VacationSelector
The red five-storey pagoda of Tocho-ji, Fukuoka
FukuokaThe red five-storey pagoda of Tocho-ji
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque

Photos: Fukuoka by Nick-D, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License.

Fukuoka 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 Fukuoka for

  • day trips
  • families
  • getting around

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

Choose Istanbul for

  • culture and sights
  • shopping
  • nightlife

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. Fukuoka 50, Istanbul 45: Fukuoka leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Fukuoka 82, Istanbul 87: Istanbul leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Fukuoka 50, Istanbul 90: Istanbul leads by 40 points.
Nightlife. Fukuoka 60, Istanbul 77: Istanbul leads by 17 points.
Nature & outdoors. Fukuoka 62, Istanbul 52: Fukuoka leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Fukuoka 84, Istanbul 55: Fukuoka leads by 29 points.
Good for families. Fukuoka 78, Istanbul 55: Fukuoka leads by 23 points.
Getting around. Fukuoka 82, Istanbul 62: Fukuoka leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Fukuoka 65, Istanbul 86: Istanbul leads by 21 points.
Affordability. Fukuoka 58, Istanbul 60: Istanbul leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Fukuoka 45, Istanbul 62: Istanbul leads by 17 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Fukuoka 60, Istanbul 75: Istanbul leads by 15 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Fukuoka
65match

Wins on day trips and families with your weighting.

Istanbul
67match

Wins on culture and sights and shopping with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Fukuoka in July

31 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
301 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
24 °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

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
FukuokaIstanbul

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Fukuoka: 1991-2020 normals, Fukuoka (1.9 km from centre). Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureFukuokaIstanbul
Official languageJapaneseTurkish
CurrencyYen (JPY)Turkish Lira (TRY)
SocketsAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the regionCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+9UTC+3
Emergency numberPolice 110, fire 119112
Elevation8 m100 m
Main airportFukuoka Airport (FUK)5 km from centre46 non-stop destinationsİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureFukuokaIstanbul
City population1,603,04315,655,924
People per km²4,7152,930
Museums within 10 km2373
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
Swim season, months above 21 °C4 months3 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Fukuoka 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.