Photos: Gold Coast by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; San Francisco by Elijah Cobb, Pexels License.
Gold Coast or San Francisco?
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 Gold Coast for
- beaches
- families
- prices
What lies behind each score is written up on Gold Coast’s own page.
Choose San Francisco for
- culture and sights
- live music and the arts
- food and drink
What lies behind each score is written up on San Francisco’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Gold Coast and San Francisco.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.
Wins on culture and sights and live music and the arts with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Gold Coast in July
San Francisco in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Gold Coast's sunshine is measured 75 km from the centre, at Brisbane Airport.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Gold Coast: 1991-2020 normals, Gold Coast Seaway (13 km from centre). San Francisco: 1981-2010 normals, Alameda Naval Air Station (9.1 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Gold Coast | San Francisco |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | English | - |
| Currency | Australian Dollar (AUD) | US Dollar (USD) |
| Sockets | I230 V, 50 Hz | AB120 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Left | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+10 | UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer |
| Emergency number | 000 | 911 |
| Elevation | 12 m | 16 m |
| Main airport | Gold Coast Airport (OOL)20 km from centre19 non-stop destinations | San Francisco International Airport (SFO)18 km from centre142 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 11 days | 13 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Gold Coast | San Francisco |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 607,665 | 873,965 |
| People per km² | 433 | 1,455 |
| Museums within 10 km | 2 | 51 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | None |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Gold Coast or San Francisco somewhere new.