VacationSelector
The skyline and yachts on the canals, Fort Lauderdale
Fort LauderdaleThe skyline and yachts on the canals
Palms on Waikiki Beach, Honolulu
HonoluluPalms on Waikiki Beach

Photos: Fort Lauderdale by KeanoManu, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Honolulu by Jess Loiterton, Pexels License.

Fort Lauderdale or Honolulu?

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 Fort Lauderdale for

  • day trips
  • prices
  • nightlife

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

Choose Honolulu for

  • culture and sights
  • nature and the outdoors
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Honolulu’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. Fort Lauderdale 88, Honolulu 91: Honolulu leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Fort Lauderdale 47, Honolulu 70: Honolulu leads by 23 points.
Culture & sights. Fort Lauderdale 28, Honolulu 55: Honolulu leads by 27 points.
Nightlife. Fort Lauderdale 52, Honolulu 45: Fort Lauderdale leads by 7 points.
Nature & outdoors. Fort Lauderdale 62, Honolulu 88: Honolulu leads by 26 points.
Day trips. Fort Lauderdale 58, Honolulu 38: Fort Lauderdale leads by 20 points.
Good for families. Fort Lauderdale 66, Honolulu 80: Honolulu leads by 14 points.
Getting around. Fort Lauderdale 32, Honolulu 52: Honolulu leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Fort Lauderdale 52, Honolulu 60: Honolulu leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Fort Lauderdale 32, Honolulu 15: Fort Lauderdale leads by 17 points.
Live music & performing arts. Fort Lauderdale 42, Honolulu 40: Fort Lauderdale leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Fort Lauderdale 40, Honolulu 50: Honolulu leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Fort Lauderdale and Honolulu.

Your match

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

Fort Lauderdale
50match

Wins on day trips and prices with your weighting.

Honolulu
Best match
57match

Wins on culture and sights and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Fort Lauderdale in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
166 mmrain in the month
29 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Honolulu in July

31 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
26 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Fort LauderdaleHonolulu

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Fort Lauderdale: 1991-2020 normals, Fort Lauderdale (7.1 km from centre). Honolulu: 1991-2020 normals, Honolulu International Airport (10.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureFort LauderdaleHonolulu
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC-10
Emergency number911911
Elevation11 m12 m
Main airportFort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL)7 km from centre136 non-stop destinationsDaniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)7 km from centre56 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureFort LauderdaleHonolulu
City population182,760350,964
People per km²1,8291,981
Museums within 10 km612
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Fort Lauderdale or Honolulu 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). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.

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.