VacationSelector
A galleon on the Motława below the old crane, Gdansk
GdanskA galleon on the Motława below the old crane
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Gdansk by Nikater, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Gdansk or Philadelphia?

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

  • prices
  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • live music and the arts
  • day trips
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’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, Philadelphia 36: Gdansk leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Gdansk 50, Philadelphia 62: Philadelphia leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Gdansk 68, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Gdansk 52, Philadelphia 55: Philadelphia leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Gdansk 58, Philadelphia 52: Gdansk leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Gdansk 62, Philadelphia 80: Philadelphia leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Gdansk 62, Philadelphia 68: Philadelphia leads by 6 points.
Getting around. Gdansk 72, Philadelphia 66: Gdansk leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Gdansk 42, Philadelphia 57: Philadelphia leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Gdansk 68, Philadelphia 40: Gdansk leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Gdansk 52, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Gdansk 36, Philadelphia 26: Gdansk leads by 10 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Gdansk
55match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on live music and the arts and day trips 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

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
GdanskPhiladelphia

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). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGdanskPhiladelphia
Official languagePolish-
CurrencyZloty (PLN)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCE50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation11 m12 m
Main airportGdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport (GDN)13 km from centre72 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureGdanskPhiladelphia
City population487,8341,603,797
People per km²7144,339
Museums within 10 km3454
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone-

Where else could you go?

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