VacationSelector
The fountain in Piazza De Ferrari, Genoa
GenoaThe fountain in Piazza De Ferrari
Senate Square and the statue of Alexander II, Helsinki
HelsinkiSenate Square and the statue of Alexander II

Photos: Genoa by Faber1893, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Helsinki by Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Genoa or Helsinki?

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 Genoa for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • day trips

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

Choose Helsinki for

  • wellness
  • getting around
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Helsinki’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. Genoa 62, Helsinki 28: Genoa leads by 34 points.
Food & drink. Genoa 72, Helsinki 52: Genoa leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Genoa 76, Helsinki 60: Genoa leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Genoa 42, Helsinki 50: Helsinki leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Genoa 78, Helsinki 58: Genoa leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Genoa 83, Helsinki 62: Genoa leads by 21 points.
Good for families. Genoa 64, Helsinki 76: Helsinki leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Genoa 66, Helsinki 86: Helsinki leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Genoa 48, Helsinki 62: Helsinki leads by 14 points.
Affordability. Genoa 55, Helsinki 30: Genoa leads by 25 points.
Live music & performing arts. Genoa 52, Helsinki 63: Helsinki leads by 11 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Genoa 35, Helsinki 82: Helsinki leads by 47 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Genoa and Helsinki.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Genoa
61match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

Helsinki
59match

Wins on wellness 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.

Genoa in July

27 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
27 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
24 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Helsinki in July

22 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
58 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
16 °Csea
18 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
GenoaHelsinki

Where the figures come from

Genoa 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.

Genoa's sunshine is measured 80 km from the centre, at Capo Mele.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Genoa: 1991-2020 normals, Genova / Sestri (6.7 km from centre). Helsinki: 1991-2020 normals, Helsinki Kaisaniemi / Harju (1.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGenoaHelsinki
Official languageItalianFinnish, Swedish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCFL230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation20 m17 m
Main airportGenoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport (GOA)7 km from centre25 non-stop destinationsHelsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL)16 km from centre136 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasureGenoaHelsinki
City population558,745694,392
People per km²2,3253,239
Museums within 10 km5174
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C4 monthsNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Genoa or Helsinki 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). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.