Genoa or Interlaken?
Two destinations compared on nine measures of openly sourced data. Weight what matters to you and the verdict follows.
Your match
Wins on beaches & swimming and nightlife with your weighting.
Has no clear advantage with the weighting you have chosen.
What matters to you?
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders. The match scores above update as you do.
The verdict
Choose Genoa if you want coast and city together: beaches within reach, four months of sea warm enough for swimming, and museums, bars and notable buildings close to the centre.
Choose Interlaken if the day is meant to be spent outdoors, with a large share of the surrounding land protected and two UNESCO-listed places within day-trip reach, and if quiet evenings suit you.
Scoreboard
Each measure scored 0 to 100. Open a row for the figures behind the score.
Beaches & swimming. Genoa leads by 73 points.73
| Genoa | Interlaken | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 73 | 0 |
| Swim season months | 4 | 0 |
| Beaches 10 km | 37 | 12 |
| Coast distance | 0 km | 713 km |
| Water distance | 0 km | — |
Places to eat. Genoa leads by 21 points.21
| Genoa | Interlaken | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 50 | 29 |
| Restaurants within 2 km of centre | 691 | 118 |
| Effective number of cuisines within 2 km | 14 | 17 |
Museums & heritage. Genoa leads by 32 points.32
| Genoa | Interlaken | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 55 | 23 |
| Museums within 10 km | 47 | 5 |
| Museums within 2 km of centre | 33 | 2 |
| Share of museums within 2 km % | 70 | 40 |
| Unesco sites within 50 km | 1 | 2 |
Nightlife. Genoa leads by 46 points.46
| Genoa | Interlaken | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 50 | 4 |
| Drinking venues within 4 km | 637 | 42 |
| Drinking venues within 2 km of centre | 419 | 38 |
| Share of drinking venues within 2 km % | 66 | 90 |
| Nightclubs within 4 km | 17 | 3 |
Nature & day trips. Genoa leads by 8 points.8
| Genoa | Interlaken | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 35 | 27 |
| Protected land share 50 km % | 8 | 19 |
| Landscape blanket share 50 km % | 0 | 0 |
| Land share of disc % | 61 | 100 |
| Park area within 2 km | 29 hectares | 5 hectares |
Good for families. Genoa leads by 24 points.24
| Genoa | Interlaken | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 38 | 14 |
| Tourist attractions within 2 km | 21 | 11 |
| Park area within 2 km | 29 hectares | 5 hectares |
| Theme parks within 30 km | 0 | 0 |
Sights concentration. Genoa leads by 39 points.39
| Genoa | Interlaken | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 61 | 22 |
| Notable places within 2 km | 130 | 14 |
| Min wikipedia languages | 5 | 5 |
Value for money. Genoa leads by 33 points.33
| Genoa | Interlaken | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 68 | 35 |
| Price level global | 64.9 | 110.5 |
| Daily budget | €155 | €248 |
Year-round weather. Genoa leads by 16 points.16
| Genoa | Interlaken | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 73 | 57 |
| Monthly daytime high | 11.7 °C to 27.9 °C | 2.8 °C to 23.6 °C |
| Monthly rainfall | 12 mm to 122 mm | 34 mm to 68 mm |
| Dry months | 3 | 3 |
Where they differ
Genoa has 37 beaches nearby against Interlaken's 12, and four months of sea warm enough to swim in, which Interlaken has none of. It also has many times as many bars and clubs, most near the centre, and many times as many notable places within walking distance of the centre.
Interlaken's advantage is the country around it: 19% of the land is protected against 8% around Genoa, and two UNESCO-listed places lie within day-trip reach against Genoa's one. Its restaurants are fewer but span a wider range of kitchens.
Where they are alike
Day trips are where the two come nearest. Neither makes the outdoors its main draw, yet both have country worth a day: protected land around Interlaken, park space near Genoa's centre, and UNESCO-listed places within reach of each.
Summer is close too: highs of 28°C in Genoa against 24°C in Interlaken, and both have three months with 40mm of rain or less. Eating out differs in kind, Genoa in numbers, Interlaken in variety; neither has a theme park.
Which traveller are you?
A traveller who wants swimming and a city in the same day should take Genoa: 37 beaches nearby, sea at 25°C in August, and enough sights within walking distance to fill the hours between.
Walkers who want the day spent outside are better served by Interlaken, where 19% of the surrounding land is protected and two UNESCO-listed places sit within day-trip reach. Summer highs of 24°C keep long days comfortable.
Families and anyone who likes an evening out will find more in Genoa: about twice as many attractions near the centre, far more museums and places to drink, and much more park space. Neither town has a theme park.
