VacationSelector
The Elbphilharmonie from the water, Hamburg
HamburgThe Elbphilharmonie from the water
La Concha beach and Monte Urgull, San Sebastian
San SebastianLa Concha beach and Monte Urgull

Photos: Hamburg by Wolfgang Weiser, Pexels License; San Sebastian by Guérin Nicolas, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Hamburg or San Sebastian?

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
  • nightlife
  • shopping

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

Choose San Sebastian for

  • beaches
  • food and drink
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on San Sebastian’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, San Sebastian 68: San Sebastian leads by 40 points.
Food & drink. Hamburg 55, San Sebastian 88: San Sebastian leads by 33 points.
Culture & sights. Hamburg 62, San Sebastian 52: Hamburg leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Hamburg 76, San Sebastian 44: Hamburg leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. Hamburg 52, San Sebastian 72: San Sebastian leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Hamburg 70, San Sebastian 80: San Sebastian leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Hamburg 74, San Sebastian 66: Hamburg leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Hamburg and San Sebastian are level on 80.
Shopping & style. Hamburg 65, San Sebastian 40: Hamburg leads by 25 points.
Affordability. Hamburg 38, San Sebastian 32: Hamburg leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Hamburg 80, San Sebastian 45: Hamburg leads by 35 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Hamburg 44, San Sebastian 50: San Sebastian leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Hamburg and San Sebastian.

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Hamburg
60match

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

San Sebastian
60match

Wins on beaches 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
No seasea
17 hdaylight a day

San Sebastian in July

22 °Cdaytime high
16 °Cnight-time low
92 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
HamburgSan Sebastian

Where the figures come from

San Sebastian's station stands 252 m above the city centre, so the centre is likely a little warmer than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Hamburg: 1991-2020 normals, Hamburg Airport (9.3 km from centre). San Sebastian: 1991-2020 normals, San Sebastian / Igueldo (6.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureHamburgSan Sebastian
Official languageGermanSpanish
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation6 m6 m
Main airportHamburg Helmut Schmidt Airport (HAM)9 km from centre120 non-stop destinationsSan Sebastián Airport (EAS)16 km from centre11 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureHamburgSan Sebastian
City population1,869,473189,866
People per km²2,4763,118
Museums within 10 km7714
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km13
Swim season, months above 21 °C-2 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Hamburg or San Sebastian 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. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.