VacationSelector
A galleon on the Motława below the old crane, Gdansk
GdanskA galleon on the Motława below the old crane
The Limmat from Quaibrücke, Zurich
ZurichThe Limmat from Quaibrücke

Photos: Gdansk by Nikater, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Zurich by Daniel Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Gdansk 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 Gdansk for

  • prices
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Zurich for

  • shopping
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

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. Gdansk 40, Zurich 45: Zurich leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Gdansk 50, Zurich 53: Zurich leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Gdansk 68, Zurich 58: Gdansk leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Gdansk 52, Zurich 62: Zurich leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Gdansk 58, Zurich 80: Zurich leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Gdansk 62, Zurich 84: Zurich leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Gdansk 62, Zurich 76: Zurich leads by 14 points.
Getting around. Gdansk 72, Zurich 95: Zurich leads by 23 points.
Shopping & style. Gdansk 42, Zurich 66: Zurich leads by 24 points.
Affordability. Gdansk 68, Zurich 3: Gdansk leads by 65 points.
Live music & performing arts. Gdansk 52, Zurich 70: Zurich leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Gdansk 36, Zurich 58: Zurich leads by 22 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Gdansk and Zurich.

Your match

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

Gdansk
55match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Zurich
Best match
63match

Wins on shopping and getting around 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

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°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
GdanskZurich

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). Zurich: 1991-2020 normals, Zurich Town / Ville. (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGdanskZurich
Official languagePolishFrench, German, Italian, Romansh
CurrencyZloty (PLN)Swiss Franc (CHF)
SocketsCE50 HzCJ230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation11 m408 m
Main airportGdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport (GDN)13 km from centre72 non-stop destinationsZürich Airport (ZRH)9 km from centre226 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days10 days

By the numbers

MeasureGdanskZurich
City population487,834440,935
People per km²7145,016
Museums within 10 km3463
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 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). 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.