Photos: Faro by Efrem Efre, Pexels License; Zurich by Daniel Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Faro or Zurich?

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

  • prices
  • beaches

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

Choose Zurich for

  • live music and the arts
  • getting around
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Zurich’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, Zurich 45: Faro leads by 29 points.
Food & drink. Faro 48, Zurich 53: Zurich leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Faro 35, Zurich 58: Zurich leads by 23 points.
Nightlife. Faro 32, Zurich 62: Zurich leads by 30 points.
Nature & outdoors. Faro 62, Zurich 80: Zurich leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Faro 64, Zurich 84: Zurich leads by 20 points.
Good for families. Faro 60, Zurich 76: Zurich leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Faro 60, Zurich 95: Zurich leads by 35 points.
Shopping & style. Faro 35, Zurich 66: Zurich leads by 31 points.
Affordability. Faro 60, Zurich 3: Faro leads by 57 points.
Live music & performing arts. Faro 30, Zurich 70: Zurich leads by 40 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Faro 33, Zurich 58: Zurich leads by 25 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Faro
49match

Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.

Zurich
Best match
63match

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.

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

Zurich in July

24 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
126 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

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
FaroZurich

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Faro: 1991-2020 normals, Faro / Aeroporto (2.8 km from centre). Zurich: 1991-2020 normals, Zurich Town / Ville. (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureFaroZurich
Official languagePortugueseFrench, German, Italian, Romansh
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Swiss Franc (CHF)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCJ230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC, UTC+1 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation10 m408 m
Main airportFaro - Gago Coutinho International Airport (FAO)3 km from centre91 non-stop destinationsZürich Airport (ZRH)9 km from centre226 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureFaroZurich
City population64,560440,935
People per km²3195,016
Museums within 10 km263
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C3 months-

Where else could you go?

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