What the numbers don't tell you
The daily budget figures, €155 and €248, are national price levels for restaurants and hotels, not measurements of either place. A large port city and a small town can each sit far from their own country's average, by more than the gap between those two figures.
No weather station near Interlaken records sunshine hours, so that figure is missing rather than low, and its monthly picture rests on temperature and rainfall alone. Genoa's beach strength is also concentrated: the four months of swimmable sea are the same months everyone else arrives, and they are not the months with most space on the sand.
When should you go?
The figures behind each month. Each row is shaded against that destination's own year, so the deepest cell is its best month for that measure and the palest its weakest. Shades are not comparable between the two rows.
Temperature and rainfall are thirty-year climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Genoa: 1991-2020 normals, Genova / Sestri (6.7 km from centre). Interlaken: 2005-2020 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Meiringen / Unterbach (19.3 km from centre).
Genoa is at its best from June to August: highs of 25-28°C, sea peaking at 25°C in August, and July the driest month at 12mm. May and September remain workable. Late autumn is the one to avoid, with 101-122mm in October and November.
Interlaken's window is narrower. July and August reach 23-24°C but are also its wettest months, at 61-62mm. April and September are drier, 34-38mm, with highs of 15-18°C and better walking. January stays near 3°C.
Getting there
| Flying from | Genoa | Interlaken |
|---|---|---|
| New YorkJFK, EWR, LGA | 8 h 15 m €542-635 1 stop MXP · 137 km | 8 h 5 m €606-782 1 stop ZRH · 100 km |
| MadridMAD | 2 h 0 m €63-91 MXP · 137 km | 2 h 5 m €158-220 1 stop ZRH · 100 km |
| IstanbulIST, SAW | 2 h 40 m €140-309 MXP · 137 km | 2 h 45 m €110-133 ZRH · 100 km |
| LondonLHR, LGW, STN, LTN +2 | 1 h 55 m no fares GOA · 7 km | 1 h 35 m €110-163 ZRH · 100 km |
| LisbonLIS | 2 h 35 m €78-142 MXP · 137 km | 2 h 40 m €188-233 ZRH · 100 km |
| DubaiDXB, DWC | 6 h 10 m €375-563 MXP · 137 km | 6 h 15 m €232-366 1 stop ZRH · 100 km |
| AthensATH | 2 h 25 m €91-99 MXP · 137 km | 2 h 35 m €213-216 ZRH · 100 km |
| FrankfurtFRA, HHN | 1 h 15 m €67-76 LIN · 119 km | 1 h 0 m no fares ZRH · 100 km |
| Sao PauloGRU, VCP, CGH, RTE | 11 h 50 m €1,114-1167 2 stops MXP · 137 km | 12 h 0 m no fares ZRH · 100 km |
| BangkokBKK, DMK | 11 h 20 m no fares MXP · 137 km | 11 h 20 m no fares ZRH · 100 km |
The busiest departure cities for these two, with a place kept for each other part of the world. Busiest means arriving passengers where an official count exists, and where none does, the number of non-stop services flown: official route statistics are published by the European reporting countries and by nobody else, so a table ranked on them alone would offer a reader in New York or Tokyo ten European cities. Flying times are estimated from the distance between airports, and every row is a city flown non-stop to both. Where the typical offer connects anyway, the stops are shown. Under each figure is the airport the flight lands at and how far that is from the centre, because the nearest airport is not always the one a route is flown to. Where both columns name the same airport it is one flight, and the difference between the two is the distance printed beside it. Typical return fares for 2026-08 to 2026-10, cached market data up to 7 days old. The figure is the middle half of the offers found, so a single price means they agreed and a range means they did not; for a typical route that middle half spans about a quarter of the median, and for the least settled routes rather more than the median itself.
Before you go
| Measure | Genoa | Interlaken |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Italian | French, German, Italian, Romansh |
| Currency | Euro (EUR) | Swiss Franc (CHF) |
| Sockets | CFL230 V, 50 Hz | CJ230 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer | UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer |
| Emergency number | 112 | 112 |
| Elevation | 20 m | 571 m |
| Main airport | Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport (GOA)7 km from centre23 non-stop destinations | Zürich Airport (ZRH)100 km from centre181 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 13 days | 10 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Genoa | Interlaken |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 558,745 | 6,123 |
| People per km² | 2,325 | 1,424 |
| Museums within 10 km | 51 | 3 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 | 2 |
| Distinct cuisines in the centre | 41 | 22 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 4 months | – |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Genoa or Interlaken somewhere new.