VacationSelector
The Elbphilharmonie from the water, Hamburg
HamburgThe Elbphilharmonie from the water
Ferries off the Kordon promenade, Izmir
IzmirFerries off the Kordon promenade

Photos: Hamburg by Wolfgang Weiser, Pexels License; Izmir by Toygar Par, Pexels License.

Hamburg or Izmir?

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 Hamburg for

  • live music and the arts
  • families
  • getting around

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

Choose Izmir for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Izmir’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. Hamburg 28, Izmir 62: Izmir leads by 34 points.
Food & drink. Hamburg 55, Izmir 72: Izmir leads by 17 points.
Culture & sights. Hamburg 62, Izmir 55: Hamburg leads by 7 points.
Nightlife. Hamburg 76, Izmir 60: Hamburg leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Hamburg 52, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 14 points.
Day trips. Hamburg 70, Izmir 86: Izmir leads by 16 points.
Good for families. Hamburg 74, Izmir 55: Hamburg leads by 19 points.
Getting around. Hamburg 80, Izmir 63: Hamburg leads by 17 points.
Shopping & style. Hamburg 65, Izmir 55: Hamburg leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Hamburg 38, Izmir 66: Izmir leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Hamburg 80, Izmir 48: Hamburg leads by 32 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Hamburg 44, Izmir 57: Izmir leads by 13 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Hamburg and Izmir.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Hamburg
60match

Wins on live music and the arts and families with your weighting.

Izmir
62match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Hamburg in July

23 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
82 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
No seasea
17 hdaylight a day

Izmir in July

34 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
13 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
HamburgIzmir

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Hamburg: 1991-2020 normals, Hamburg Airport (9.3 km from centre). Izmir: 1991-2020 normals, Izmir (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHamburgIzmir
Official languageGermanTurkish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Turkish Lira (TRY)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+3
Emergency number112112
Elevation6 m2 m
Main airportHamburg Helmut Schmidt Airport (HAM)9 km from centre120 non-stop destinationsAdnan Menderes International Airport (ADB)13 km from centre120 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureHamburgIzmir
City population1,869,4734,493,242
People per km²2,4764,760
Museums within 10 km7729
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Hamburg or Izmir 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). 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.