VacationSelector
A galleon on the Motława below the old crane, Gdansk
GdanskA galleon on the Motława below the old crane
Palermo Cathedral, Palermo
PalermoPalermo Cathedral

Photos: Gdansk by Nikater, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Palermo by Antonino Giangrasso, Pexels License.

Gdansk or Palermo?

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
  • families
  • wellness

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

Choose Palermo for

  • beaches
  • food and drink
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Palermo’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, Palermo 77: Palermo leads by 37 points.
Food & drink. Gdansk 50, Palermo 81: Palermo leads by 31 points.
Culture & sights. Gdansk 68, Palermo 80: Palermo leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Gdansk 52, Palermo 58: Palermo leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Gdansk 58, Palermo 72: Palermo leads by 14 points.
Day trips. Gdansk 62, Palermo 84: Palermo leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Gdansk 62, Palermo 44: Gdansk leads by 18 points.
Getting around. Gdansk 72, Palermo 50: Gdansk leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Gdansk 42, Palermo 44: Palermo leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Gdansk 68, Palermo 63: Gdansk leads by 5 points.
Live music & performing arts. Gdansk 52, Palermo 62: Palermo leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Gdansk 36, Palermo 30: Gdansk leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Gdansk and Palermo.

Your match

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

Gdansk
55match

Wins on getting around and families with your weighting.

Palermo
Best match
62match

Wins on beaches and food and drink 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

Palermo in July

29 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
2 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
GdanskPalermo

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.

Palermo 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.

Palermo's sunshine is measured 67 km from the centre, at Ustica.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Gdansk: 1991-2020 normals, Gdansk-Rebiechowo (12.7 km from centre). Palermo: 1991-2020 (sunshine 1961-1990) normals, Palermo / Punta Raisi (24.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGdanskPalermo
Official languagePolishItalian
CurrencyZloty (PLN)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCE50 HzCFL230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation11 m14 m
Main airportGdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport (GDN)13 km from centre72 non-stop destinationsFalcone–Borsellino Airport (PMO)25 km from centre106 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureGdanskPalermo
City population487,834630,167
People per km²7143,924
Museums within 10 km3442
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone5 months

Where else could you go?

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