VacationSelector
The skyline and yachts on the canals, Fort Lauderdale
Fort LauderdaleThe skyline and yachts on the canals
La Concha beach and Monte Urgull, San Sebastian
San SebastianLa Concha beach and Monte Urgull

Photos: Fort Lauderdale by KeanoManu, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; San Sebastian by Guérin Nicolas, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Fort Lauderdale or San Sebastian?

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
  • shopping
  • nightlife

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

Choose San Sebastian for

  • getting around
  • food and drink
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on San Sebastian’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, San Sebastian 68: Fort Lauderdale leads by 20 points.
Food & drink. Fort Lauderdale 47, San Sebastian 88: San Sebastian leads by 41 points.
Culture & sights. Fort Lauderdale 28, San Sebastian 52: San Sebastian leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. Fort Lauderdale 52, San Sebastian 44: Fort Lauderdale leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Fort Lauderdale 62, San Sebastian 72: San Sebastian leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Fort Lauderdale 58, San Sebastian 80: San Sebastian leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Fort Lauderdale and San Sebastian are level on 66.
Getting around. Fort Lauderdale 32, San Sebastian 80: San Sebastian leads by 48 points.
Shopping & style. Fort Lauderdale 52, San Sebastian 40: Fort Lauderdale leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Fort Lauderdale and San Sebastian are level on 32.
Live music & performing arts. Fort Lauderdale 42, San Sebastian 45: San Sebastian leads by 3 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Fort Lauderdale 40, San Sebastian 50: San Sebastian 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 San Sebastian.

Your match

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

Fort Lauderdale
50match

Wins on beaches and shopping with your weighting.

San Sebastian
Best match
60match

Wins on getting around 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

San Sebastian in July

22 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
92 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Fort LauderdaleSan Sebastian

Where the figures come from

San Sebastian's station stands 252 m above the city centre, so the centre is likely a little warmer than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Fort Lauderdale: 1991-2020 normals, Fort Lauderdale (7.1 km from centre). San Sebastian: 1991-2020 normals, San Sebastian / Igueldo (6.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureFort LauderdaleSan Sebastian
Official language-Spanish
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Euro (EUR)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number911112
Elevation11 m6 m
Main airportFort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL)7 km from centre136 non-stop destinationsSan Sebastián Airport (EAS)16 km from centre11 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureFort LauderdaleSan Sebastian
City population182,760189,866
People per km²1,8293,118
Museums within 10 km614
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km03
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months2 months

Where else could you go?

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