VacationSelector
The Elbphilharmonie from the water, Hamburg
HamburgThe Elbphilharmonie from the water
The Johannesburg skyline and the Hillbrow Tower, Johannesburg
JohannesburgThe Johannesburg skyline and the Hillbrow Tower

Photos: Hamburg by Wolfgang Weiser, Pexels License; Johannesburg by K, Pexels License.

Hamburg or Johannesburg?

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

  • getting around
  • families
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Johannesburg for

  • prices
  • food and drink
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Johannesburg’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, Johannesburg 5: Hamburg leads by 23 points.
Food & drink. Hamburg 55, Johannesburg 58: Johannesburg leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Hamburg 62, Johannesburg 56: Hamburg leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Hamburg 76, Johannesburg 62: Hamburg leads by 14 points.
Nature & outdoors. Hamburg 52, Johannesburg 55: Johannesburg leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Hamburg 70, Johannesburg 52: Hamburg leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Hamburg 74, Johannesburg 42: Hamburg leads by 32 points.
Getting around. Hamburg 80, Johannesburg 18: Hamburg leads by 62 points.
Shopping & style. Hamburg 65, Johannesburg 58: Hamburg leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Hamburg 38, Johannesburg 72: Johannesburg leads by 34 points.
Live music & performing arts. Hamburg 80, Johannesburg 55: Hamburg leads by 25 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Hamburg 44, Johannesburg 28: Hamburg leads by 16 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Hamburg and Johannesburg.

Your match

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

Hamburg
Best match
60match

Wins on getting around and families with your weighting.

Johannesburg
47match

Wins on prices and food and drink 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
17 hdaylight a day

Johannesburg in July

19 °Cdaytime high
4 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
HamburgJohannesburg

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Hamburg: 1991-2020 normals, Hamburg Airport (9.3 km from centre). Johannesburg: 2005-2019 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Johannesburg B / Roosevelt Park (7.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHamburgJohannesburg
Official languageGermanEnglish, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Venda, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Sesotho, Southern Ndebele, South African Sign Language
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Rand (ZAR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCMN230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+2
Emergency number112112
Elevation6 m1,753 m
Main airportHamburg Helmut Schmidt Airport (HAM)9 km from centre120 non-stop destinationsO.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB)22 km from centre84 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureHamburgJohannesburg
City population1,869,4734,803,262
People per km²2,4762,922
Museums within 10 km7714
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 Hamburg or Johannesburg 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. 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.