VacationSelector
A galleon on the Motława below the old crane, Gdansk
GdanskA galleon on the Motława below the old crane
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul
IstanbulThe Blue Mosque

Photos: Gdansk by Nikater, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Istanbul by AXP Photography, Pexels License.

Gdansk 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 Gdansk for

  • getting around
  • prices
  • day trips

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

Choose Istanbul for

  • shopping
  • wellness
  • food and drink

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. Gdansk 40, Istanbul 45: Istanbul leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Gdansk 50, Istanbul 87: Istanbul leads by 37 points.
Culture & sights. Gdansk 68, Istanbul 90: Istanbul leads by 22 points.
Nightlife. Gdansk 52, Istanbul 77: Istanbul leads by 25 points.
Nature & outdoors. Gdansk 58, Istanbul 52: Gdansk leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Gdansk 62, Istanbul 55: Gdansk leads by 7 points.
Good for families. Gdansk 62, Istanbul 55: Gdansk leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Gdansk 72, Istanbul 62: Gdansk leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Gdansk 42, Istanbul 86: Istanbul leads by 44 points.
Affordability. Gdansk 68, Istanbul 60: Gdansk leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Gdansk 52, Istanbul 62: Istanbul leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Gdansk 36, Istanbul 75: Istanbul leads by 39 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Gdansk
55match

Wins on getting around and prices with your weighting.

Istanbul
Best match
67match

Wins on shopping and wellness with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Gdansk in July

22 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
85 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
18 °Csea
17 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°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
GdanskIstanbul

Where the figures come from

Gdansk has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Gdansk's sunshine is measured 55 km from the centre, at Elblag.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Gdansk: 1991-2020 normals, Gdansk-Rebiechowo (12.7 km from centre). Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGdanskIstanbul
Official languagePolishTurkish
CurrencyZloty (PLN)Turkish Lira (TRY)
SocketsCE50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number112112
Elevation11 m100 m
Main airportGdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport (GDN)13 km from centre72 non-stop destinationsİstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre343 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureGdanskIstanbul
City population487,83415,655,924
People per km²7142,930
Museums within 10 km3473
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone3 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Gdansk 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). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.