VacationSelector
The Jet d'Eau and a lake boat, Geneva
GenevaThe Jet d'Eau and a lake boat
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

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

Geneva 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 Geneva for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness
  • getting around

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • prices
  • nightlife
  • culture and sights

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. Geneva 45, Philadelphia 36: Geneva leads by 9 points.
Food & drink. Geneva 55, Philadelphia 62: Philadelphia leads by 7 points.
Culture & sights. Geneva 58, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 14 points.
Nightlife. Geneva 38, Philadelphia 55: Philadelphia leads by 17 points.
Nature & outdoors. Geneva 82, Philadelphia 52: Geneva leads by 30 points.
Day trips. Geneva and Philadelphia are level on 80.
Good for families. Geneva 57, Philadelphia 68: Philadelphia leads by 11 points.
Getting around. Geneva 86, Philadelphia 66: Geneva leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Geneva 68, Philadelphia 57: Geneva leads by 11 points.
Affordability. Geneva 5, Philadelphia 40: Philadelphia leads by 35 points.
Live music & performing arts. Geneva 60, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Geneva 55, Philadelphia 26: Geneva leads by 29 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Geneva
57match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and wellness with your weighting.

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on prices and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Geneva in July

27 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
77 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
GenevaPhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Geneva: 1991-2020 normals, Geneve-Cointrin (5.7 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGenevaPhiladelphia
Official languageFrench, German, Italian, Romansh-
CurrencySwiss Franc (CHF)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCJ230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation403 m12 m
Main airportGeneva International Airport (GVA)5 km from centre150 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year9 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureGenevaPhiladelphia
City population211,1521,603,797
People per km²13,2804,339
Museums within 10 km3454
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21

Where else could you go?

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

Browse every destination

Sources

Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national 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. 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.