VacationSelector
The skyline and yachts on the canals, Fort Lauderdale
Fort LauderdaleThe skyline and yachts on the canals
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque

Photos: Fort Lauderdale by KeanoManu, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License.

Fort Lauderdale or Istanbul?

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

  • beaches
  • families
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Istanbul for

  • culture and sights
  • food and drink
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Istanbul’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, Istanbul 45: Fort Lauderdale leads by 43 points.
Food & drink. Fort Lauderdale 47, Istanbul 87: Istanbul leads by 40 points.
Culture & sights. Fort Lauderdale 28, Istanbul 90: Istanbul leads by 62 points.
Nightlife. Fort Lauderdale 52, Istanbul 77: Istanbul leads by 25 points.
Nature & outdoors. Fort Lauderdale 62, Istanbul 52: Fort Lauderdale leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Fort Lauderdale 58, Istanbul 55: Fort Lauderdale leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Fort Lauderdale 66, Istanbul 55: Fort Lauderdale leads by 11 points.
Getting around. Fort Lauderdale 32, Istanbul 62: Istanbul leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Fort Lauderdale 52, Istanbul 86: Istanbul leads by 34 points.
Affordability. Fort Lauderdale 32, Istanbul 60: Istanbul leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Fort Lauderdale 42, Istanbul 62: Istanbul leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Fort Lauderdale 40, Istanbul 75: Istanbul leads by 35 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Fort Lauderdale and Istanbul.

Your match

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

Fort Lauderdale
50match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Istanbul
Best match
67match

Wins on culture and sights 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.

Fort Lauderdale in July

32 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
166 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
29 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Istanbul in July

30 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Fort LauderdaleIstanbul

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Fort Lauderdale: 1991-2020 normals, Fort Lauderdale (7.1 km from centre). Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureFort LauderdaleIstanbul
Official language-Turkish
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Turkish Lira (TRY)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number911112
Elevation11 m100 m
Main airportFort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL)7 km from centre136 non-stop destinationsİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureFort LauderdaleIstanbul
City population182,76015,655,924
People per km²1,8292,930
Museums within 10 km673
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months3 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Fort Lauderdale or Istanbul 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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.