VacationSelector
A galleon on the Motława below the old crane, Gdansk
GdanskA galleon on the Motława below the old crane
A painted funicular on the hillside, Valparaiso
ValparaisoA painted funicular on the hillside

Photos: Gdansk by Nikater, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Valparaiso by Maclemo, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Gdansk or Valparaiso?

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

  • families
  • getting around
  • wellness

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

Choose Valparaiso for

  • nightlife
  • nature and the outdoors
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Valparaiso’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, Valparaiso 36: Gdansk leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Gdansk and Valparaiso are level on 50.
Culture & sights. Gdansk 68, Valparaiso 62: Gdansk leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Gdansk 52, Valparaiso 56: Valparaiso leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Gdansk 58, Valparaiso 60: Valparaiso leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Gdansk 62, Valparaiso 63: Valparaiso leads by 1 points.
Good for families. Gdansk 62, Valparaiso 33: Gdansk leads by 29 points.
Getting around. Gdansk 72, Valparaiso 44: Gdansk leads by 28 points.
Shopping & style. Gdansk 42, Valparaiso 30: Gdansk leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Gdansk 68, Valparaiso 60: Gdansk leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Gdansk 52, Valparaiso 38: Gdansk leads by 14 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Gdansk 36, Valparaiso 18: Gdansk leads by 18 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Gdansk
Best match
55match

Wins on families and getting around with your weighting.

Valparaiso
46match

Wins on nightlife 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.

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

Valparaiso in July

15 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
71 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
GdanskValparaiso

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.

Valparaiso 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.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Gdansk: 1991-2020 normals, Gdansk-Rebiechowo (12.7 km from centre). Valparaiso: 2010-2025 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Viña Del Mar / Montemar (17 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGdanskValparaiso
Official languagePolishSpanish
CurrencyZloty (PLN)Chilean Peso (CLP)
SocketsCE50 HzCL220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-4, UTC-3 in summer
Emergency number112Police 133/134, ambulance 131, fire 132
Elevation11 m21 m
Main airportGdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport (GDN)13 km from centre72 non-stop destinationsComodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL)87 km from centre67 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureGdanskValparaiso
City population487,834296,655
People per km²7146,180
Museums within 10 km3417
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21
Swim season, months above 21 °CNoneNone

Where else could you go?

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