VacationSelector
The Römer, the old city hall, Frankfurt
FrankfurtThe Römer, the old city hall
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière

Photos: Frankfurt by Thomas Wolf, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, cropped; Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Frankfurt or Lyon?

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 Frankfurt for

  • wellness
  • day trips
  • getting around

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

Choose Lyon for

  • food and drink
  • culture and sights
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Lyon’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. Frankfurt 8, Lyon 12: Lyon leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Frankfurt 52, Lyon 84: Lyon leads by 32 points.
Culture & sights. Frankfurt 60, Lyon 77: Lyon leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Frankfurt 52, Lyon 58: Lyon leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Frankfurt 58, Lyon 64: Lyon leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Frankfurt 86, Lyon 77: Frankfurt leads by 9 points.
Good for families. Frankfurt and Lyon are level on 62.
Getting around. Frankfurt 78, Lyon 77: Frankfurt leads by 1 points.
Shopping & style. Frankfurt 56, Lyon 58: Lyon leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Frankfurt 38, Lyon 42: Lyon leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. Frankfurt and Lyon are level on 68.
Wellness & relaxation. Frankfurt 52, Lyon 40: Frankfurt leads by 12 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Frankfurt and Lyon.

Your match

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

Frankfurt
56match

Wins on wellness and day trips with your weighting.

Lyon
Best match
60match

Wins on food and drink and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Frankfurt in July

26 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
68 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
16 hdaylight a day

Lyon in July

28 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
66 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
FrankfurtLyon

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Frankfurt: 1991-2020 normals, Frankfurt Westend (2 km from centre). Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureFrankfurtLyon
Official languageGermanFrench
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCE230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation101 m160 m
Main airportFrankfurt Main Airport (FRA)13 km from centre281 non-stop destinationsLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureFrankfurtLyon
City population760,656519,127
People per km²3,06310,838
Museums within 10 km5343
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km42

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Frankfurt or Lyon 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.