VacationSelector
The Sun and Moon pagodas on Shan Lake, Guilin
GuilinThe Sun and Moon pagodas on Shan Lake
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose

Photos: Guilin by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped; San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0.

Guilin or San Jose, Costa Rica?

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
  • getting around
  • wellness

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

Choose San Jose, Costa Rica for

  • nightlife
  • shopping
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose, Costa Rica’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, San Jose, Costa Rica 12: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Guilin 45, San Jose, Costa Rica 42: Guilin leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Guilin 40, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: Guilin leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Guilin 30, San Jose, Costa Rica 40: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Guilin 88, San Jose, Costa Rica 78: Guilin leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Guilin 56, San Jose, Costa Rica 52: Guilin leads by 4 points.
Good for families. Guilin 45, San Jose, Costa Rica 44: Guilin leads by 1 points.
Getting around. Guilin 45, San Jose, Costa Rica 30: Guilin leads by 15 points.
Shopping & style. Guilin 28, San Jose, Costa Rica 36: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Guilin 78, San Jose, Costa Rica 54: Guilin leads by 24 points.
Live music & performing arts. Guilin 30, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 8 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Guilin 40, San Jose, Costa Rica 28: Guilin leads by 12 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Guilin and San Jose, Costa Rica.

Your match

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

Guilin
Best match
44match

Wins on prices and getting around with your weighting.

San Jose, Costa Rica
41match

Wins on nightlife and shopping 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
14 hdaylight a day

San Jose, Costa Rica in July

28 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
173 mmrain in the month
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400500JFMAMJJASOND
GuilinSan Jose, Costa Rica

Where the figures come from

San Jose, Costa Rica's station stands 241 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Guilin: 1991-2020 normals, Guilin (7.6 km from centre). San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureGuilinSan Jose, Costa Rica
Official languagePutonghuaSpanish
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Costa Rican Colon (CRC)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC-6
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119911
Elevation153 m1,161 m
Main airportGuilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL)25 km from centre43 non-stop destinationsJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureGuilinSan Jose, Costa Rica
City population4,931,137335,007
People per km²-7,511
Museums within 10 km19
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Guilin or San Jose, Costa Rica 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. 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.