VacationSelector
The skyline and yachts on the canals, Fort Lauderdale
Fort LauderdaleThe skyline and yachts on the canals
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Fort Lauderdale by KeanoManu, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Fort Lauderdale or Philadelphia?

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
  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • culture and sights
  • getting around
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’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, Philadelphia 36: Fort Lauderdale leads by 52 points.
Food & drink. Fort Lauderdale 47, Philadelphia 62: Philadelphia leads by 15 points.
Culture & sights. Fort Lauderdale 28, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 44 points.
Nightlife. Fort Lauderdale 52, Philadelphia 55: Philadelphia leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Fort Lauderdale 62, Philadelphia 52: Fort Lauderdale leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Fort Lauderdale 58, Philadelphia 80: Philadelphia leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Fort Lauderdale 66, Philadelphia 68: Philadelphia leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Fort Lauderdale 32, Philadelphia 66: Philadelphia leads by 34 points.
Shopping & style. Fort Lauderdale 52, Philadelphia 57: Philadelphia leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Fort Lauderdale 32, Philadelphia 40: Philadelphia leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Fort Lauderdale 42, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 30 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Fort Lauderdale 40, Philadelphia 26: Fort Lauderdale leads by 14 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Fort Lauderdale and Philadelphia.

Your match

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

Fort Lauderdale
50match

Wins on beaches and wellness with your weighting.

Philadelphia
Best match
57match

Wins on culture and sights 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.

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

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Fort LauderdalePhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Fort Lauderdale: 1991-2020 normals, Fort Lauderdale (7.1 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureFort LauderdalePhiladelphia
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation11 m12 m
Main airportFort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL)7 km from centre136 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureFort LauderdalePhiladelphia
City population182,7601,603,797
People per km²1,8294,339
Museums within 10 km654
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Fort Lauderdale or Philadelphia 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.