VacationSelector
The red five-storey pagoda of Tocho-ji, Fukuoka
FukuokaThe red five-storey pagoda of Tocho-ji
The Limmat from Quaibrücke, Zurich
ZurichThe Limmat from Quaibrücke

Photos: Fukuoka by Nick-D, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Zurich by Daniel Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Fukuoka or Zurich?

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

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • beaches

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

Choose Zurich for

  • live music and the arts
  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Zurich’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, Zurich 45: Fukuoka leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Fukuoka 82, Zurich 53: Fukuoka leads by 29 points.
Culture & sights. Fukuoka 50, Zurich 58: Zurich leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Fukuoka 60, Zurich 62: Zurich leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Fukuoka 62, Zurich 80: Zurich leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Fukuoka and Zurich are level on 84.
Good for families. Fukuoka 78, Zurich 76: Fukuoka leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Fukuoka 82, Zurich 95: Zurich leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. Fukuoka 65, Zurich 66: Zurich leads by 1 points.
Affordability. Fukuoka 58, Zurich 3: Fukuoka leads by 55 points.
Live music & performing arts. Fukuoka 45, Zurich 70: Zurich leads by 25 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Fukuoka 60, Zurich 58: Fukuoka leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Fukuoka and Zurich.

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 prices and food and drink with your weighting.

Zurich
63match

Wins on live music and the arts and nature and the outdoors 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

Zurich in July

24 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
126 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
No seasea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
FukuokaZurich

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Fukuoka: 1991-2020 normals, Fukuoka (1.9 km from centre). Zurich: 1991-2020 normals, Zurich Town / Ville. (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureFukuokaZurich
Official languageJapaneseFrench, German, Italian, Romansh
CurrencyYen (JPY)Swiss Franc (CHF)
SocketsAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the regionCJ230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+9UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 110, fire 119112
Elevation8 m408 m
Main airportFukuoka Airport (FUK)5 km from centre46 non-stop destinationsZürich Airport (ZRH)9 km from centre226 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureFukuokaZurich
City population1,603,043440,935
People per km²4,7155,016
Museums within 10 km2363
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
Swim season, months above 21 °C4 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Fukuoka or Zurich 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.