VacationSelector
The Sun and Moon pagodas on Shan Lake, Guilin
GuilinThe Sun and Moon pagodas on Shan Lake
The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon
LyonThe Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière

Photos: Guilin by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Lyon by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Guilin or Lyon?

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 Guilin for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Lyon for

  • food and drink
  • live music and the arts
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Lyon’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. Guilin 8, Lyon 12: Lyon leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Guilin 45, Lyon 84: Lyon leads by 39 points.
Culture & sights. Guilin 40, Lyon 77: Lyon leads by 37 points.
Nightlife. Guilin 30, Lyon 58: Lyon leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Guilin 88, Lyon 64: Guilin leads by 24 points.
Day trips. Guilin 56, Lyon 77: Lyon leads by 21 points.
Good for families. Guilin 45, Lyon 62: Lyon leads by 17 points.
Getting around. Guilin 45, Lyon 77: Lyon leads by 32 points.
Shopping & style. Guilin 28, Lyon 58: Lyon leads by 30 points.
Affordability. Guilin 78, Lyon 42: Guilin leads by 36 points.
Live music & performing arts. Guilin 30, Lyon 68: Lyon leads by 38 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Guilin and Lyon are level on 40.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Guilin and Lyon.

Your match

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

Guilin
44match

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

Lyon
Best match
60match

Wins on food and drink 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.

Guilin in July

33 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
248 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Lyon in July

28 °Cdaytime high
17 °Cnight-time low
66 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400500JFMAMJJASOND
GuilinLyon

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Guilin: 1991-2020 normals, Guilin (7.6 km from centre). Lyon: 1991-2020 normals, Lyon / Bron (10.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGuilinLyon
Official languagePutonghuaFrench
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Euro (EUR)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzCE230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119112
Elevation153 m160 m
Main airportGuilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL)25 km from centre43 non-stop destinationsLyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS)20 km from centre141 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureGuilinLyon
City population4,931,137519,127
People per km²-10,838
Museums within 10 km143
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Guilin or Lyon 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.