VacationSelector
The skyline and yachts on the canals, Fort Lauderdale
Fort LauderdaleThe skyline and yachts on the canals
The beach and the oceanfront hotels from the fishing pier, Virginia Beach
Virginia BeachThe beach and the oceanfront hotels from the fishing pier

Photos: Fort Lauderdale by KeanoManu, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Virginia Beach by SchuminWeb, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Fort Lauderdale or Virginia Beach?

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

  • shopping
  • nightlife
  • beaches

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

Choose Virginia Beach for

  • families
  • prices
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Virginia Beach’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, Virginia Beach 77: Fort Lauderdale leads by 11 points.
Food & drink. Fort Lauderdale 47, Virginia Beach 42: Fort Lauderdale leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Fort Lauderdale 28, Virginia Beach 30: Virginia Beach leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Fort Lauderdale 52, Virginia Beach 37: Fort Lauderdale leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Fort Lauderdale 62, Virginia Beach 56: Fort Lauderdale leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Fort Lauderdale 58, Virginia Beach 64: Virginia Beach leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Fort Lauderdale 66, Virginia Beach 75: Virginia Beach leads by 9 points.
Getting around. Fort Lauderdale 32, Virginia Beach 27: Fort Lauderdale leads by 5 points.
Shopping & style. Fort Lauderdale 52, Virginia Beach 32: Fort Lauderdale leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Fort Lauderdale 32, Virginia Beach 40: Virginia Beach leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Fort Lauderdale 42, Virginia Beach 38: Fort Lauderdale leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Fort Lauderdale 40, Virginia Beach 32: Fort Lauderdale leads by 8 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Fort Lauderdale and Virginia Beach.

Your match

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

Fort Lauderdale
Best match
50match

Wins on shopping and nightlife with your weighting.

Virginia Beach
46match

Wins on families and prices 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

Virginia Beach in July

31 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
152 mmrain in the month
25 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Fort LauderdaleVirginia Beach

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Fort Lauderdale: 1991-2020 normals, Fort Lauderdale (7.1 km from centre). Virginia Beach: 1991-2020 normals, Virginia Beach / Gatewood Park (5.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureFort LauderdaleVirginia Beach
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 m7 m
Main airportFort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL)7 km from centre138 non-stop destinationsNorfolk International Airport (ORF)20 km from centre42 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureFort LauderdaleVirginia Beach
City population182,760459,470
People per km²1,829-
Museums within 10 km62
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months4 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Fort Lauderdale or Virginia Beach 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 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.